Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe.

When you are confronted with a matter that requires immediate prayer, pray until you believe God—until with wholehearted sincerity you can thank Him for the answer. If you do not see the external answer immediately, do not pray for it in such a way that it is evident you are not definitely believing God for it. This type of prayer will be a hindrance instead of a help to you. And when you are finished praying, you will find that your faith has been weakened or has entirely gone. The urgency you felt to offer this kind of prayer is clearly from self and Satan. It may not be wrong to mention the matter to the Lord again, if He is keeping you waiting for His answer, but be sure to do so in a way that shows your faith.

Never pray in a way that diminishes your faith. You may tell Him you are waiting, still believing and therefore praising Him for the answer. There is nothing that so fully solidifies faith as being so sure of the answer that you can thank God for it. Prayers that empty us of faith deny both God’s promises from His Word and the “Yes” that He whispered to our hearts. Such prayers are only the expression of the unrest of our hearts, and unrest implies unbelief that our prayers will be answered. “Now we who have believed enter that rest” (Hebrews 4:3).

The type of prayer that empties us of faith frequently arises from focusing our thoughts on the difficulty rather than on God’s promise. Abraham, “without weakening in his faith . . . faced the fact that his body was as good as dead. . . . Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God” (Romans 4:19–20). May we “watch and pray so that [we] will not fall into [the] temptation” (Matthew 26:41) of praying faith-diminishing prayers. C. H. P.

Faith is not a sense, nor sight, nor reason, but simply taking God at His word. CHRISTMAS EVANS

The beginning of anxiety is the end of faith, and the beginning of true faith is the end of anxiety. GEORGE MUELLER

You will never learn faith in comfortable surroundings. God gives us His promises in a quiet hour, seals our covenants with great and gracious words, and then steps back, waiting to see how much we believe. He then allows the Tempter to come, and the ensuing test seems to contradict all that He has spoken. This is when faith wins its crown. This is the time to look up through the storm, and among the trembling, frightened sailors declare, “I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me” (Acts 27:25).

Believe and trust; through stars and suns, Through life and death, through soul and sense, His wise, paternal purpose runs; The darkness of His Providence Is starlit with Divine intents.

A number of years ago I went to America with a steamship captain who was a very devoted Christian.

When we were off the coast of Newfoundland, he said to me, “The last time I sailed here, which was five weeks ago, something happened that revolutionized my entire Christian life.

I had been on the bridge for twenty-four straight hours when George Mueller of Bristol, England, who was a passenger on board, came to me and said, ‘Captain, I need to tell you that I must be in Quebec on Saturday afternoon.’

‘That is impossible,’ I replied.

‘Very well,’ Mueller responded, ‘if your ship cannot take me, God will find some other way, for I have never missed an engagement in fifty-seven years. Let’s go down to the chartroom to pray.’

“I looked at this man of God and thought to myself, ‘What lunatic asylum did he escape from?’ I had never encountered someone like this.

‘Mr. Mueller,’ I said, ‘do you realize how dense the fog is?’

‘No,’ he replied. ‘My eye is not on the dense fog but on the living God, who controls every circumstance of my life.’

“He then knelt down and prayed one of the most simple prayers I’ve ever heard.

When he had finished, I started to pray, but he put his hand on my shoulder and told me not to pray.

He said, ‘First, you do not believe God will answer, and second, I BELIEVE HE HAS.

Consequently, there is no need whatsoever for you to pray about it.’

“As I looked at him, he said, ‘Captain, I have known my Lord for fifty-seven years, and there has never been even a single day that I have failed to get an audience with the King.

Get up, Captain, and open the door, and you will see that the fog is gone.’

I got up, and indeed the fog was gone.

And on Saturday afternoon George Mueller was in Quebec for his meeting.”

SELECTED

If our love were just more simple,

We would take Him at His word;

And our lives would be all sunshine,

In the sweetness of our Lord.

There are three levels of faith in the Christian experience. The first is being able to believe only when we see some sign or have some strong emotion. Like Gideon, we feel the fleece and are willing to trust God if it is wet. This may be genuine faith but it is imperfect. It is continually looking to feelings or some other sign instead of the Word of God. We have taken a great step toward maturity when we trust God without relying on our feelings. It is more of a blessing when we believe without experiencing any emotion.

While the first level of faith believes when our emotions are favorable, the second believes when all feelings are absent. And the third level transcends the other two, for it is faith that believes God and His Word when circumstances, emotions, appearances, people, and human reason all seem to urge something to the contrary. Paul exercised this level of faith when he said, “When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved” (Acts 27:20), then nevertheless went on to say, “Keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me” (Acts 27:25).

May God grant us faith to completely trust His Word, even when every other sign points the other way. C. H. P.

When is the time to trust? Is it when all is calm, When waves the victor’s palm, And life is one glad psalm Of joy and praise? No! For the time to trust Is when the waves beat high, When storm clouds fill the sky, And prayer is one long cry, “Oh, help and save!”

When is the time to trust? Is it when friends are true? Is it when comforts woo, And in all we say and do We meet but praise? No! For the time to trust Is when we stand alone, And summer birds have flown, And every prop is gone, All else but God.

When is the time to trust? Is it some future day, When you have tried your way, And learned to trust and pray By bitter woe? No! For the time to trust Is in this moment’s need, Poor, broken, bruised reed! Poor, troubled soul, make speed To trust your God.

When is the time to trust? Is it when hopes beat high, When sunshine gilds the sky, And joy and ecstasy Fill all the heart? No! For the time to trust Is when our joy has fled, When sorrow bows the head, And all is cold and dead, All else but God.