Feb. 23

Charles Spurgeon · Faith's Checkbook

UNBROKEN FELLOWSHIP ESSENTIAL

   "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye
   will, and it shall be done unto you" John 15:7

   Of necessity we must be in Christ to live unto Him, and we must abide
   in Him to be able to claim the largesse of this promise from Him. To
   abide in Jesus is never to quit Him for another love, or another
   object, but to remain in living, loving, conscious, willing union with
   Him. The branch is not only ever near the stem, but ever receiving life
   and fruitfulness from it. All true believers abide in Christ in a
   sense; but there is a higher meaning, and this we must know before we
   can gain unlimited power at the throne. "Ask what ye will" is for
   Enochs who walk with God, for Johns who lie in the Lord's bosom, for
   those whose union with Christ leads to constant communion.

   The heart must remain in love, the mind must be rooted in faith, the
   hope must be cemented to the Word, the whole man must be joined unto
   the Lord, or else it would be dangerous to trust us with power in
   prayer. The carte blanche can only be given to one whose very life is,
   "Not I, but Christ liveth in me." O you who break your fellowship, what
   power you lose! If you would be mighty in your pleadings, the Lord
   Himself must abide in you, and you in Him.