“It cannot be too strongly emphasized that it is not sufficient to take this for granted. It is not sufficient to accept the Truth once and for all, or once a week; you must continually reaffirm it in thought, and words if necessary. You must constantly remind yourself that you do accept this position, that you believe in it, and that your conviction is good enough to build your life and your hopes upon.
“All this is [prayer] treatment, and very powerful treatment too. It is treatment that really changes the soul by clearing out those subconscious fears that are the cause of all your difficulties.
“And so the inspired writer starts his prayer by saying, bluntly, ‘God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.’ You will see that he allows himself no doubts at all about this. He does not dream of taking up the timid, almost apologetic, attitude that some modern divines seem to think appropriate in dealing with God. He says firmly that God IS, that He exists indeed; and then he enumerates three facts concerning God. He says that He is our refuge; he says that He is our strength; and he says that He is ‘a very present help in trouble.’ This verse is really tremendous, is it not? If we get through the crust of familiarity that tends to hide the real meaning from us, and study these words with a fresh mind, we shall be amazed, I think, at all that they imply. Note that he says that God is our refuge. He does not say that such may very well be the case, or that it is a pious hope upon which we are justified in leaning, but that, plain and plump, God is our refuge.” –Emmet Fox
Rev. Jeff Radcliff 