What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. Mark 11:24.
Many claim that they want to be saved, that they want to be sons and daughters of God, but they will in a most pathetic manner complain of God, because they do not feel as they think they ought to feel. They say, “I know I have much to be thankful for. The Lord has blessed me many times; but I can’t feel as I want to feel. I dare not apply to myself the promises and say that I am a child of God. I think He blesses others. I think He will receive them—but not me. I cannot believe that He will forgive my sins.”
This is clearly defined as unbelief and it is sin before God, for they dishonor God and limit the Holy One of Israel. Christ is your Saviour... The gracious promises are given to His church, and if you have taken the steps requisite in conversion, if you have made open confession of Christ, you are a part of the body of Christ, a part of His great whole. Anxiety, questionings, and distrust of God show that you do not believe in Him and do not appropriate the promises to yourself. Therefore you fall short of that comfort and hope and courage in the Lord that it is your privilege and duty to have every hour of the day and every day in the week. Do you love Jesus? Do you long for His peace? Then believe, and the longings of your soul shall be satisfied...
You are without excuse if you hug to your soul your unbelief, your doubts, and go to others with your complaints, for there is no manner of excuse that can justify you, with these words of Christ spoken to you. They are full of comfort, full of hope and assurance forever. If you cast His words behind you and leave the cool snows of Lebanon to seek refreshment from human sources, you will not have peace or comfort, because you refuse the help that God gives you.
The Lord declares that the gates of hell shall not prevail against His church. Every sincere member of the church may include himself in these promises and say, “I am the Lord’s. In His strength I am invincible.” Then do not put on a doleful attitude and misrepresent my Lord, and act as though He had insulted you by giving you promises that He does not fulfill, as though you are having a hard time and are left alone to battle against the powers of darkness.
He says, “I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you” (John 14:18)... Do you individually believe these words? Or do you treat them as idle tales? Do you grasp them by faith, and accept them and rejoice in them? This is eating the flesh and drinking the blood of the Son of God.—Manuscript 42, October 25, 1890, “Diary.”
Reference: E.G. White, "The Upward Look," p. 312.