Prayer and Promises

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. — Hebrews 10:23, NKJV 

We have a God whose ear is not closed to our petitions; and if we prove his word, he will honor our faith. He wants us to have all our interests interwoven with his interests, and then he can safely bless us; for we shall not then take glory to self when the blessing is ours, but shall render all the praise to God. God does not always answer our prayers the first time we call upon him; for should he do this, we might take it for granted that we had a right to all the blessings and favors he bestowed upon us. Instead of searching our hearts to see if any evil was entertained by us, any sin indulged, we would become careless, and fail to realize our dependence upon him, and our need of his help. 

We are to believe the word of God whether we have any manifestation of feeling or not. I used to ask God for a flight of feeling, but I do not do this now. I come to God with the naked promise, and say, “Lord, I believe thy word.” Like Elijah, again and again I press my petition to the throne of grace; and when the Lord sees that I realize my inefficiency and weakness, the blessing comes. 

My soul has been hungering and thirsting for God, and I have been relying upon him. He lets his blessing rest upon me, not because I have any great wisdom, but because I believe his promises, and he honors my faith. My heart is humble before him, my soul is melted in grateful love as his light shines upon me. The child of God has to walk by faith, and thus he obtains a rich and deep experience in the things of God. When the enemy comes in with his temptations, the Christian can point to his experience, and boldly declare that the Lord has been his helper, and that he will still triumph through the grace of Christ. I have committed the keeping of my soul unto God as unto a faithful Creator, and I know that he will keep that which I have committed to him until that day. If we had living faith in God, our lips would be filled with his praise continually. How often we speak of our troubles, how seldom of the goodness and mercy of God! 

We have a living Saviour. Let us praise him with heart and soul and voice. 

— The Review and Herald, June 9, 1891 

Father God, my heart is humbled before You in grateful love for You are faithful to Your word. As Your child I know that I am weak and need Your blessings to rest upon me, so I press my petition to the throne of grace. I commit the keeping of my soul to You as my faithful Creator. Believing in Your promises, I walk by living faith knowing I will triumph through the grace of Christ!