Prayer and Promises

The Promise

So My word that proceeds from My mouth will not return to Me empty, but it will accomplish what I please, and it will prosper where I send it.

— Isaiah 55:11, BSB 

The Testimony 

Those who are called to teach the truth should be bodies of light, living near to God, where they can be all light in Him… Their work must be mingled with earnest prayer and meditation. Then they will receive from Heaven grace to enable them to enlighten other minds. 

The minister of God needs the Holy Spirit every moment; he needs to be imbued with the spirit of prayer, that the word he presents to the people may have force and power. His language should be such as can be understood by the most simple, and yet be refreshing to the most learned. 

They need the Holy Spirit to control heart and mind, and to mold the character after the divine similitude. No one is safe in attempting to work without the Holy Spirit. The most powerful sermons may be preached, but the word spoken will be valueless unless it is accompanied by the Holy Spirit. 

Many who profess to follow Christ have not genuine religion. They do not reveal in their lives the fruit of true conversion. They are controlled by the same habits, the same spirit of fault-finding and selfishness, which controlled them before they accepted Christ. 

In true conversion the soul is born again. A new spirit takes possession of the temple of the soul. A new life begins. Christ is revealed in the character. The spirit of a new life works within. 

We cannot rightly estimate the value of the gift of the Holy Spirit. Those who yield themselves to the control of this Spirit are made pure and holy. Efficiency in God’s work comes not by wading through an immense amount of study, but by a willingness to be guided and controlled by the Spirit. God only can give true success. 

God’s workers need faith in God. He is not unmindful of their labors. He values their work. Divine agencies are appointed to co-operate with those who are laborers together with God. When we think that God will not do as He has said, and that He has no time to notice His workers, we dishonor our Maker. We are to make God our trust. “Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is…” 

— The Review and Herald, July 30, 1901 

The Response 

My heavenly Father, I earnestly pray for grace and ask that You will enlighten my mind and the minds of those I teach. Imbue me with the spirit of prayer, I seek Your Holy Spirit every moment that I may present Your word with force and power. I do not trust in myself, but pray to be guided and controlled by the Spirit to be successful in the work.