Don’t pray yourself out of faith

Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the “prince of preachers,” said, “Believe God until…you can thank Him for the answer. If the answer still tarries outwardly, do not pray in such a way that it’s evident you’re not believing for it. Such a prayer in place of being a help will be a hindrance; and when you are finished praying you’ll find that your faith has weakened or has entirely gone. The urgency that you felt to offer this kind of prayer is clearly from self…It may not be wrong to mention the matter in question to the Lord again, if He is keeping you waiting, but be sure you do it in such a way that it implies faith. Do not pray yourself out of faith. You may tell Him that you’re waiting…still believing Him and therefore praise Him for the answer. There is nothing that so fully clinches faith, as to be so sure of the answer that you can thank God for it. Prayers that pray us out of faith deny both God’s promise in His Word, and His whisper ‘Yes,’ that He gave us in our hearts. Such prayers are but the expression of the unrest of one’s heart, and unrest implies unbelief…‘For we which have believed do enter into rest’ (Hebrews 4:3). This prayer that prays ourselves out of faith frequently arises from centering our thoughts on the difficulty rather than on God’s promise. Abraham ‘considered not his own body…he staggered not at the promise of God’ (Romans 4:19-20). May we watch and pray that we enter not into the temptation of praying ourselves out of faith.”