Prayer

faith, hope, and courage. After doing what you can, wait for the Lord, declaring His
faithfulness, and He will bring His word to pass. Wait, not in fretful anxiety, but in
undaunted faith and unshaken trust.—(Testimonies for the Church 7:245.)
Pray with confidence—It is the heartfelt prayer of faith that is heard in heaven
and answered on earth. God understands the needs of humanity. He knows what we
desire before we ask Him. He sees the soul’s conflict with doubt and temptation. He
marks the sincerity of the suppliant. He will accept the humiliation and affliction of
the soul. “To this man will I look,” He declares, “even to him that is poor and of a
contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.”
It is our privilege to pray with confidence, the Spirit inditing our petitions. With
simplicity we should state our needs to the Lord, and claim His promise.—(God’s
Amazing Grace, 92.)
Jesus is as willing to listen to prayer today as when he was on earth—Worldly
wisdom teaches that prayer is not essential. Men of science claim that there can
be no real answer to prayer; that this would be a violation of law, a miracle, and
that miracles have no existence. The universe, say they, is governed by fixed laws,
and God Himself does nothing contrary to these laws. Thus they represent God as
bound by His own laws—as if the operation of divine laws could exclude divine
freedom. Such teaching is opposed to the testimony of the Scriptures. Were not
miracles wrought by Christ and His apostles? The same compassionate Saviour lives
today, and He is as willing to listen to the prayer of faith as when He walked visibly
among men.—(The Great Controversy, 525.)
The prayer of faith expresses the simple wants of the soul—Prayer is not an
expiation for sin; it has no virtue or merit of itself. All the flowery words at our
command are not equivalent to one holy desire. The most eloquent prayers are but
idle words if they do not express the true sentiments of the heart. But the prayer that
comes
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