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Spiritual Gifts, Volume 4b
not receive just the things they expected, or asked for, yet their prayers
were answered. Nothing hurtful was given, but the blessing they most
needed, in the place of something they had asked for, that would not
have been good for them, but to their hurt.
I saw if we did not feel immediate answers to our prayers, we
should hold fast our faith, let no distrust come in; for that will separate
us from God. If our faith wavers, we shall receive nothing from him.
Our confidence in God should be strong, and when we need it the
most, the blessing will drop upon us like a shower of rain.
When the servants of God have prayed for his Spirit and blessing,
it sometimes comes immediately, but it is not always then bestowed.
At such times faint not. Let thy faith hold fast the promise, that it will
come. Let thy trust be fully in God, and often that blessing will come
when you need it the most, and unexpectedly you will receive help
from God, when you are speaking the truth to unbelievers, and with
clearness you can speak the word, and with power.
It was represented to me like children asking a blessing of their
earthly parents that love them. They ask something that the parent
knows will hurt them; the parent gives them the things that will be good
and healthy for them, in the place of that which the child desired. I saw
[9]
that every prayer that was sent up in faith from an honest heart will be
heard of God and answered, and the one that sent up the petition will
have the blessing when he needs it the most, and it will often exceed
his expectations. Not a prayer of the true saint is lost if sent up from
an honest heart in faith.
When at Oswego, N. Y., June, 1855, I was shown that God’s people
have been weighed down with clogs, that there had been Achans in
the camp. The work of God has progressed but little, and many of
God’s servants have been discouraged because the truth in N. Y. has
taken no more effect, and that there have been no more added to the
church. The Messenger party has arisen, and we shall suffer some
from their lying tongues, and misrepresentations, yet we should bear
it all patiently; for they will not injure God’s cause now they have left
us, as much as they would have injured it by their influence had they
remained with us. God’s frown has been brought upon the church on
account of individuals with corrupt hearts being in it.
They have wanted to be foremost when God, or their brethren,
did not place them there. Selfishness and exaltation has marked their