Chapter 35—Pray Wholeheartedly
BIBLE GEM
CWG 85.1
QUESTION
CWG 85.2
ANSWER
The spirit of wrestling prayer: “There is need of prayer,—most earnest, fervent, agonizing prayer,—such prayer as David offered when he exclaimed: ‘As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after Thee, O God.’ ‘I have longed after Thy precepts.’ ‘I have longed for Thy salvation.’ ‘My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.’ ‘My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto Thy judgments.’ [Psalm 42:1; 119:40, 174; 84:2; 119:20.] This is the spirit of wrestling prayer, such as was possessed by the royal psalmist.”—Testimonies For The Church 4:534CWG 85.3
We must learn to pray with great earnestness: “When with earnestness and intensity we breathe a prayer in the name of Christ, there is in the very intensity a pledge from God that He is about to answer our prayer ‘exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.’ ”—Christ's Object Lessons, 147CWG 85.4
Learn the trade: “God will be to us everything we will let Him be. Our languid, halfhearted prayers will not bring us returns from heaven. Oh, we need to press our petitions! Ask in faith, wait in faith, receive in faith, rejoice in hope, for everyone that seeketh findeth. Be in earnest in the matter. Seek God with all the heart.... With intense earnestness learn the trade of seeking the rich blessings that God has promised, and with persevering, determined effort you shall have His light and His truth and His rich grace.”—Our High Calling, 131CWG 85.5
How to face temptation and trial: “When temptations and trials rush in upon us, let us go to God and agonize with Him in prayer. He will not turn us away empty, but will give us grace and strength to overcome, and to break the power of the enemy.”—Early Writings, 46CWG 86.1
How greatest victories are gained: “The greatest victories to the church of Christ or to the individual Christian are not those that are gained by talent or education, by wealth or the favor of men. They are those victories that are gained in the audience chamber with God, when earnest, agonizing faith lays hold upon the mighty arm of power.”—Patriarchs and Prophets, 203CWG 86.2
A “shaking time” reveals the faithful: “I was shown the people of God, and saw them mightily shaken.... Firmness and great earnestness were expressed in their countenances, while large drops of perspiration fell from their foreheads.”—Testimonies For The Church 1:179, 180CWG 86.3
“The time of trouble”: “The season of distress and anguish before us will require a faith that can endure weariness, delay, and hunger—a faith that will not faint though severely tried.... Those who are unwilling to deny self, to agonize before God, to pray long and earnestly for His blessing, will not obtain it.”—The Great Controversy, 621CWG 86.4
SUMMARY AND PRAYER THOUGHT
CWG 86.5
CWG 86.6
CWG 86.7
CWG 87.1
CWG 87.2