Prayer and Promises

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 

— 2 Corinthians 1:3,4, NIV 

As Paul felt the comfort and warmth of God’s love breaking into his soul, he reflected the blessing upon others. 

Are you, with your whole soul, might, mind, and strength, loving and serving God in blessing others around you by leading them to the Light of the world?… Christ must be brought into your life. He alone can cure you of envy, of evil surmising against your brethren; He alone can take away from you the self-sufficient spirit that some of you cherish to your own spiritual detriment. Jesus alone can make you feel your weakness, your ignorance, your corrupt nature. He alone can make you pure, refine you, fit you for the mansions of the blessed. 

You are to surrender your will to God daily… If Jesus is brought into the life, that life will be filled with good and noble works for the Master. You will forget to be self-serving, and will live closer and still closer to the dear Saviour; your character will become Christlike. 

It is the spirit cherished which gives coloring to all our actions. A man at peace with God and his fellow men cannot be made miserable. Envy will not be in his heart; evil surmising will find no room there; hatred cannot exist. The heart in harmony with God is lifted above the annoyances and trials of this life. But a heart where the peace of Christ is not, is unhappy, full of discontent; the person sees defects in everything, and he would bring discord into the most heavenly music. 

Let each one who claims to follow Christ esteem himself less and others more. Press together, press together! In union there is strength and victory; in discord and division there is weakness and defeat. 

Let everyone seek to answer the prayer of Christ: “That they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee.” Oh, what unity is this! 

Let the heart melt into tenderness before God, as we recall His merciful dealings with us. Let the Spirit of God, like a holy flame, burn away the rubbish that is piled up at the door of the heart, and let Jesus in; then His love will flow out to others through us, in tender words and thoughts and acts. 

— Testimonies for the Church, Volume 5, p.486-489 

Dear God, may Your Spirit, like a holy flame, burn away the rubbish that is piled up at the door of my heart so that Jesus may come in. I surrender my will to You, take away my self-serving spirit and fit me for the mansions of the blessed. May Your Spirit fill me, O Lord, that I may honor You by having only good thoughts towards others and doing good deeds to bless others. May I be Your vessel where Your love may flow out to others in tender words, thoughts and acts.