It’s beautiful how God provides us with all the tools we need for strengthening our prayers. Christ Jesus recognized this and said, “All things that the Father hath are mine” (John 16:15).

In her writings, Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer of Christian Science, often mentions three of these tools—hope, faith, and understanding—together. As an example, on page 125 of the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, she writes, “As human thought changes from one stage to another of conscious pain and painlessness, sorrow and joy,—from fear to hope and from faith to understanding,—the visible manifestation will at last be man governed by Soul, not by material sense.”

Hope opens us up to the prospect of experiencing the goodness and love of God. In the darkest of times, hope can be a beacon pointing a way to improvement and progress. Hope is expectation of a solution and anticipation of healing.