0ne of the greatest enemies to faith is indolence. it is much easier to lie and suffer than to rise and overcome. It is much easier to go to sleep on a snowbank and never wake again than to rouse one's self and shake off the lethargy and overcome the stupor. Faith is an energetic art. Prayer is intense labor. The effectual working prayer of the righteous man availeth much. Satan tries to put us to sleep as he did the disciples in the garden. Let us not sleep as do others, but let us awake and be sober, continuing in prayer and watching thereunto with all perseverance (Ephesians 6:18), stirring up ourselves to take hold of God's strength, not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promise (Hebrews 6:12). It is the wind that carries the sailing ship across the waves, but the wind is powerless unless the hand of the boatman is held firmly upon the rudder and the rudder set hard against the wind. In like manner we hold the rudder; God fills the sails. It is not the rudder that carries the ship, but it is the rudder turned against the wind that carries the ship. So God keeps us in perfect peace while we are stayed upon Him (Isaiah 26:3).
