Prayer and Promises

The Promise 

During those days He went out to the mountain to pray and spent all night in prayer to God.

— Luke 6:12, HCSB 

The Testimony 

Jesus, when preparing for some great trial or some important work, would resort to the solitude of the mountains and spend the night in prayer to His Father. 

We, too, must have times set apart for meditation and prayer and for receiving spiritual refreshing. We do not value the power and efficacy of prayer as we should. Prayer and faith will do what no power on earth can accomplish. 

When we permit our communion with God to be broken, our defense is departed from us. Not all your good purposes and good intentions will enable you to withstand evil. You must be men and women of prayer. Your petitions must not be faint, occasional, and fitful, but earnest, persevering, and constant. It is not always necessary to bow upon your knees in order to pray. Cultivate the habit of talking with the Saviour when you are alone, when you are walking, and when you are busy with your daily labor. Let the heart be continually uplifted in silent petition for help, for light, for strength, for knowledge. Let every breath be a prayer. 

As workers for God we must reach men where they are, surrounded with darkness, sunken in vice, and stained with corruption. But while we stay our minds upon Him who is our sun and our shield, the evil that surrounds us will not bring one stain upon our garments. 

Nothing is more needed in our work than the practical results of communion with God. We should show by our daily lives that we have peace and rest in the Saviour. His peace in the heart will shine forth in the countenance. It will give to the voice a persuasive power. Communion with God will ennoble the character and the life... This will impart to the worker a power that nothing else can give. Of this power he must not allow himself to be deprived. 

The strength received through communion with God, united with earnest effort in training the mind to thoughtfulness and caretaking, prepares one for daily duties and keeps the spirit in peace under all circumstances, however trying. 

— The Ministry of Healing, p.509-512 

The Response 

Set apart times for meditation and prayer and for receiving spiritual refreshing. Value the power and efficacy of prayer. 

Cultivate the habit of talking with the Saviour when you are alone, when you are walking and when you are busy with your daily labor.

Let the heart be continually uplifted in silent petition for help, for light, for strength, for knowledge. Let every breath be a prayer. 

Receive strength for your daily duties through communion with God and earnest effort in training the mind to thoughtfulness.