“I will meditate in Thy statutes.” “More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold.... Moreover by them is Thy servant warned; and in keeping of them there is great reward.”[369] _Faith and Prayer_ “FAITH IS THE ASSURANCE OF THINGS HOPED FOR.” “BELIEVE THAT YE RECEIVE, AND YE SHALL HAVE” [Sidenote: _What Is Faith?_] Faith is trusting God,—believing that He loves us, and knows best what is for our good. Thus, instead of our own, it leads us to choose His way. In place of our ignorance, it accepts His wisdom; in place of our weakness, His strength; in place of our sinfulness, His righteousness. Our lives, ourselves, are already His; faith acknowledges His ownership and accepts its blessing. Truth, uprightness, purity, have been pointed out as secrets of life’s success. It is faith that puts us in possession of these principles. Every good impulse or aspiration is the gift of God; faith receives from God the life that alone can produce true growth and efficiency. [Sidenote: _How to Exercise Faith_] How to exercise faith should be made very plain. To every promise of God there are conditions. If we are willing to do His will, all His strength is ours. Whatever gift He promises, is in the promise itself. “The seed is the word of God.”[370] As surely as the oak is in the acorn, so surely is the gift of God in His promise. If we receive the promise, we have the gift. Faith that enables us to receive God’s gifts is itself a gift, of which some measure is imparted to every human being. It grows as exercised in appropriating the word of God. In order to strengthen faith, we must often bring it in contact with the word. [Sidenote: _Power of God’s Word_] In the study of the Bible the student should be led to see the power of God’s word. In the creation, “He spake, and it was; He commanded, and it stood fast.” He “calleth those things which be not as though they were;”[371] for when He calls them, they are. [Sidenote: _Results of Faith_]