God does not require His people to imitate Baal’s prophets, to afflict their bodies and cry out and shout, and throw themselves into almost every attitude, having no regard for order, until their strength fails through sheer exhaustion. Religion does not consist in making a noise; yet when the soul is filled with the Spirit of the Lord, sweet, heartfelt praise to God glorifies Him. Some have professed to have great faith in God, and to have special gifts and special answers to their prayers, although the evidence was lacking. They mistook presumption for faith. The prayer of faith is never lost; but to claim that it will be always answered in the very way and for the particular thing we have expected, is presumption. {1T 231.1}

Gud pålægger ikke sit folk at efterligne Baals profeter, at plage deres legemer og råbe og bruge munden og sætte sig selv i næsten i enhver holdning, har ingen sans for orden, indtil deres styrke bliver svagere af ren udmattelse. Religion består ikke i at lave støj, derimod når sjælen fyldes med Herrens Ånd, forherliger en sød og hjertelig pris ham. Nogle har bekendt at have en stor tro på Gud og have særlige gaver og særlige svar på deres bønner, selv om deres vidnesbyrd svigtede. De tog fejl af forudsætningen for tro. Troens bøn er aldrig gået fortabt; men at påstå at den altid vil blive besvaret på netop den måde og for den særlige ting vi har ventet på, er dristighed.