Dear Christian, remember to take good care of your faith, for faith is the only way to obtain God’s blessings. Prayer alone cannot bring answers down from His throne, because it is the earnest prayer of one who believes that leads to answers.

Faith is the communication link between heaven and earth. It is on this link of faith that God’s messages of love travel so quickly that even before we ask, He answers. And while we are still speaking, “he hears us” (1 John 5:14). So when the connection of faith is broken, how will we obtain His promises?

Am I in trouble? I can receive help by expressing faith. Am I being battered by the Enemy? My soul will find refuge by leaning in faith upon God. But without faith, I call to Him in vain, for faith is the only road between my soul and heaven. If the road is blocked, how can I communicate with the great King?

Faith links me to Holy God and clothes me with the power of Jehovah. Faith ensures me that each of His attributes will be used in my defense, helping me to defy the hosts of hell. It causes me to march triumphantly over the necks of my enemies. So without faith, how can I receive anything from the Lord?

Therefore, O Christian, carefully watch your faith. “Everything is possible for one who believes” (Mark 9:23). CHARLES H. SPURGEON

We as a people take such pride in being so practical that we want something more sure than faith. Yet Paul said, “The promise comes by FAITH, so that it may . . . be GUARANTEED” (Romans 4:16). DANIEL CRAWFORD

Faith honors God, and God honors faith.

The great devotional teacher of the past century, Dr. Andrew Murray, said, “When you get a promise from God it is worth just as much as fulfillment. A promise brings you into direct contact with God. Honor Him by trusting the promise and obeying Him.” Worth just as much as fulfillment. Do we grasp the truth often? Are we not frequently in the state of trying to believe, instead of realizing that these promises bring us into contact with God?

“God’s promise is as good as His presence.” To believe and accept the promise of God is not to engage in some mental gymnastics where we reach down into our imaginations and begin a process of auto-suggestion, or produce a notional faith in which we argue with ourselves in an endeavor to believe God. It is absolute confidence in and reliance upon God through His Word.

By a naked faith in a naked promise I do not mean a bare assent that God is faithful, and that such a promise in the Book of God may be fulfilled in me, but a bold, hearty, steady venturing of my soul, body, and spirit upon the truth of the promise with an appropriating act. FLETCHER

The faith that will shut the mouths of lions must be more than a pious hope that they will not bite.