“Precious light has been permitted to shine upon our pathway, and around us are the angels of heaven, who are interested in our welfare. God is willing to do great things for His people, and He has promised that if we ask we shall receive; but many fail to grasp the promises of blessed assurance and help. These precious promises are to be fulfilled to those who keep the commandments of God, and who do those things that are pleasing in His sight. We should praise God for His abundant goodness, and manifest our love to Him by our obedience. The love of Christ manifested toward us in His life of humiliation and self-denial, in His death on Calvary, should call forth songs of gratitude from our lips. The hope of His soon coming should fill us with sacred joy, and we should lay hold of the merits of the divine character of Him who endured insult, mockery, shame, and death in our behalf. . . .” –The Signs of the Times, December 8, 1890
“How many who ask a blessing of the Lord would be surprised should they receive their request. Of what is this want of expectation that our prayers will be answered, a proof?—It proves that we have no definite belief that the blessing will be granted, that we have no genuine faith that God will hear, that we do not watch for the answer, so that when it is received, we may connect it with the prayers we have offered. . . .
“Unbelief is the sin that so easily besets us; and this sin is obnoxious to God. However secret is its working in the heart, the guilty one stands revealed and convicted before heaven. The Redeemer of the world has pledged His word, saying, ‘Ask, and it shall be given you.’ Is it any marvel then that the blessing of God is withheld when you dishonor His name by your unbelief? Who is it that has made to you these promises? It is He who ‘so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life’ Who is it that says, ‘Ask, and it shall be given you’? Who is it that stands before the great multitude holding forth the divine promise?—It is He who came into the world to rescue us from the bondage of Satan, and make us free men and women in Christ Jesus.
“Then come to God with full assurance of faith, knowing that He who hath promised is faithful, and will fulfill His word. . . . Having asked the Lord for good things, as a hungry child asks his parent for bread, believe from your heart that the Heavenly Father giveth not the Spirit by measure unto you; for to them that ask in faith the Holy Spirit will be given in its fullness, as free as the river that proceedeth from the throne of God, slaking the thirst of all who will come and drink. Come, then, feeling that all Heaven invites you. Come, then, in steadfast faith, knowing that all Heaven welcomes you. Fasten your soul on the blessed assurance, God has spoken this promise, God has invited me, not to mock me, not to disappoint me, for before I knocked, He was unlocking the door for me; while I was yet speaking, He answered, ‘Here I am.’ Then put away this distrust of God; come to Him now, and let all the angels of God have occasion for rejoicing, as they see those who are athirst partaking of the waters of life.” –The Signs of the Times, September 12, 1892
Ellen G. White