St. Prosper in his books " On the Vocation of the Gentiles."
Another condition of prayer, and that a very necessary one, is hope or confidence. For although we must not by faith, which is a work of the understanding, imagine that God will certainly grant our requests, yet by hope, which is an act of the will, we may firmly rely upon the divine goodness, and certainly hope that God will give us what we ask for. This condition our Lord required of the paralytic, to whom He said, " Be of good heart, son, thy sins are forgiven thee." The same the apostle requires of all, when he says, " Let us go therefore with confidence to the throne of grace;" and long before him, the prophet thus introduces God, saying, " Because he hath hoped in me, I will deliver him." But because hope springs from perfect faith, therefore when the Scripture requires faith in great things, it adds something regard ing hope; hence we read in St. Mark, " Amen I say to you, that whosoever shall say to this mountain, Be thou removed and be cast into the sea, and shall not stagger in his heart, but believe that whatsoever he saith shall be done; it shall be done unto him: " of which faith producing confidence, are to be understood the words of the apostle; " If I should have all faith, so that I could remove mountains," &c. Hence, John Cassian writes in his Treatise on Prayer, that it is a certain sign of our re-
