Prayer and Promises

THE PROMISE 

Your testimonies are wonderful; Therefore my soul keeps them. The entrance of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple.

— Psalm 119:129,130, NKJV 

THE TESTIMONY 

The understanding adapts itself to the dimensions of the subjects with which it is required to deal. If occupied with trivial, common-place matters only, never summoned to earnest effort to comprehend great and eternal truths, it becomes dwarfed and enfeebled. 

It is not enough to have an intellectual knowledge of the truth. This alone cannot give the light and understanding essential to salvation. There must be an entrance of the word into the heart. It must be set home by the power of the Holy Spirit. The will must be brought into harmony with its requirements. Not only the intellect but the heart and conscience must concur in the acceptance of the truth. 

The Holy Spirit brings the saving truths of the Scriptures within the comprehension of all who desire to know and do the will of God. Uneducated minds are enabled to grasp the most sublime and soul-stirring themes that can engage the attention of men,—themes that will be the study and the song of the redeemed through all eternity. 

It is the knowledge which God’s word supplies, and which can be found nowhere else, that we need above every other. We want to know what to do in this our day, to escape the snares of Satan and to win the crown of glory... Whenever we lack wisdom, it is our privilege and our duty to ask of God. If we come in humility and faith, we shall not be sent empty away. 

But when one sees clearly the claims of duty, let him not presume to go to God with the prayer that he may be excused from obedience because it involves a cross. Let him go, rather, with a humble, submissive spirit, asking for divine strength and wisdom, to accept and to practice the truth. “In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and he shall direct thy paths.” 

It is necessary to think rightly, in order to act with wisdom. To form a well-balanced character, we must give attention to physical, mental, and moral culture; and for each of these, the Bible contains the most valuable instruction. 

— The Review and Herald, September 25, 1883 

THE RESPONSE 

By the power of the Holy Spirit, accept the word of truth not only in the intellect but also in the heart and conscience. 

Pray that the Holy Spirit will enable you to grasp the most soul-stirring truths which will be the themes of study and the song of the redeemed through all eternity. 

Ask God whenever you lack wisdom, come in humility and faith and you shall not be sent away empty. 

Go to God with a humble, submissive spirit, asking for divine strength and wisdom to accept and to practice the truth.