Basic HTML Version
Awaiting Our Demand, August 21
Ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.
John 16:24
.
Prayer is heaven’s ordained means of success in the conflict with sin and the
[215]
development of Christian character. The divine influences that come in answer
to the prayer of faith will accomplish in the soul of the suppliant all for which
he pleads. For the pardon of sin, for the Holy Spirit, for a Christlike temper, for
wisdom and strength to do His work, for any gift He has promised, we may ask;
and the promise is, “Ye shall receive.”
Jesus is our helper; in Him and through Him we must conquer.... The grace
of Christ is waiting your demand upon it. He will give you grace and strength as
you need it if you ask Him.... The religion of Christ will bind and restrain every
unholy passion, will stimulate to energy, to self-discipline, and industry, even
in the matters of homely, everyday life, leading us to learn economy, tact, and
self-denial, and to endure even privation without a murmur. The Spirit of Christ in
the heart will be revealed in the character, will develop noble qualities and powers.
“My grace is sufficient” (
2 Corinthians 12:9
) says Christ.
Make every effort to keep open the communion between Jesus and your own
soul.... We should pray in the family circle, and above all we must not neglect
secret prayer; for this is the life of the soul. It is impossible for the soul to flourish
while prayer is neglected. Family or public prayer alone is not sufficient. In
solitude let the soul be laid open to the inspecting eye of God. Secret prayer is to
be heard only by the prayer-hearing God. No curious ear is to receive the burden
of such petitions. In secret prayer the soul is free from surrounding influences,
free from excitement.... By calm, simple faith, the soul holds communion with
God, and gathers to itself rays of divine light to strengthen and sustain it in the
conflict with Satan....
Pray in your closet, and as you go about your daily labor, let your heart be often
uplifted to God. It was thus that Enoch walked with God. These silent prayers
rise like precious incense before the throne of grace. Satan cannot overcome him
whose heart is thus stayed upon God.
248