Faith in Prayer by H. M. Wilkinson

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Sep 5, 1865

Faith in Prayer.

By H. M. Wilkinson

"If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." John xv, 7. What a precious promise! And it came from the lips of our Saviour. Yes; even from His lips who said, "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." Again he says, "Ask and ye shall receive." The apostle James tells us that we must "ask in faith nothing wavering." So we see if we desire a blessing from the hand of the Lord, we must have faith to believe we shall receive it, and in order to have that faith which is needed, the word of Christ must abide in us, and, as the result, be carried out in our lives. If we do this, we shall, as James teaches, have works by which to show our faith. Then, when we feel the need of any special blessing, we have a right to ask, and also to believe that we do receive the very blessing we need. The apostle John says, "And this is the confidence that we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us: and if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him." John v, 14, 15. Then, when we have such promises as these to rely upon, why should we lack faith? Do we not believe God will perform all which is promised in his word? To be sure we do, if we have confidence in his word. Then why not at all times act as though we believed it? If we strive continually to do the whole will of God, it is our privilege when we meet together and ask for his blessing to rest upon us, to believe that we have it; not only this, but also in our family devotions, and also in secret prayer; and as the apostle James tells us, if any among us are sick, and we follow the directions there given us, it is our privilege to believe that "the prayer of faith shall save the sick." How much better to rely upon the great Physician in time of sickness, than to depend upon the skill of earthly physicians, who often administer poisonous drugs to quell the power of disease.

Dear brethren and sisters, may the Lord help us, one and all, to draw near to him, and live faithfully before him, and ever to exercise living faith in all his precious promises, and claim his blessing as ours in every time of need.

H. M. WILKINSON.

Peterboro, N. H.