October, 1933
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said that faith had saved them. So He said to the Syro- phenician woman, too;: “ Great is thy fa ith : be it unto thee even as thou wilt.” Faith is nothing but the purpose of the will resting on God’s word, and saying: “ I must have it.” To believe truly is to will firmly. T h e L ib e r t y o f a R e n e w e d W il l But is not such a will at variance with our dependence on God and our submission to Him? By no means; it is much rather the true submission that honors God. It is only when the child has yielded his own will in entire surrender to the Father, that he receives from the Father liberty and power to will what he would have. But when once the believer has accepted the will o f God, as revealed through the Word and Spirit, as his will, too, then it is the will o f God that His child should use this renewed will in His service. The will is the highest power in the soul; grace wants above everything to sanctify and restore this will, one o f the chief traits of God’s image, to full and free exercise. As a son, who only lives for his father’s inter ests, who seeks not his own but his father’s will, is trusted by the father with his business, so God speaks to His child in all truth, “ What wilt thou?” It is often spiritual sloth that, under the appearance of humility, professes to have no will, because it fears the trouble o f searching out the will o f God, or, when found, the struggle o f claiming it in faith. True humility is ever in company with strong faith, which only seeks to know what is according to the will o f God, and then boldly claims the fulfillment o f the promise: “ Ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” “ LORD , TEACH US TO PRAY .” laborers together with Him, and He expects o f us what we can do. Exercise that will power that you have for other things! I am not surprised that you are ashamed, but I fear your regret has not gone deep enough yet. When the alarm goes off, do not stop to consider your feelings, but get u p ! Do not be defeated by laziness and unsteadfast ness of purpose, or allow any such selfish weakness to keep you from being the power that God wants you to be in other lives. Remember, life is an opportunity to be a blessing, not just a time to follow the dictates of self and feelings. Self is combining with Satan in this battle, but it is an opportun ity to win a real victory, which may be the source o f much blessing. Show that you are really in earnest in this. It is a serious matter. Much depends on it, not only for your own life, but for those you could influence for God. Remember, your prayer time is not only for your own growth and ser vice; but you have set aside a trysting time to meet God, and by ignoring it, you have failed H im ! Is that a trifling matter ? Oh, my dear, take this seriously, and do not only pray and talk to God about this, but cry unto Him with such earnestness as Jacob showed until God blessed him ! If you will do your part, God will feed you with spirit ual manna, make you a strong and useful Christian, and give you such a hunger for Himself that prayer will be your delight, and you will be seeking more time and oppor tunity for communion with Him.
W i s h i n g a n d W il l in g But the word of the Master teaches us more. He does not say, “ What dost thou wish?’' but, “ What dost thou will?” One often wishes for a thing without willing it. I wish to have a certain article, but I find the price too high; I resolve not to take it ; I wish, but I do not will to have it. The sluggard wishes to be rich, but does not will it. Many a one wishes to be saved, but perishes because he does not will it. The will rules the whole heart and life ; if I really will to have anything that is within my reach, I do not rest until I have it. And so, when Jesus says to us, “ What wilt thou?” He asks whether it is indeed our purpose to have what we ask at any price, however great the sacrifice. Dost thou indeed so will to have it that, though He delay it long, thou dost not hold thy peace till He hear thee ? Alas, how many prayers are wishes, sent up for a short time and then forgotten, or sent up year after year as matter o f duty, while we rest content ■with the prayer without the answer! But it may be asked, is it not best to make our wishes known to God, and then to leave it to Him to decide what is best? By no means. This is the very essence o f the prayer o f faith, to which Jesus sought to train His dis ciples, that it does not only make known its desire and then leave the decision to God. That would be the prayer o f submission, for cases in which we cannot know God’s will. But the prayer o f faith, finding God’s will in some promise o f the Word, pleads for that till it come. In Matthew 9:28, we read that Jesus said to the blind man: “ Believe ye that I can do this ?” Here, in Mark, He says: “ What wilt thou that I should do?” In both cases, He Dear Miss S cott: I have surrendered my life to Jesus. I love to serve Him, and want to be all He wants me to be. He has given me victory over so many things, but there is one place where I cannot seem to get victory. That is why I am writing you. It is in regard to my prayer life. I know prayer is necessary to Christian growth, and I do want to have a deep prayer life. I have taken the Quiet Hour pledge in C. E. and have determined again and again to set aside a certain time to pray, but I am ashamed to say I just don’t seem to carry it out. I have even set my alarm clock to get up early for it, but when it awakened me, in stead o f getting up, I just went back to sleep again. I seem to have will power in other things, but not in that. I sup pose it is the devil that hinders me, but why does God not give victory ? I pray and pray over this, but God does not answer, and then I just drift along for weeks without much prayer. Then I get under conviction about it again and make new resolutions with no better results than before. I feel sometimes I should give up the Sunday-school class I teach when I have so little victory myself. Can you help me in this?— U n s u c c e s s f u l O n e . Dear Unsuccessful One: Do not blame the Lord for your failure. This is a case where you can and must help yourself. God will not do for you what you can do for yourself. We are workers and
Q ir ls QUERY CORNER Conducted by M yrtle E. S cott Questions for answer in this corner should be sent to Miss Scott, 8961 Dicks Street, West Hollywood California. No name will be published.
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