434
Gospel Workers 1915
forth in the countenance. It will give to the voice a persuasive power.
Communion with God will ennoble the character and the life. Men
will take knowledge of us, as of the first disciples, that we have been
with Jesus. This will impart to the worker a power that nothing else
can give. Of this power he must not allow himself to be deprived.
We must live a twofold life,—a life of thought and action, of silent
prayer and earnest work. The strength received through communion
with God, united with earnest effort in training the mind to thoughtful-
ness and care-taking, prepares one for daily duties, and keeps the spirit
in peace under all circumstances, however trying.—
The Ministry of
Healing, 512
.
* * * * *
To the consecrated worker there is wonderful consolation in the
knowledge that even Christ during His life on earth sought His Father
daily for fresh supplies of needed grace; and from this communion
with God He went forth to strengthen and bless others.
[511]
Behold the Son of God bowed in prayer to His Father! Though
He is the Son of God, He strengthens His faith by prayer, and by
communion with Heaven gathers to Himself power to resist evil and
to minister to the needs of men. As the Elder Brother of our race,
He knows the necessities of those who, compassed with infirmity and
living in a world of sin and temptation, still desire to serve Him. He
knows that the messengers whom He sees fit to send are weak, erring
men; but to all who give themselves wholly to His service He promises
divine aid. His own example is an assurance that earnest, persevering
supplication to God in faith—faith that leads to entire dependence
upon God, and unreserved consecration to His work—will avail to
bring to men the Holy Spirit’s aid in the battle against sin.
Every worker who follows the example of Christ will be prepared
to receive and use the power that God has promised to His church for
the ripening of earth’s harvest. Morning by morning, as the heralds of
the gospel kneel before the Lord and renew their vows of consecration
to Him, He will grant them the presence of His Spirit, with its reviving,
sanctifying power. As they go forth to the day’s duties, they have the
assurance that the unseen agency of the Holy Spirit enables them to be