Morning    “The trial of your faith.” / 1 Peter 1:7

Faith untried may be true faith, but it is sure to be little faith, and it is

likely to remain dwarfish so long as it is without trials. Faith never

prospers so well as when all things are against her: tempests are her

trainers, and lightnings are her illuminators. When a calm reigns on the sea,

spread the sails as you will, the ship moves not to its harbour; for on a

slumbering ocean the keel sleeps too. Let the winds rush howling forth, and

let the waters lift up themselves, then, though the vessel may rock, and her

deck may be washed with waves, and her mast may creak under the pressure of

the full and swelling sail, it is then that she makes headway towards her

desired haven. No flowers wear so lovely a blue as those which grow at the

foot of the frozen glacier; no stars gleam so brightly as those which glisten

in the polar sky; no water tastes so sweet as that which springs amid the

desert sand; and no faith is so precious as that which lives and triumphs in

adversity. Tried faith brings experience. You could not have believed your own

weakness had you not been compelled to pass through the rivers; and you would

never have known God’s strength had you not been supported amid the

water-floods. Faith increases in solidity, assurance, and intensity, the more

it is exercised with tribulation. Faith is precious, and its trial is precious

too.

 

Let not this, however, discourage those who are young in faith. You will have

trials enough without seeking them: the full portion will be measured out to

you in due season. Meanwhile, if you cannot yet claim the result of long

experience, thank God for what grace you have; praise him for that degree of

holy confidence whereunto you have attained: walk according to that rule, and

you shall yet have more and more of the blessing of God, till your faith shall

remove mountains and conquer impossibilities.

 

Evening    “And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray,

and continued all night in prayer to God.” / Luke 6:12

If ever one of woman born might have lived without prayer, it was our

spotless, perfect Lord, and yet none was ever so much in supplication as he!

Such was his love to his Father, that he loved much to be in communion with

him: such his love for his people, that he desired to be much in intercession

for them. The fact of this eminent prayerfulness of Jesus is a lesson for

us–he hath given us an example that we may follow in his steps. The time he

chose was admirable, it was the hour of silence, when the crowd would not

disturb him; the time of inaction, when all but himself had ceased to labour;

and the season when slumber made men forget their woes, and cease their

applications to him for relief. While others found rest in sleep, he refreshed

himself with prayer. The place was also well selected. He was alone where none

would intrude, where none could observe: thus was he free from Pharisaic

ostentation and vulgar interruption. Those dark and silent hills were a fit

oratory for the Son of God. Heaven and earth in midnight stillness heard the

groans and sighs of the mysterious Being in whom both worlds were blended. The

continuance of his pleadings is remarkable; the long watches were not too

long; the cold wind did not chill his devotions; the grim darkness did not

darken his faith, or loneliness check his importunity. We cannot watch with

him one hour, but he watched for us whole nights. The occasion for this prayer

is notable; it was after his enemies had been enraged–prayer was his refuge

and solace; it was before he sent forth the twelve apostles–prayer was the

gate of his enterprise, the herald of his new work. Should we not learn from

Jesus to resort to special prayer when we are under peculiar trial, or

contemplate fresh endeavors for the Master’s glory? Lord Jesus, teach us to

pray.