God's Sabbath

T HE S ABBATH B LESSING

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When the disciples asked Jesus, “teach us to pray” ( Luke 11:1), He repeated the Lord’s prayer that He had given in His sermon on the Mount, then He illustrated it with the parable of the friend who supplied his neighbour’s need of bread. “Christ’s les sons in regard to prayer should be carefully considered. There is a divine science in prayer, and His illustration brings to view principles that all need to understand. He shows what is the true spirit of prayer, He teaches the necessity of perseverance in pre senting our requests to God, and assures us of His willingness to hear and answer prayer.” Christ’s Object Lessons , 142.2. This gives us great confidence to plead for the richest bestow als of the promised blessings. As true believers, we will cultivate a positive attitude towards the Sabbath. We will say, “The Lord has made tremendous and necessary blessings available to me through this day. It is His desire that I be filled with the fullness of these mercies. There fore, I come boldly to the throne of grace and lay hold upon these blessings, knowing that I have them by faith. I thank and praise my all-wise, loving, heavenly Father, who, mindful of my great need, provided the Sabbath and the blessings which it brings in order to meet that need.” Deep faith expressed through strong confidence in God’s promises, and accompanied by positive action, brings great re wards. These include not only a closer communion with our Maker, a better understanding of His ways, and strength for the coming week, but also significant changes for the better within us. This is the faith that must be learned and exercised by those who would achieve much for God. Pressing into His Presence

The Faith of Elijah

Such a faith is well illustrated by Elijah’s experience when, on Mt. Carmel, he pleaded with God for the drought-breaking rains to fall. Knowing that Israel had at last repented of their