Several years ago, I wrote an article that became a blog post: Hope & Faith - They're Electric!
http://lightseekerok.blogspot.com/2009/06/hope-and-faith-theyre-electric.html
A few weeks ago, Pastor Tim Stemple began a series of messages based on Gary Carpenter's Face to Face document, "The God of Hope." During the first message, the Holy Spirit gave me an analogy that illustrates the electric nature of the relationship between Hope and Faith that should help people who might still have a problem understanding the concepts presented the original blog post. Almost anyone should be able to understand this illustration, and remember it, because it is based on something that people are familiar with - something that people have held in their own hands.
Think of Hope as a battery for a handheld device. It could be a flashlight, cellphone, radio, MP3 player or any handheld item that runs on electricity. A battery, or battery pack, is a great example of Hope for one reason: it contains potential. The chemical composition of a battery's parts differ in their electrical characteristics in a way that creates an electrical potential. However, no electrical current will flow until the battery is connected to a circuit.
The handheld device represents Faith because it contains the circuit that will use the current from the battery. But, even when the battery is inserted into the device, the current doesn't flow until the device is switched on. The switch is your will. You must choose to use your Faith to allow the current generated by your Hope to work.
Notice a couple of things here. A battery has potential whether or not it is in or connected to the device. The device is useful only when the batter is in it. The battery without the battery is useless, and the device without the the battery is useless.
I hope this illustration is tangible enough to make these concepts clear to you.
I am sure that most people have enough experience with battery-operated devices to know that batteries run down, and some batteries are rechargeable. This brings me to some good news - our Hope is rechargeable! (1 Cor. 14: 4; Jude 20)
Actually, batteries are never really charged or discharged. As a battery is used, chemical changes take place inside the battery that converts some of the electrolyte (the stuff between the terminals) into crystals that resist the flow of current. At some point, this internal resistance will grow to the level where it blocks the flow of electricity. The battery still has potential, but not enough to overcome the resistance. This resistance represents unbelief.
"Rechargeable" batteries can be made be made useful again by passing a current through them in the reverse direction. This creates heat that melts the crystals and lowers the internal resistance of the battery. Prayer, especially praying in tongues, is the current that melts our unbelief. Sometimes, we need more prayer than usual to overcome our unbelief. That's where fasting comes in, if we see fasting as praying instead of eating.
