O then, for what should my soul more pray, than for a clearer and stronger faith? ‘I believe; Lord, help my unbelief!’ I have many thousand times groaned to thee under this burden of remaining darkness and unbelief; I have many thousand times thought of the evidences of Christianity, and of the necessity of a lively, powerful, active faith. I have cried to thee night and day, ‘Lord, increase my faith!’
– Richard Baxter –
from Dying Thoughts, 34
A great faith is like the anchor or cable of a ship that holds it steady in the midst of storms. A Christian who is steeled with this heroic faith is settled in the mysteries of religion. The Spirit of God has so firmly printed heavenly truths upon his heart that you may we well remove the sun out of the firmament as remove him from those holy principles he has absorbed. Behold here, a pillar in the temple of God (Rev. 3:12).
– Thomas Watson –
from The Lords Supper, 70
Real faith is manifested by prayer.
– George Müller –
from The Autobiography of George Muller
Watch where Jesus went. The one dominant note in His life was to do His Fathers will. His is not the way of wisdom or success, but the way of faithfulness.
– Oswald Chambers –
Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father, there is no shadow of turning with Thee; thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not, as Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be
– Thomas Chisolm –
If you do not seem to get the fruit from this Tree by faith, shake it by prayer. “Oh!” you say, “I have been praying.” Yes, but a tree does not always drop its fruit at the first shake you give it. Shake it again, and then give it another shake! Sometimes, when the tree is loaded and is pretty firm in the earth, you have to shake it to and fro, and finally you have to plant your feet, get a firm hold of it, and shake it with all your might, until you strain every muscle and sinew, in order to get the fruit down. And that is the way to pray. Shake the Tree of Life until mercy drops into your lap.
– Charles Spurgeon –
from his book God Loves You
“Above all, taking the shield of faith.” Faith is unbreakable confidence in the personality of God, not in His power. There are some things over which we may lose faith if we have confidence in God’s power only. There is so much that looks like the mighty power of God that is not.
We must have confidence in God over and above everything He may do, and stand in confidence that His character is unsullied. Faith stands all tests – “Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him.” When we take the shield of faith, none of these things can get through without breaking the shield. We are protected by the covering shield.
Oswald Chambers
from his book If You Will Ask
The older I get, the more I am aware of my desperate need of Christ Himself. I want to listen and learn and glorify Him
– Elizabeth Elliot –
No man is greater than his prayer life. The pastor who is not praying is playing; the people who are not praying are straying. Poverty-stricken as the Church is today in many things, she is most stricken here, in the place of prayer. In the matter of New Testament, Spirit-inspired, hell-shaking, world-breaking prayer, never has so much been left to so few. For this kind of prayer there is no substitute. We do it – or we die!
– Leonard Ravenhill –