Prayer and Promises

THE PROMISE 

Let the peoples praise You, O God; Let all the peoples praise You. Then the earth shall yield her increase; God, our own God, shall bless us.

— Psalm 67:5,6, NKJV 

THE TESTIMONY 

To talk of religion in a casual way, to pray without soul hunger and living faith, avails nothing. A nominal faith in Christ, which accepts Him merely as the Saviour of the world, can never bring healing to the soul... It is not enough to believe about Christ; we must believe in Him. The only faith that will benefit us is that which embraces Him as a personal Saviour; which appropriates His merits to ourselves. Many hold faith as an opinion. Saving faith is a transaction by which those who receive Christ join themselves in covenant relation with God. Genuine faith is life. A living faith means an increase of vigor, a confiding trust, by which the soul becomes a conquering power. 

The Lord calls upon us for confession of His goodness. “Ye are My witnesses, saith the Lord, that I am God.” 

Our confession of His faithfulness is Heaven’s chosen agency for revealing Christ to the world. We are to acknowledge His grace as made known through the holy men of old; but that which will be most effectual is the testimony of our own experience. We are witnesses for God as we reveal in ourselves the working of a power that is divine. 

God desires that our praise shall ascend to Him, marked by our own individuality. These precious acknowledgments to the praise of the glory of His grace, when supported by a Christ-like life, have an irresistible power that works for the salvation of souls. 

It is for our own benefit to keep every gift of God fresh in our memory. Thus faith is strengthened to claim and to receive more and more. There is greater encouragement for us in the least blessing we ourselves receive from God than in all the accounts we can read of the faith and experience of others... And as we review His dealings with us in our pilgrimage, let us, out of hearts melted with gratitude, declare, “What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits toward me? I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord...” 

— The Desire of Ages, p.347,348 

THE RESPONSE 

Pray in living faith with a soul hunger that embraces Christ as your personal Savior and the healer of your soul.

Reveal Christ to the world by your confession of His faithfulness, acknowledge His grace In your own experience. 

Strengthen your faith to claim and receive more and more by keeping every gift of God fresh in your memory.

Out of a heart melted with gratitude, declare, “What shall I render to the Lord for all His benefits toward me?”

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