This from C.H.S. kind of turned on a light of understanding for me when first I heard it.

“If my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.”

The best praying man is the man who is most believingly familiar with the promises of God. After all, prayer is nothing but taking God’s promises to him, and saying to him, “Do as thou hast said.” Prayer is the promise utilized.

A prayer which is not based on a promise has no true foundation. If I go to the bank without a cheque I need not expect to get money; it is the “order to pay” which is my power inside the bank, and my warrant for expecting to receive. You that have Christ’s words abiding in you are equipped with those things which the Lord regards with attention.

If the Word of God abideth in you, you are the man that can pray, because you meet the great God with his own words, and thus overcome omnipotence with omnipotence. You put your finger down upon the very lines, and say, “Do as thou hast said.” This is the best praying in all the world.

And then this:

I see clearly enough why the branch gets all it wants while it abides in the stem, since all it wants is already in the stem, and is placed there for the sake of the branch. What does the branch want more than the stem can give it? If it did want more it could not get it; for it has no other means of living but by sucking its life out of the stem.

O my precious Lord, if I want anything which is not in thee, I desire always to be without it. I desire to be denied a wish which wanders outside of thyself. But if the supply of my desire is already in thee for me, why should I go elsewhere? Thou art my all; where else should I look?

Beloved, “it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell,” and the good pleasure of the Father is our good pleasure also: we are glad to draw everything from Jesus. We feel sure that, ask what we will, we shall have it, since he has it ready for us.

And this:

Abide in him as to all your fruitfulness. “As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine, no more can ye, except ye abide in me.” “Here, then, I have something to do,” cries one. Certainly you have, but not apart from Jesus. The branch has to bear fruit; but if the branch imagines that it is going to produce a cluster, or even a grape, out of itself alone, it is utterly mistaken. The fruit of the branch must come forth of the stem.

Your work for Christ must be Christ’s work in you, or else it will be good for nothing. I pray you, see to this. Your Sunday-school teaching, your preaching, or whatever you do, must be done in Christ Jesus. Not by your natural talent can you win souls, nor by plans of your own inventing can you save men. Beware of home-made schemes. Do for Jesus what Jesus bids you do. Remember that our work for Christ, as we call it, must be Christ’s work first, if it is to be accepted of him. Abide in him as to your fruit-bearing.

And lastly this:

As if to help us to understand this, our gracious Lord has given us a delightful parable. Let us look through this discourse of the vine and its branches. Jesus says, “Every branch in me that beareth fruit, he purgeth it.” Take care that you abide in Christ when you are being purged. “Oh,” says one, “I thought I was a Christian; but, alas! I have more troubles than ever: men ridicule me, the devil tempts me, and my business affairs go wrong.”

Brother, if you are to have power in prayer you must take care that you abide in Christ when the sharp knife is cutting everything away. Endure trial, and never dream of giving up your faith because of it. Say, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him.”

Your Lord warned you when you first came into the vine that you would have to be purged and cut closely; and if you are now feeling the purging process, you must not think that some strange thing hath happened unto you. Rebel not because of anything you may have to suffer from the dear hand of your heavenly Father, who is the husbandman of the vineyard. No, but cling to Jesus all the more closely. Say, “Cut, Lord, cut to the quick if thou wilt; but I will cling to thee. To whom should we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life.” Yes, cling to Jesus when the purging knife is in his hand, and so “shall ye ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.”

This from C.H.S. kind of turned on a light of understanding for me when first I heard it.

“If my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.”

The best praying man is the man who is most believingly familiar with the promises of God. After all, prayer is nothing but taking God’s promises to him, and saying to him, “Do as thou hast said.” Prayer is the promise utilized.

A prayer which is not based on a promise has no true foundation. If I go to the bank without a cheque I need not expect to get money; it is the “order to pay” which is my power inside the bank, and my warrant for expecting to receive. You that have Christ’s words abiding in you are equipped with those things which the Lord regards with attention.

If the Word of God abideth in you, you are the man that can pray, because you meet the great God with his own words, and thus overcome omnipotence with omnipotence. You put your finger down upon the very lines, and say, “Do as thou hast said.” This is the best praying in all the world.

And then this:

I see clearly enough why the branch gets all it wants while it abides in the stem, since all it wants is already in the stem, and is placed there for the sake of the branch. What does the branch want more than the stem can give it? If it did want more it could not get it; for it has no other means of living but by sucking its life out of the stem.

O my precious Lord, if I want anything which is not in thee, I desire always to be without it. I desire to be denied a wish which wanders outside of thyself. But if the supply of my desire is already in thee for me, why should I go elsewhere? Thou art my all; where else should I look?

Beloved, “it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell,” and the good pleasure of the Father is our good pleasure also: we are glad to draw everything from Jesus. We feel sure that, ask what we will, we shall have it, since he has it ready for us.

And this:

Abide in him as to all your fruitfulness. “As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine, no more can ye, except ye abide in me.” “Here, then, I have something to do,” cries one. Certainly you have, but not apart from Jesus. The branch has to bear fruit; but if the branch imagines that it is going to produce a cluster, or even a grape, out of itself alone, it is utterly mistaken. The fruit of the branch must come forth of the stem.

Your work for Christ must be Christ’s work in you, or else it will be good for nothing. I pray you, see to this. Your Sunday-school teaching, your preaching, or whatever you do, must be done in Christ Jesus. Not by your natural talent can you win souls, nor by plans of your own inventing can you save men. Beware of home-made schemes. Do for Jesus what Jesus bids you do. Remember that our work for Christ, as we call it, must be Christ’s work first, if it is to be accepted of him. Abide in him as to your fruit-bearing.

This from C.H.S. kind of turned on a light of understanding for me when first I heard it.

“If my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.”

The best praying man is the man who is most believingly familiar with the promises of God. After all, prayer is nothing but taking God’s promises to him, and saying to him, “Do as thou hast said.” Prayer is the promise utilized.

A prayer which is not based on a promise has no true foundation. If I go to the bank without a cheque I need not expect to get money; it is the “order to pay” which is my power inside the bank, and my warrant for expecting to receive. You that have Christ’s words abiding in you are equipped with those things which the Lord regards with attention.

If the Word of God abideth in you, you are the man that can pray, because you meet the great God with his own words, and thus overcome omnipotence with omnipotence. You put your finger down upon the very lines, and say, “Do as thou hast said.” This is the best praying in all the world.

And then this:

I see clearly enough why the branch gets all it wants while it abides in the stem, since all it wants is already in the stem, and is placed there for the sake of the branch. What does the branch want more than the stem can give it? If it did want more it could not get it; for it has no other means of living but by sucking its life out of the stem.

O my precious Lord, if I want anything which is not in thee, I desire always to be without it. I desire to be denied a wish which wanders outside of thyself. But if the supply of my desire is already in thee for me, why should I go elsewhere? Thou art my all; where else should I look?

Beloved, “it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell,” and the good pleasure of the Father is our good pleasure also: we are glad to draw everything from Jesus. We feel sure that, ask what we will, we shall have it, since he has it ready for us.