"As the others knelt for prayer, I bowed with them, trembling, and after a few had prayed, my voice arose in prayer before I was aware of it. In that moment the promises of God appeared to me like so many precious pearls that were to be received only for the asking. As I prayed, the burden and agony of soul that I had so long endured, left me, and the blessing of the Lord descended upon me like the gentle dew. I praised God from the depths of my heart. Everything seemed shut out from me but Jesus and His glory, and I lost consciousness of what was passing around me. LS 38.1"
"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:"
The EGW passage illustrates the principle of answered prayer, directly echoing the promise in Matthew 7:7. The experience of asking and receiving is central to both passages.
"The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit."
The EGW passage describes a state of spiritual burden and agony followed by relief and blessing, which aligns with the Psalm's promise of God's nearness to the brokenhearted and contrite. The connection is thematic, focusing on God's response to spiritual distress.
The Spirit of God rested upon me with such power that I was unable to go home that night. When I awakened to realization, I found myself cared for in the house of my uncle, where we had assembled for the prayer meeting. Neither my uncle nor my aunt enjoyed religion, although the former had once made a profession, but had since backslidden. I was told that he had been greatly disturbed while the power of God rested upon me in so special a manner, and had walked the floor, sorely troubled and distressed in his mind. LS 38.2 When I was first struck down, some of those present were greatly alarmed, and were about to run for a physician, thinking that some sudden and dangerous indisposition had attacked me; but my mother bade them let me alone, for it was plain to her, and to the other experienced Christians, that it was the wondrous power of God that had prostrated me. When I did return home, on the following day, a great change had taken place in my mind. It seemed to me that I could hard…
"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want."
Ellen White directly references Psalms 23:1 in this passage.