Satan, knowing how disastrous to his kingdom is the Christian's prayer of faith, will do all he can to hinder. He will heap upon you duties of life; tell you that you have no time for prayer. When you do pray [pg 203] he will try to make your prayers hurried and insincere. He will try to divert your attention when at the altar of prayer. He will be constantly presenting thoughts of secular duties. He will strive to make your devotions formal and irksome. He will cast over you a feeling of awful indifference and then advise you not to pray until you feel more like it. He will make the heavens appear as brass above you, and tell you God does not hear you. Christian, you know by the Word of God what is your duty. It is to pray. Then pray you must. It is the language of the Bible. Disregarding your feelings, pray. Disregarding the suggestions of Satan, pray. As you value your soul, pray, and “pray without ceasing.”
Fastings.
That the apostle Paul considered fasting an excellent means for spiritual development is evident from his writings. He says that the ministers of God should approve themselves by “much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in watchings, in fastings.” 2 Cor. 6:4, 5. In speaking of himself, he says he was “in weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often.” 2 Cor. 11:27. In Acts 27:33, we learn that on the occasion of the shipwreck fourteen days were spent in fasting. This is not the doing of penance that the priests of mystic Babylon bind upon their [pg 204] subjects, but the cheerful service of a humble, devoted heart. God has not left this at the direction of man, but it is alone at the dictation of the Holy Spirit.
There is a secret power in fasting. It separates us farther from self and deepens us in humility, spirituality and reliance upon God. On occasions where great faith was required, fastings were recommended by the Savior. In speaking to his disciples concerning the devils which possessed a child, he said, “This kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.” Mat. 17:21. When Paul and Barnabas were separated by the Holy Spirit unto the work of the Lord, after fasting and prayer hands were laid upon them and they were sent away. When fasting, the mind is clearer and the faith more active. It is a self-denial, which has a tendency to develop the graces of the Spirit.
It is said of a certain prophetess that dwelt in Jerusalem in the days of our Savior's nativity, that she departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. Luke 2:36, 37.
The most spiritual Christians are ready to acknowledge that fasting is an excellent means of drawing us into a deeper and more intimate communion with God. We scarcely think that any one will attain to any great spiritual depth without fasting. When the Christian's soul is burdened for this lost world it is natural for him to unburden his soul to God in [pg 205] fasting and prayer. How beautifully has the Lord arranged all things in the kingdom of heaven! He by his Spirit, lays a burden upon our heart for the souls of lost mankind. This burden causes us to seek God in fasting and prayer for these lost ones, and our prayers move him to send forth his Spirit to convict this world of sin. Thus it is arranged in the economy of grace, and thus we can all be “workers together with him.”
It is sad that comparatively so few know the value of the sincere prayer of faith. Fasting and prayer affect this whole world, and heaven and hell. Christian, do not be sparing in them. Christians are few, but there are enough of them upon the earth, that if all were earnest in fasting and prayer this world would be disturbed in her slumber and sinners be made to fear before the wrath of God. To be unwilling to fast when we feel the movings of God's Spirit upon us to that end, is to soon become so dull and stupid spiritually that we will have but little burden or concern for perishing souls. If we want to walk with God and have a deep concern for his cause and love for lost mankind we must be self-denying and “in fastings often.”
Trials And Temptations.
You may wonder why we have arranged the subject of “Trials and Temptations” in the chapter of “Spiritual Culture.” It is because they are an excellent [pg 206] means of our growth in divine things. “All things work together for good to them that love God.” Trials prove to be for our good in the spiritual life if we will boldly and bravely meet them in Jesus' name. We are encouraged by the apostle James to count all temptations a joy. It is evident that the apostle would not exhort us to count temptations a joy if they were not for our good. The Bible tells us there is a tempter. 1 Thes. 3:5. We also learn from the sacred page that God does not tempt any man. Jas. 1:13. Matthew tells us that the devil is the tempter. Mat. 4:1. God permits Satan to try and tempt us as we learn from Job's experience. Satan can not tempt us beyond what God permits, and God will not permit him to tempt us beyond what we are able to bear. He does not permit one to be tempted more than another, but we all have temptations such as are common to man. 1 Cor. 10:13.
Jesus was tempted in every manner that man is tempted, yet without sin. Heb. 4:15. Jesus was not overcome by temptation, but he faithfully endured. Because he was thus tempted and overcame, he knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation. 2 Pet. 2:9. Not only does he know how to deliver us out of temptation, but he is fully able to do so. Heb. 2:18.