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Heavenly Guarantee, April 5
Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it
shall be opened unto you.
Matthew 7:7
.
Oh, if every one would only know by personal experience how much
of heaven’s promised rest can be secured to the soul, even now, by sincere
prayer. If one has not learned this lesson, every other lesson of life [had]
better not be learned till he shall learn in the school of Christ how to master
this lesson.
As Christians we want a new and living experience every day. We want
to learn how to trust Jesus, to believe in Him and confide everything to Him.
Jacob was raised from a man of feebleness and defects, through faith in
God in prayer, to be a prince with God. He prevailed through faith. God is
omnipotent. Man is finite. In converse with God, we may lay the most secret
thing of the soul open to Him—for He knows it all—but not to man....
Do not become careless and separate from the Source of your strength.
Watch your thoughts, watch your words, and in all things you seek to do, seek
to glorify God. The more closely you lie at the foot of the cross, the more
clearly will you see the matchless charms of Jesus and the unparalleled love
He has evidenced for fallen man....
Let not the pressure of business separate you from God, for if you ever
need counsel and clear forethought and sharp ideas, it is when you have much
work on your hands. It is then that you need to take time to pray, to have
increased faith and implicit trust in the counsel of the Physician in Chief. Ask
Him to help you. Pray the oftener the more critical the work you have to do....
Oh what a theme to contemplate that man, depraved and lost in his natural
condition, may be renewed and saved by the gracious help that Christ gives
him in the gospel. The love of Jesus in the soul will drive out the enemy
who is seeking to take possession of man. Every trial patiently borne, every
blessing thankfully received, every temptation faithfully resisted, will make
you a strong man in Jesus Christ. All this grace may be gained in the prayer
of faith....
Lay hold upon strength from above. Even Jesus, when preparing for some
great trial, would resort to the solitude of the mountains and spend the night
in prayer to His Father.—
Letter 11, April 5, 1886
, to Dr. Gibbs, a physician
at the St. Helena Sanitarium.
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