You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. Isaiah 26:3.

Prayer to the Great Physician for the healing of the soul brings the blessing of God. Prayer unites us one to another and to God. Prayer brings Jesus to our side and gives new strength and fresh grace to the fainting, perplexed soul. By prayer the sick have been encouraged to believe that God will look with compassion upon them. A ray of light penetrates to the hopeless soul and becomes a savor of life unto life. Prayer has “subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire”—we shall know what this means when we hear the reports of the martyrs who died for their faith—“turned to flight the armies of the aliens.”

We shall hear about these victories when the Captain of our salvation, the glorious King of heaven, opens the record before those of whom John writes, “These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” …

Christ our Savior was tempted in all points like as we are, yet He was without sin. He took human nature, being made in fashion as a man, and His necessities were the necessities of mankind….

Prayer went before and sanctified every act of His ministry. He communed with His Father till the close of His life; and when He hung upon the cross, there arose from His lips the bitter cry, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Then in a voice which has reached to the very ends of the earth, He exclaimed, “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.” … The night seasons of prayer which the Savior spent in the mountain or in the desert were essential to prepare Him for the trials He must meet in the days to follow….

All things are possible to those that believe. No one coming to the Lord in sincerity of heart will be disappointed. How wonderful it is that we can pray effectually, that unworthy, erring mortals possess the power of offering their requests to God! … We utter words that reach the throne of the Monarch of the universe.—The Review and Herald, October 30, 1900.

From From the Heart

Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit. Ephesians 6:18.

We are not always so situated that we can enter into our closets to seek God in prayer, but there is no time or place in which it is inappropriate to offer up a petition to God. There is nothing that can hinder us from lifting up our hearts in the spirit of earnest prayer. In the crowds of the street, in the midst of a business engagement, we may send up a petition to God and plead for divine guidance, as did Nehemiah when he made his request before the king Artaxerxes. A closet of communion may be found wherever we are. We should have the door of the heart open continually and our invitation going up that Jesus may come and abide as a heavenly guest in our souls.

Although there may be a tainted, corrupted atmosphere around us, we need not breathe its miasma but may live in the pure atmosphere of heaven. We may close every door to impure imaginings and unholy thoughts by lifting the soul into the presence of God through sincere prayer. Those whose hearts are open to receive the support and blessing of God will walk in a holier atmosphere than that of earth and will have constant communion with God…. The heart is to be continually going out in desire for the presence and grace of Jesus, that the soul may have divine enlightenment and heavenly wisdom.

We need to have more distinct views of Jesus, and a fuller comprehension of the value of eternal realities. The beauty of holiness is to fill the hearts of God’s people, and that this may be accomplished, we should seek for divine disclosures of heavenly things….

We may keep so near to God that in every unexpected trial our thoughts may turn to God as naturally as the flower turns to the sun. The sunflower keeps its face sunward. If it is turned from the light, it will twist itself on the stem until it lifts up its petals to the bright beams of the sun. So let everyone who has given the heart to God turn to the Sun of Righteousness and eagerly look up to receive the bright beams of the glory that shine in the face of Jesus….

The Lord is under no obligation to grant us His favors, yet He has pledged His word that if we will comply with the conditions stated in the Scriptures, He will fulfill His part of the contract. Men and women often make promises but do not live up to them. Often we have found that in trusting others we have leaned upon broken reeds; but the Lord will never disappoint the soul that believes in Him.—Signs of the Times, December 16, 1889.

From From the Heart

The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry. Psalm 34:15.

When Jesus was upon earth, and walked a man among the children of humanity, He prayed, and oh, how earnest were His prayers! How often He spent the whole night upon the damp, cold ground, in agonizing supplication! And yet He was the beloved and sinless Son of God. If Jesus felt the necessity of communion with His Father and manifested so much earnestness in calling upon Him, how much more should we, whom He has called to be heirs of salvation, who are subject to the fiery temptations of the wily foe and dependent upon divine grace for strength to overcome, have our whole souls stirred to wrestle with God….

Satan is ever ready to insinuate that prayer is a mere form and avails us nothing. He cannot bear to have his powerful rival appealed to. At the sound of fervent prayer, the hosts of darkness tremble. Fearing that their captives may escape, they form a wall around them, that Heaven’s light may not reach their souls. But if in their distress and helplessness they look to Jesus, pleading the merits of His blood, their compassionate Redeemer listens to the earnest, persevering prayer of faith and sends to their deliverance a reinforcement of angels that excel in strength. And when these angels, all-powerful, clothed with the armory of heaven, come to the help of the fainting, pursued souls, the angels of darkness fall back, well knowing that their battle is lost, and that more souls are escaping from the power of their influence….

If you expect salvation, you must pray. Take time. Be not hurried and careless in your prayers. Intercede with God to work in you a thorough reformation, that the fruits of the Spirit may dwell in you, and that, by your godly life, you may shine as a light in the world….

Take time to pray. And as you pray, believe that God hears you; have faith mixed with your prayers. Let faith take hold of the blessing, and it is yours….

Every petition that is offered to God in faith and with a true heart will be answered. Such prayer is never lost; but to claim that it will always be answered in the very way and for the particular thing that we desire is presumption. God is too wise to err and too good to withhold any good thing from them that walk uprightly.—Signs of the Times, November 18, 1886.

From From the Heart

In vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men. Matthew 15:9.

Those who desire to know the truth have nothing to fear from the investigation of the Word of God. But upon the threshold of investigation of the Word of God, inquirers after truth should lay aside all prejudice and hold in abeyance all preconceived opinion, and open the ear to hear the voice of God from His messenger. Cherished opinions, long-practiced customs and habits, are to be brought to the test of the Scriptures; and if the Word of God opposes your views, then, for your soul’s sake, do not wrest the Scriptures, as many do to their soul’s destruction in order to make them seem to bear a testimony in favor of their errors. Let your inquiry be, What is truth? Not, What have I hitherto believed to be truth? Do not interpret the Scriptures in the light of your former belief, and assert that some doctrine of finite humanity is truth. Let your inquiry be, What saith the Scriptures? …

Make up your mind that your former theories must change if they are not in harmony with the doctrines of the Bible. You are called upon to put forth diligent effort to discover what is truth. This should not be thought a hard requirement; for we are called upon to toil for our temporal and earthly blessings, and it is not to be expected that we shall find the heavenly treasure unless we are willing to dig in the mines of truth and exercise all our powers of mind and heart to understand….

Beware lest you read the Word of God in the light of erroneous teaching. It was on this very ground that the Jews made their fatal mistake. They declared that there must be no different interpretation placed upon the Scriptures than that which had been given by the rabbis in former years; and as they had multiplied their traditions and maxims and had clothed them with sacredness, the Word of God was made of no effect through their traditions; and if Jesus Christ, the Word of God, had not come into the world, humanity would have lost all knowledge of the true God….

It is Satan’s studied plan to pervert the Scriptures and to lead us to put a false construction on the Word of God…. All articles of faith, all doctrines and creeds, however sacred they have been regarded, are to be rejected if they contradict the plain statements of the Word of God.—The Review and Herald, March 25, 1902.

From From the Heart

Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. James 1:27.

Bible religion is not a garment which can be put on and taken off at pleasure. It is an all-pervading influence which leads us to be patient, self-denying followers of Christ, doing as He did, walking as He walked…. This religion teaches us to exercise patience and long-suffering when brought into places where we receive treatment that is hard and unjust….

But if the word of God is made an abiding principle in our lives, everything with which we have to do, each word, each trivial act, will reveal that we are subject to Jesus Christ, that even our thoughts have been brought into captivity to Him. If the word of God is received into the heart, it will empty the soul of self-sufficiency and self-dependence. Our lives will be a power for good, because the Holy Spirit will fill our minds with the things of God. The religion of Christ will be practiced by us, for our wills are in perfect conformity to the will of God….

“Search the scriptures.” No other book will give you such pure, elevating, ennobling thoughts; from no other book can you obtain a deep religious experience. When you devote time to self-examination, to humble prayer, to earnest study of God’s Word, the Holy Spirit is near to apply the truth to your heart….

The Bible, and the Bible alone, is to be the rule of our faith. It is a leaf from the tree of life, and by eating it, by receiving it into our minds, we shall grow strong to do the will of God….

If we do not receive the religion of Christ by feeding upon the Word of God, we shall not be entitled to an entrance into the city of God. Having lived on earthly food, having educated our tastes to love worldly things, … we could not appreciate the pure, heavenly current that circulates in heaven….

Jesus says, “Without me ye can do nothing.” Living in Christ, adhering to Christ, supported by Christ, drawing nourishment from Christ, we bear fruit after the similitude of Christ. We live and move in Him; we are one with Him and one with the Father. The name of Christ is glorified in the believing child of God. This is Bible religion.—The Review and Herald, May 4, 1897.

From From the Heart