ver we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his
commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight." 1 John
3:22.

With these promises before us we certainly ought to be encouraged to
strive earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints. It is the
prayer of faith that moves God upon his throne. Words offered in mere form
are powerless. "He that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he
is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him," for "without faith it is
impossible to please him." Heb. 11:6. Man that asks of God and wavers in
his faith is compared to the restless waves of the sea. "But let him ask
in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea
driven of the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall
receive anything of the Lord." Jas. 1:6, 7.

There is a difference between simple faith and presumption. Some people
take things for granted because God has promised similar things, without
considering well if their prayer is according to the will of God. The Lord
has promised bodily healing to his children. He says, "The prayer of faith
shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have
committed sins, they shall be forgiven him." Jas. 5:15. This is
conditional, the conditions being recorded in the following verse:
"Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may
be healed." The glorious Bible doctrine of divine healing has many times
been disgraced by mere presumption. Many when they are anointed presume
they are healed because God has promised it in his Word when they have
failed to sit in the valley of humiliation to learn of God their faults
that need correction. They find in a short time that their presumption
does not prove effectual and witnesses are made to scorn the idea of
divine healing. We hear of no relapsing in a few days of those who were
healed by the Lord and his church in the morning light. If any had such
severe trials of faith as to be as sick or worse than ever apparently, it
was thought wisdom to exclude such testimony from the Bible, and if wise
to exclude it from the Bible, we are persuaded it is wise to exclude it
from public testimony at any time.

The same may be said of prayers for spiritual and temporal blessings.
Never mistake presumption for faith. An individual might ask God for some
temporal blessing and because God has promised to supply "all our needs,"
and if "we a