Perhaps out of my interest in the prayer of faith, a series of quotations on the absolute faithfulness of God have greatly impressed me. Note the following:
Frances Ridley Havergal (Wrote the hymn “Take My Life and Let It Be” and many devotional books)
"Every year, I might say almost every day, I believe I seem to see more clearly how all the rest, and gladness, and power of the Christian life hinges on one thing, and that is, taking God at His Word—believing that He really means exactly what He says, and accepting the very words, in which He reveals His goodness and grace, without substituting others, or altering the precise moods or tenses, which He has seen fit to use."
George Müller (Pastor and founder of orphanage in Bristol, England)
"In the simplest manner in which I am able to express it, faith is the assurance that what God has said in His Word is true; and that God will act according to what He has said in His Word. This assurance, this reliance on God's Word, this confidence, is faith."
Eli Wigle (Wrote a book on prevailing prayer)
“The core element in the act of faith is that in it, by which we step out and beyond the reach of the senses, or perception; beyond apprehended facts; beyond facts apprehensible by the senses, intuition, or demonstration, to equally veritable facts, cognizable only by faith. As the telescope enables us to bring within our vision and investigation worlds almost infinitely beyond the reach of unaided sight, so faith is an instrument by which we bring within the compass of cognition and experience the most wonderfully blessed facts in the realm of the invisible and spiritual.”—
Ellen White (Wrote many books, The Desire of Ages, one of the top books on the life of Christ)
“Is Jesus true? Does He mean what He says? Answer decidedly, Yes, every word. Then if you have settled this, by faith claim every promise that He has made, and receive the blessing; for this acceptance by faith gives life to the soul. You may believe that Jesus is true to you, even though you feel yourself to be the weakest and most unworthy of His children.”
Johann Arndt (A German Pietist who wrote True Christianity, one of the most read books in German for a time following the reformation.
“(Christ) may be grasped with weak or with strong faith. Weak faith belongs as much to Christ as strong. Whether a man is weak or strong of faith, he is Christ’s own just the same. The grace that is promised is common to all Christians and is eternal. On this, faith must rest, whether it be weak or strong.”
Hudson Taylor (Founder of the China Inland Mission)
“Oh, how true it is; all the waters of earth, how thirsty they leave us, or how soon we become thirsty again! "But," continued our Master, there is something better, "whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst" — shall never thirst! It may have been the end of 1868 or the beginning of 1869 when I discovered that "shall" means " shall," and that "never " means " never," and that "thirst" means " thirst." I can't tell you how delighted I was, for I was so thirsty at the time. And so hungry and thirsty was I as the Spirit of God threw his own Divine light on those words, that I saw that "shall" means "shall," and "never" means "never," and "thirst" means " thirst." I leaped from my seat; I could not sit still. How I did praise God that the thirsty days were all past! Well, you know, it is only a little over twenty years since then, and they haven't come back since; and twenty thousand years hence, when you and I meet up there, I shall have the same story to tell you. He has promised it to me and I believe it.”
Of course the challenge is obtaining what we need. Many people know there is power and help available from God, but don’t know how to obtain the blessings for themselves. I once had the same challenge with electrical power for my computer, as a result of forgetting my electrical adapter with me. The power was waiting in the wall for me, but I didn’t know how to get it out to my computer. In this regard the story of Jehoshaphat (2 Chron. 20) is most instructive. When he heard that an overwhelming enemy was coming, he immediately began “seeking the Lord and proclaimed a fast” (vs. 3) Too many of us weary ourselves trying to solve overwhelming problems on our own, instead of seeking God and His solutions. Jehoshaphat acknowledged that he had neither the means, nor the wisdom, to overcome (vs.12). God intervened through a prophet who gave great encouragement and specific instruction (vs. 15-17). Jehoshaphat recognized the virtue of following the counsel of the godly prophet (vs. 20), obeyed accordingly (vs. 21), and God set up ambushes which defeated the enemy (vs. 22). Once again, in what should have been a great calamity, God brought about great blessings that could not have come any other way. These included the (1) spoils of war that were too great to carry away; (2) a “fear of God on all the kingdoms of those countries….” (3) and “the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet, for God gave him rest all around.” You will be glad to know that God sent a person with knowledge to help me in England after I made my challenge a matter of prayer, just as God sent Jehoshaphat a prophet after he prayed.
Are you praying? Are you praying with faith?