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Testimonies for the Church Volume 5
It is not so much the religion of the pulpit as the religion of the
family that reveals our real character. The minister’s wife, his children,
and those who are employed as helpers in his family are best qualified
to judge of his piety. A good man will be a blessing to his household.
Wife, children, and helpers will all be the better for his religion.
Brethren, carry Christ into the family, carry Him into the pulpit,
carry Him with you wherever you go. Then you need not urge upon
others the necessity of appreciating the ministry, for you will bear the
heavenly credentials which will prove to all that you are servants of
Christ. Carry Jesus with you in your hours of solitude. Remember that
He was often in prayer, and His life was constantly sustained by fresh
inspirations of the Holy Spirit. Let your thoughts, your inner life, be
such that you will not be ashamed to meet its record in the day of God.
Heaven is not closed against the fervent prayers of the righteous.
Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are, yet the Lord heard
and in a most striking manner answered his petitions. The only reason
for our lack of power with God is to be found in ourselves. If the inner
life of many who profess the truth were presented before them, they
would not claim to be Christians. They are not growing in grace. A
hurried prayer is offered now and then, but there is no real communion
with God.
We must be much in prayer if we would make progress in the
divine life. When the message of truth was first proclaimed, how
much we prayed. How often was the voice of intercession heard in
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the chamber, in the barn, in the orchard, or the grove. Frequently
we spent hours in earnest prayer, two or three together claiming the
promise; often the sound of weeping was heard and then the voice of
thanksgiving and the song of praise. Now the day of God is nearer
than when we first believed, and we should be more earnest, more
zealous, and fervent than in those early days. Our perils are greater
now than then. Souls are more hardened. We need now to be imbued
with the spirit of Christ, and we should not rest until we receive it.
Brethren and sisters, have you forgotten that your prayers should
go out, like sharp sickles, with the laborers in the great harvest field?
As young men go forth to preach the truth, you should have seasons
of prayer for them. Pray that God will connect them with Himself
and give them wisdom, grace, and knowledge. Pray that they may be
guarded from the snares of Satan and kept pure in thought and holy in