Education
by
Ellen G. White
Chapter
30: Faith and Prayer
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Faith is trusting God—believing that He loves
us and knows best what is for our good. Thus, instead of our own, it leads us
to choose His way. In place of our ignorance, it accepts His wisdom; in place
of our weakness, His strength; in place of our sinfulness, His righteousness.
Our lives, ourselves, are already His; faith acknowledges His ownership and
accepts its blessing. Truth, uprightness, purity, have been pointed out as
secrets of life's success. It is faith that puts us in possession of these principles.
Every good impulse or aspiration is the gift
of God; faith receives from God the life that alone can produce true growth and
efficiency.
How to exercise faith should be made very
plain. To every promise of God there are conditions. If we are willing to do
His will, all His strength is ours. Whatever gift He promises, is in the
promise itself. "The seed is the word of God." Luke 8:11. As surely
as the oak is in the acorn, so surely is the gift of God in His promise. If we
receive the promise, we have the gift.
Faith that enables us to receive God's gifts
is itself a gift, of which some measure is imparted to every human being. It
grows as exercised in appropriating the word of [254] God. In order
to strengthen faith, we must often bring it in contact with the word.
In the study of the Bible the student should
be led to see the power of God's word. In the creation, "He spake, and it
was done; He commanded, and it stood fast." He "calleth those things
which be not as though they were" (Psalm 33:9; Romans 4:17); for when He
calls them, they are.
How often those who trusted the word of God,
though in themselves utterly helpless, have withstood the power of the whole
world—Enoch, pure in heart, holy in life, holding fast his faith in the triumph
of righteousness against a corrupt and scoffing generation; Noah and his
household against the men of his time, men of the greatest physical and mental
strength and the most debased in morals; the children of Israel at the Red Sea,
a helpless, terrified multitude of slaves, against the mightiest army of the
mightiest nation on the globe; David, a shepherd lad, having God's promise of
the throne, against Saul, the established monarch, bent on holding fast his
power; Shadrach and his companions in the fire, and Nebuchadnezzar on the
throne; Daniel among the lions, his enemies in the high places of the kingdom;
Jesus on the cross, and the Jewish priests and rulers forcing even the Roman
governor to work their will; Paul in chains led to a criminal's death, Nero the
despot of a world empire.
Such examples are not found in the Bible
only. They abound in every record of human progress. The Vaudois and the
Huguenots, Wycliffe and Huss, Jerome and Luther, Tyndale and Knox, Zinzendorf
and Wesley, with multitudes of others, have witnessed to the power of God's
word against human power and policy in support of evil. These are the world's
true nobility. This is its [255] royal line. In this line the youth
of today are called to take their places.
Faith is needed in the smaller no less than
in the greater affairs of life. In all our daily interests and occupations the
sustaining strength of God becomes real to us through an abiding trust.
Viewed from its human side, life is to all an
untried path. It is a path in which, as regards our deeper experiences, we each
walk alone. Into our inner life no other human being can fully enter. As the
little child sets forth on that journey in which, sooner or later, he must
choose his own course, himself deciding life's issues for eternity, how earnest
should be the effort to direct his trust to the sure Guide and Helper!
As a shield from temptation and an
inspiration to purity and truth, no other influence can equal the sense of God's
presence. "All things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom
we have to do." He is "of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst
not look on iniquity." Hebrews 4:13; Habakkuk 1:13. This thought was
Joseph's shield amidst the corruptions of Egypt. To the allurements of
temptation his answer was steadfast: "How . . . can I do this
great wickedness, and sin against God?" Genesis 39:9. Such a shield,
faith, if cherished, will bring to every soul.
Only the sense of God's presence can banish
the fear that, for the timid child, would make life a burden. Let him fix in
his memory the promise, "The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them
that fear Him, and delivereth them." Psalm 34:7. Let him read that
wonderful story of Elisha in the mountain city, and, between him and the hosts
of armed foemen, a mighty encircling band of heavenly angels. Let him read how
to Peter, in [256] prison and condemned to death, God's angel
appeared; how, past the armed guards, the massive doors and great iron gateway
with their bolts and bars, the angel led God's servant forth in safety. Let him
read of that scene on the sea, when the tempest-tossed soldiers and seamen,
worn with labor and watching and long fasting, Paul the prisoner, on his way to
trial and execution, spoke those grand words of courage and hope: "Be of
good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man's life among you.
. . . For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am,
and whom I serve, saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar:
and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee." In the faith
of this promise Paul assured his companions, "There shall not an hair fall
from the head of any of you." So it came to pass. Because there was in
that ship one man through whom God could work, the whole shipload of heathen
soldiers and sailors was preserved. "They escaped all safe to land."
Acts 27:22-24, 34, 44.
These things were not written merely that we
might read and wonder, but that the same faith which wrought in God's servants
of old might work in us. In no less marked a manner than He wrought then will
He work now wherever there are hearts of faith to be channels of His power.
Let the self-distrustful, whose lack of
self-reliance leads them to shrink from care and responsibility, be taught
reliance upon God. Thus many a one who otherwise would be but a cipher in the
world, perhaps only a helpless burden, will be able to say with the apostle
Paul, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."
Philippians 4:13.
For the child also who is quick to resent
injuries, faith [257] has precious lessons. The disposition to resist
evil or to avenge wrong is often prompted by a keen sense of justice and an
active, energetic spirit. Let such a child be taught that God is the eternal
guardian of right. He has a tender care for the beings whom He has so loved as
to give His dearest Beloved to save. He will deal with every wrongdoer.
"For he that toucheth you toucheth the
apple of His eye." Zechariah 2:8.
"Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust
also in Him; and He shall bring it to pass. . . . He shall bring
forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday."
Psalm 37:5, 6.
"The Lord also will be a refuge for the
oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble. And they that know Thy name will put
their trust in Thee: for Thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek
Thee." Psalm 9:9, 10.
The compassion that God manifests toward us,
He bids us manifest toward others. Let the impulsive, the self-sufficient, the
revengeful, behold the meek and lowly One, led as a lamb to the slaughter,
unretaliating as a sheep dumb before her shearers. Let them look upon Him whom
our sins have pierced and our sorrows burdened, and they will learn to endure,
to forbear, and to forgive.
Through faith in Christ, every deficiency of
character may be supplied, every defilement cleansed, every fault corrected,
every excellence developed.
"Ye are complete in Him."
Colossians 2:10.
Prayer and faith are closely allied, and they
need to be studied together. In the prayer of faith there is a divine science;
it is a science that everyone who would make his lifework a success must
understand. Christ says, "What [258] things soever ye desire,
when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them." Mark
11:24. He makes it plain that our asking must be according to God's will; we
must ask for the things that He has promised, and whatever we receive must be
used in doing His will. The conditions met, the promise is unequivocal.
For the pardon of sin, for the Holy Spirit,
for a Christlike temper, for wisdom and strength to do His work, for any gift
He has promised, we may ask; then we are to believe that we receive, and return
thanks to God that we have received.
We need look for no outward evidence of the
blessing. The gift is in the promise, and we may go about our work assured that
what God has promised He is able to perform, and that the gift, which we
already possess, will be realized when we need it most.
To live thus by the word of God means the
surrender to Him of the whole life. There will be felt a continual sense of
need and dependence, a drawing out of the heart after God. Prayer is a
necessity; for it is the life of the soul. Family prayer, public prayer, have
their place; but it is secret communion with God that sustains the soul life.
It was in the mount with God that Moses
beheld the pattern of that wonderful building which was to be the abiding place
of His glory. It is in the mount with God—in the secret place of communion—that
we are to contemplate His glorious ideal for humanity. Thus we shall be enabled
so to fashion our character building that to us may be fulfilled His promise,
"I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they
shall be My people." 2 Corinthians 6:16. [259]
It was in hours of solitary prayer that Jesus
in His earth life received wisdom and power. Let the youth follow His example
in finding at dawn and twilight a quiet season for communion with their Father
in heaven. And throughout the day let them lift up their hearts to God. At
every step of our way He says, "I the Lord thy God will hold thy right
hand, . . . Fear not; I will help thee." Isaiah 41:13. Could our
children learn these lessons in the morning of their years, what freshness and
power, what joy and sweetness, would be brought into their lives!
These are lessons that only he who himself
has learned can teach. It is because so many parents and teachers profess to
believe the word of God while their lives deny its power, that the teaching of
Scripture has no greater effect upon the youth. At times the youth are brought
to feel the power of the word. They see the preciousness of the love of Christ.
They see the beauty of His character, the possibilities of a life given to His
service. But in contrast they see the life of those who profess to revere God's
precepts. Of how many are the words true that were spoken to the prophet
Ezekiel:
Thy people "speak one to another, everyone
to his brother, saying, Come, I pray you, and hear what is the word that cometh
forth from the Lord. And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit
before thee as My people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them:
for with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goeth after their
covetousness. And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that
hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument: for [260] they
hear thy words, but they do them not." Ezekiel 33:30-32.
It is one thing to treat the Bible as a book
of good moral instruction, to be heeded so far as is consistent with the spirit
of the times and our position in the world; it is another thing to regard it as
it really is—the word of the living God, the word that is our life, the word
that is to mold our actions, our words, and our thoughts. To hold God's word as
anything less than this is to reject it. And this rejection by those who
profess to believe it, is foremost among the causes of skepticism and
infidelity in the youth.
An intensity such as never before was seen is
taking possession of the world. In amusement, in moneymaking, in the contest
for power, in the very struggle for existence, there is a terrible force that
engrosses body and mind and soul. In the midst of this maddening rush, God is
speaking. He bids us come apart and commune with Him. "Be still, and know
that I am God." Psalm 46:10. Many, even in their seasons of devotion, fail
of receiving the blessing of real communion with God. They are in too great
haste. With hurried steps they press through the circle of Christ's loving
presence, pausing perhaps a moment within the sacred precincts, but not waiting
for counsel. They have no time to remain with the divine Teacher. With their
burdens they return to their work.
These workers can never attain the highest
success until they learn the secret of strength. They must give themselves time
to think, to pray, to wait upon God for[261] a renewal of physical,
mental, and spiritual power. They need the uplifting influence of His Spirit.
Receiving this, they will be quickened by fresh life. The wearied frame and
tired brain will be refreshed, the burdened heart will be lightened.
Not a pause for a moment in His presence, but
personal contact with Christ, to sit down in companionship with Him—this is our
need. Happy will it be for the children of our homes and the students of our
schools when parents and teachers shall learn in their own lives the precious
experience pictured in these words from the Song of Songs:
"As the apple tree among the trees of the wood,
So is my Beloved among the sons.
I sat down under His shadow with great delight,
And His fruit was sweet to my taste.
He brought me to the banqueting house,
And His banner over me was love." Song of Solomon 2:3, 4.
"As the apple tree among the trees of the wood,
So is my Beloved among the sons.
I sat down under His shadow with great delight,
And His fruit was sweet to my taste.
He brought me to the banqueting house,
And His banner over me was love." Song of Solomon 2:3, 4.
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