Prayer and Promises

Now to Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you blameless before the presence of His glory with rejoicing, — Jude 1:24, MEV  

We read in the inspired word, “In everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God.”… We must accustom ourselves to seek divine guidance through prayer; we must learn to trust in Him from whom our help cometh. 

“God is a Spirit; and they that worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth.” We must have a deep, earnest sense of our needs. We must feel our weakness and our dependence upon God, and come to Him with contrition of soul and brokenness of heart. Our petitions must be offered in perfect submission; every desire must be brought into harmony with the will of God, and His will must be done in us. 

God has made it our duty to pray. The riches of the universe belong to Him. He has all temporal and spiritual treasures at His command, and can supply every want from His abundant fulness. We receive our breath from Him; every temporal blessing that we enjoy is His gift. We are dependent upon Him not only for temporal blessings, but for grace and strength to keep us from falling under the power of temptation. We daily need the Bread of Life to give us spiritual strength and vigor, just as much as we need food to sustain our physical strength and give us firm muscles. We are compassed with weakness and infirmities, doubts and temptations; but we can come to Jesus in our need, and He will not turn us away empty. He invites, “Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest…” This is no doubtful, uncertain promise, but a positive one. If we come to Him, we shall not be disappointed. Yet how unwilling we seem to accept the gracious invitation. When in trouble, we too often go for help to our brethren, who are no wiser nor stronger than ourselves; but if we would go to Jesus, if we would take our troubles to Him in prayer, we should find rest, and peace, and courage. The wisdom that God gives is unerring; His strength is sufficient for all our needs. Let us lay our burdens at the feet of Jesus, and according to His promise, He will take the weary load, and encircle us in the arms of His love. 

— Bible Echo and Signs of the Times, September 24, 1894 

My dear Lord, I come to You all broken, realizing only You can keep me from falling. I bring all my troubles to You and lay this heavy load down at Your feet. Give me Your strength and grace to keep my from falling, bring my every desire into harmony with Your divine will. I put my trust in You and pray for Your divine guidance. Thank You that You have never turned me away empty!