Ephesians 3:20

Scripture tells us that Abraham, “without weakening in his faith, . . . faced the fact that his body was as good as dead” (v. 19). He was not discouraged, because he was not looking at himself but at almighty God. “He did not waver . . . regarding the promise” but stood straight, not bending beneath the staggering load of God’s blessing. Instead of growing weak, his faith grew stronger, exhibiting more power, even as more difficulties became apparent. Abraham glorified God for His complete sufficiency and was “fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.”

The literal translation of this passage from the Greek expresses the thought in this way: God is not merely able but abundantly able, bountifully and generously able, with an infinite surplus of resources, and eternally able “to do what he had promised.”

Able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.

Able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.

He that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name.

Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?

God puts Himself within our reach in His promises; and when we can say to Him, “Thou saidst,” He cannot say nay—He must do as He has said. In prayer, be sure to get your feet on a promise; it will give you purchase enough to force open the gates of heaven and to take it by force! When once you can lay hold of a promise, you have a leverage with God which enables you to count upon the fulfillment of your petition. God cannot go back from His plighted word. F. B. MEYER

“God could no more disappoint faith than He could deny Himself.” A friend gives me a check which reads: “Pay to the order of C. H. Spurgeon the sum of ten pounds.” His name is good and his bank is good, but I get nothing from his kindness until I put my own name on the back of the check. It is a very simple act but the signature cannot be dispensed with. There are many nobler names than mine, but none of these can be used instead of my own. If I wrote the Queen’s name it would not avail me . . . I must affix my own name.

God wants us to ask Him for the impossible! God can do things that man cannot do. He would not be God if this were not so. That is why He has graciously made prayer a law of life. “If ye shall ask . . . I will do” (John 14:14 KJV). This inviting promise from the Lord means that He will do for us what we cannot do for ourselves; He will do for others what we cannot do for them— if we but ask Him. How little do we avail ourselves of this immense privilege!

Someone spoke this searching word at Edinburgh in 1910: “We have lost the eternal youthfulness of Christianity and have aged into calculating manhood. We seldom pray in earnest for the extraordinary, the limitless, the glorious. We seldom pray with any confidence, for any good to the realization of which we cannot imagine a way. And yet, we suppose ourselves to believe in an Infinite Father.”

How striking and powerful is the message of these words! Jehoash, king of Israel, thought he had done quite well when he struck the ground “three times and stopped.” To him, it seemed to be an extraordinary act of his faith, but the Lord and the prophet Elisha were deeply disappointed, because he had stopped halfway.

Yes, he did receive something; in fact, he received a great deal— exactly what he had believed God for, in the final analysis. Yet Jehoash did not receive everything that Elisha meant for him to have or that the Lord wanted to bestow on him. He missed much of the meaning of the promise, and the fullness of the blessing. He did receive more than any human could have offered, but he did not receive God’s best.