Let us, for example, take some situa­tion in life demanding faith. With Mary and Martha it was Lazarus in the tomb. With us it is something else. What are we to do?

“Well, I shall believe for this situation because God answers prayer,” says one.

“I read a book one time which told of many wonderful experiences,” says another.

“And I read a tract. I believe most wonderfully in the Lord and in His power, and here is a situation for which I shall believe Him.” Thus speaks a third.

What do people do, nine times out of ten? They go to the Word of God, which is very natural. And then they say, “Oh, yes, here is a promise,” and they appropriate it. They pray and ask others to do likewise. So everyone gets a beautiful promise and all begin to pray. Some go to the promise box to hunt for help and, of course, they have become so familiar with these promises that they can hatch up most anyone to fit the situation; and then they say,

“Now, it says this in the Bible and this fits right into this need.”

Following the discovery of such verses, they have a prayer meeting, and in getting down before the Lord in connection with the situation remind Him of all these rich, lovely promises which they have obtained right out of the Bible, and say,

“Now Lord, here is this situation. You know what You said concerning a matter of this nature. You said thus and so.”

They get the Lord into a corner, for they tell Him that He cannot break one of these promises. He is told by them,

“Lord, Thy Word abideth forever and it cannot be broken.”

Well, do you think the Lord is out trying to break His Word? What kind of a Lord have you?

“Here is Your Word; You have prom­ised and You cannot lie.”

They may not say it as bluntly as that, but that is their attitude. And then they add,

“And if You don’t, Lord, all these folks who are looking at You will fail to believe.”

Haven’t you heard people pray like that?

“And You know, Lord, if You don’t show forth Your glory, Susie’s husband’s cousin’s aunt will not believe any more, but if You do answer prayer, then Charlie’s wife’s sister will come through. Don’t You embarrass me, Lord. Don’t bring me to naught.”

And they get the Lord right into a corner. The whole pro­cedure is horrible. But someone objects,

“Aren’t the promises real?” That is the tragedy of it—they are real. We are not arguing about the veracity of the prom­ises, whether they be true or false; they are all genuine.

“Then, what can be the matter?” some­ one asks, adding, “You have me so upset that I don’t know where I am. I never heard such a message in all my life. That has always been my method and now you are stealing it right from under me. Do you mean to tell me the Word is not true?”

The Word is very true, but you are do­ing a dangerous thing; YOU are taking the initiative by appropriating a promise which you think relates to a particular situation and, because it is a promise of God, you hide behind that fact and ex­pect the Lord to come out and sing and dance every time you play on that promise. Have you ever found that He does not fulfill a promise to you? I have met people who have been disappointed saying, “I don’t know where I am in my faith life. Pray for me that I may have faith.”