Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. NIV

"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." I think you are asking, what does it mean? It means that faith is not just an airy-fairy crossing of the fingers in the dim hope that something nice will happen. It is the assurance that the "things hoped for" ie heaven and the presence of God" are already yours in trust. Jesus' death and resurrection can assure those who love him of ultimately being with him forever. It is also the "conviction of things not seen". It is believing in things that, although not seen, are known to be true eg we did not see the resurrection, but we know that it is true by the eye-witnesses who wrote about it. We did not see the nail-marks in Jesus' hand, but we have Thomas' words to tell us they were there. And ultimately, we, once again, have the immovable belief in the existence of heaven and going into the presence of God at our death, by Jesus' death and resurrection. Thus, Paul is saying, faith is much more than a "I hope it will not rain". It is "The meteorological bureau has done all the studies and can say with certainty that it will not rain, so I can look forward to a day without rain." (Mind you, the Meteorological Bureau can be wrong...God isn't. LOL)

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. Today's New International Version

1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Means faith has substance and is not just empty hope, And that if we exercise faith the evidence will materialize.

(Hebrews 11:1) is a believer's assurance that he or she can truly rely on the supernatural, rather than relying on the acquisitive, which is temporary. Romans 8:24-25 "For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? 25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it."

8-10-2017 Hebrews 11:1 "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." (KJV) First you need to know that faith is believing; the Greek word pistis is translated both ways. Believing is a natural ability: everybody can believe. But then the bible says faith came by Jesus Christ, and it is a manifestation of the holy spirit, so Christians have a spiritually augmented ability to believe. (But Hebrews is not speaking to Christians. It is addressed to natural people.) Next, "substance" is a legal term, something like "title deed". And third, "hope" is when something has been promised but not delivered yet. We say "I believe I'll have a beer." See how it works?