When we abide in the Lord and His words abide in us, we will know His heart’s desire, and we will pray one with the Lord, uttering the prayers that He desires us to utter, for He prays in us; when we abide in Christ and Christ abides in us, we can have the church life.
This week we have been enjoying the matter of abiding in Christ as the true vine – what does it mean, how can we abide in the vine, and how can we daily participate in the riches of Christ as the branches participate in the riches of the vine. Amen!
The true vine in the universe is Christ Himself; He said that He is the true vine.
We as believers in Christ have been grafted into Him, and we simply need to abide in Him.
To abide in the Lord is a matter of union; we have been joined to the Lord as one spirit, and we simply need to abide in Him.
We have a life relationship with the Lord, and now we need to maintain our fellowship with Him.
One practical way we can abide in the Lord so that He can abide in us is by caring for the inward teaching of the all-inclusive anointing.
We have the anointing, which is the all-inclusive, compound Spirit with our spirit; as we heed the anointing, we not only have God’s leading but even more, we are anointed with God.
The moving and working of the compound Spirit within us is the anointing; the anointing anoints us with God Himself so that we may be saturated with God and understand the mind of God. Amen!
How can we know God’s mind? By taking heed to the anointing.
How can we be taught by God? By exercising our spirit to enjoy the painting, the anointing, of the compound Spirit.
Another practical way for us to abide in the Lord is to be one spirit with Him, that is, to live in the mingled spirit.
We need to realize that we are one spirit with the Lord; our spirit and the Lord as the Spirit are mingled as one, and we have a mingled spirit.
To abide in the Lord is to abide in our mingled spirit and to do all things in the mingled spirit.
All our spiritual experiences are in our mingled spirit.
The focus of God’s economy and all that He is and has for us is in our spirit.
As we live in the mingled spirit, we are one with the Lord and He is one with us, and we and Him have one life and one living.
As we abide in the Lord, we utter effective prayers; effective prayers are the issue of our abiding in the Lord and of His words abiding in us.
Prayer is not just us asking God to do this for us or for others; it is us contacting God and God contacting us, us being one with God and God being one with us, and us praying even as God is praying in us and through us.
This is very mysterious yet so wonderful.
Abide in the Lord, have His words abide in us, Know God’s Desire and Pray it back to Him
![I will instruct you and teach you concerning the way you should go; / I will counsel [you;] My eye is upon you. Psalm. 32:8](https://i0.wp.com/www.agodman.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/I-will-instruct-you-and-teach-you-concerning-the-way-you-should-go-I-will-counsel-you-My-eye-is-upon-you-1024x1024.jpg?resize=750%2C750&ssl=1 "I will instruct you and teach you concerning the way you should go; / I will counsel [you;] My eye is upon you. Psalm. 32:8")
John 15:7 says, If you abide in Me and My words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you. Amen!
First, we need to abide in the Lord. Then, His words need to abide in us.
As we abide in the Lord and His words abide in us, there will be something in us – we have something to ask the Lord, and whatever we ask out of our abiding in Him, He will do, for we ask according to Him and for His purpose.
This truly is wonderful. It is a secret to having our prayers answered by God.
Prevailing prayers, prayers that are effective before God, result from our abiding in the Lord and allowing His words to abide in us.
When we abide in the Lord by exercising our spirit to be one spirit with Him, spontaneously we touch God’s feeling and we understand God’s desire.
As we abide in the Lord, we allow His words to abide in us, and there’s something in us from the Lord: we see what is in His heart and what He wants to do.
Abraham was such a person; he continually remained before God, so God could not refrain from telling Abraham of His intention; the result was that Abraham prayed before God to intercede for Lot and his family, for this was God’s desire. Amen!
Psalm. 32:8 says that God guides us with His eyes; when we abide in the Lord and behold Him face to face (2 Cor. 3:16-18), we are infused with His desire, and His eyes guide us.
When we live in fellowship in the Lord, the Lord has a way to infuse us with what He is, and we will know His intention, His heart’s desire, and the things that He wants to do.
As we draw near to the Lord, He draws near to us; as we open to Him and remain in His presence, we will be able to understand His temperament, His disposition, and the principles of His doings.
When we abide in the Lord and His words abide in us, there will be a desire in us that comes out of His words (John 15:7; 1 John 5:14-15).
We will touch the Lord’s feelings and understand His intention, and spontaneously, we will have His desire in us.
Amen, His desire will become our desire, what He wants becomes what we want, and we will pray according to this desire. Amen!
Whatever we ask as we abide in the Lord and let His words abide in us, He will do it, for we will ask not according to our desire or pleasure but according to His desire which becomes our desire. Amen!
Our prayer out of the abiding in the Lord is not what we want or desire in our flesh but it is an expression of what the Lord desires, for He expresses His prayer through our prayer.
The Lord will surely answer this kind of prayer, for this issues from our abiding in the Lord and from His words abiding in us.
Some new believers read John 15:7 and think that, now that they are Christians, they can ask for anything they want, and the Lord will just give it to them.
But the more they ask for the things they desire or lust after, the more they realize that the Lord doesn’t give these things to them.
This promise of answering our prayer and giving us what we ask for is not without a requirement; the prerequisite is that we need to abide in the Lord and allow Him to abide in us.
We may ask God for a promotion at work or we may desire to have a better car or a better house, and we may ask the Lord to give these to us.
However, He may not give us what we ask Him, simply because we do not ask out of abiding in the Lord.
![Abide in Me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither [can] you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine; you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing...If you abide in Me and My words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you. John 15:4-5, 7](https://i0.wp.com/www.agodman.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Abide-in-Me-and-I-in-you-10-683x1024.jpg?resize=400%2C600&ssl=1 "Abide in Me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither [can] you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine; you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing...If you abide in Me and My words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you. John 15:4-5, 7")
First, we need to fulfil the requirement of abiding in the Lord and letting His words abide in us, and then we can ask by abiding in Him, and He will answer our prayer.
The Lord is waiting for this kind of prayer.
He wants to do many things, take care of many needs, and advance in many areas around the earth, but He is waiting for many believers in Christ to abide in the vine and pray God’s desire back to Himself.
To utter such a prayer is to accomplish God’s will; He will fulfil His will as long as He has man on earth abiding in Him and releasing His prayers on the earth.
We see this in Revelation, where another Angel came and poured incense upon the prayers of the saints; once the saints are joined to the Lord and pray what is in His heart, He has a way to release the fulfilment of His will on the earth.
The trumpets will sound, the final judgment will be released on the earth, and the administration of God will be carried out, for effective prayers have been released by those who cooperate with God.
Christ can add incense to our prayer and mingle Himself with our prayer, and the Lord will release His perfect will on the earth.
May we be those who release God’s will on earth today.
May we abide in the Lord and allow His words to abide in us so that we understand God’s intention, have His desire infused into us, and release the prayers He needs for Him to carry out His will on the earth.
Lord Jesus, we want to abide in You and let Your words abide in us so that we may ask according to Your will and You may do what we ask for! Amen, Lord, we come to You, we contact You, and we are one with You. We simply abide; we are in You and You are in us, and we simply want to abide in You. Infuse us with Your heart’s desire. Cause the desire of Your heart to become the desire of our heart. Impress us with Your intentions. Make our heart a duplication of Your heart. Amen, Lord, we want to abide in the Lord and let the Lord’s words abide in us so that we may echo Your desire in our prayer. May we understand what Your intention is and may we release Your heart’s desire through our prayer. Amen, Lord, we believe that You will answer our prayer, for we ask in the abiding and we ask according to Your will! Amen, Lord Jesus, gain such effective prayers today! Gain those who pray according to Your will by abiding in the Lord and by letting the Lord’s word abide in them!
When we Abide in Christ and Christ Abides in us, we can have the Church Life
![To the church of God which is in Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, the called saints, with all those who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place, [who is] theirs and ours. 1 Cor. 1:2 God is faithful, through whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. 1 Cor. 1:9 Now you are the Body of Christ, and members individually. 1 Cor. 12:27](https://i0.wp.com/www.agodman.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/To-the-church-of-God-which-is-in-Corinth-to-those-who-have-been-sanctified-in-Christ-Jesus-the-called-saints-1-683x1024.jpg?resize=400%2C600&ssl=1 "To the church of God which is in Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, the called saints, with all those who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place, [who is] theirs and ours. 1 Cor. 1:2 God is faithful, through whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. 1 Cor. 1:9 Now you are the Body of Christ, and members individually. 1 Cor. 12:27")
The church life is not just the living of the Christians in a corporate way; the church life is a corporate living of the perfected God-men who live and walk in the mingled spirit.
We can have the church life only when we abide in the Lord and He abides in us.
When we abide in Christ and Christ abides in us, we can have a proper church life (John 15:4-5; 1 Cor. 1:2, 9, 30; 12:27). Amen!
May the Lord save us from living a routine church life. May we be saved from just going to meetings or routinely attending church meetings without having the basis of our daily abiding in the Lord.
May we be those who daily turn to our spirit, live in our spirit, and do all things in our mingled spirit.
We can have the genuine church life only by living in the mingled spirit; we should remain in this mingled spirit for the church life.
The church life is a life in the mingled spirit.
When we are in our mingled spirit and do all things in the spirit, we live the church life in a genuine way.
Our Christian life is a life of abiding in the Lord, and our church life issues from our abiding in the Lord.
The Lord in whom we abide is not just Christ; He is the vine, and we are the branches.
Our abiding in Christ is corporate; each believer in Christ is a branch in Christ, the vine. Amen!
We are not just one branch hanging here from the vine; there are many branches, and we’re one of the many branches abiding in the vine. Amen!
Rom. 12:5 says that we are members one of another; we are co-branches in the vine, and together we are one vine with many branches, one Body with many members. Amen!
Our enjoyment and experience of Christ is not just for ourselves; it is for the Body and in the Body.
Our living in the mingled spirit is not just in and by ourselves; it is in the Body and for the Body. Amen!
Each one of us needs to exercise our spirit, abide in the Lord, and simply live a grafted life; then, together we are members of one another, and the Lord can be expressed and flow through many branches. Amen!
The church life is a life of loving one another (John 15:12, 17).
Just as the Lord loves us and pours His love in our heart, so we love the Lord and also love one another, for the Lord’s love flows in us. In the church life, we love one another not because we outwardly like one another or because the Lord commands us to love one another but because the Lord’s life in us is a life of loving others.
When we abide in the Lord, we love the saints.
When we abide in the Lord, we live the proper church life, and we live a life of loving one another. Amen!
When we abide in Christ as the vine, we participate in the wonderful fellowship among the co-branches (1 John 1:3-7).
On the one hand, we enjoy the flow of life from the vine, Christ, and we allow Him to flow in us and be expressed through us.
On the other hand, as we abide in the Lord, we participate in the wonderful fellowship among the saints, our co-branches in the Lord. Amen!
Hallelujah, we are co-branches with the saints in Christ as the vine!
As we gather together, we fellowship with one another in the Lord, and we participate in the flow of life from Christ and of Christ.
As we abide in Christ, we abide not just in the vine but also together with the branches.
We abide in the Lord and we abide in one another; our organic union is both with the Lord and with the saints, for the Lord’s life flows in us, makes us one, joins us, and is expressed through us and among us.
Lord Jesus, we want to abide in Christ so that we may live a proper church life. Hallelujah, we abide in the Lord and He abides in us, and we can live the church life together with the saints! Amen, Lord, keep us abiding in You today. Keep us in the vine. Keep us in our spirit. We want to live in our spirit, act in our spirit, and do all things in our mingled spirit so that we may abide in the Lord and live the church life. How wonderful it is to abide in the Lord and be one with all the saints, for the Lord’s life and love are among us! Amen, Lord, we love to abide in You, for Your life in us flows from us to all the saints. How pleasant it is to abide in the Lord and live the church life, loving one another in the Lord. Amen, Lord, we want to abide in Christ as the vine and participate in the wonderful fellowship among the co-branches, the many believers in Christ. Hallelujah, we are branches in Christ, the vine, and we abide in Christ and enjoy the fellowship with Christ (the vine) and the saints (to co-branches)!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother James Lee in the message for this week, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1959, vol. 4, “Lessons on Prayer,” pp. 123-133, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Christian Life (2024 Memorial Day Blending Conference), week 4, Abiding in Christ as the True Vine.
- Similar articles on this topic:
– Having Christ abiding in us, a portion from, Living In and With the Divine Trinity, Chapter 10, by Witness Lee.
– 6 Ways to Abide in God, via, Holding to Truth in Love.
– The meaning of abiding in the Lord, a portion from, Lessons on Prayer, Chapter 11, by Witness Lee.
– Abiding in Christ to maintain our organic union with Him, article by Ed Marks in, Affirmation and Critique.
– Mutual Abiding Now, Increasing to New Jerusalem, via, New Jerusalem blog.
– Abiding in the Lord, a portion from, The Training and the Practice of the Vital Groups, Chapter 12, by Witness Lee.
– The vine – God’s economy, article by Ron Kangas in, Affirmation and Critique.
– The way to abide in Christ, a portion from, Life Messages, Vol. 1 (#1-41), Chapter 7, by Witness Lee.
– The Truth Which Abides in Us, via, Living to Him. - Hymns on this topic:
– Praying to express the Lord, / Letting Him beseech in us; / Christ indwelling prays within / To the Christ in heaven thus. / Praying to express the Lord, / Learning not to pray by self, / Praying wholly with the Lord, / Praying only by Himself. (Hymns #785 stanzas 4-5)
– Pray to fellowship with Jesus, / Speaking nothing in pretense; / Ask according to the spirit, / Praying by the inner sense. / Pray to fellowship with Jesus, / List’ning earnestly to Him; / Be impressed with His intentions, / Yielding to Him from within. (Hymns #784 stanzas 4-5)
– For ’tis here we know abiding / In the real and deepest way; / If we love our Lord completely, / We would do whate’er He’d say. / Then His love abides within us, / And in love abiding, we / Know the joy of life-communion, / Full and perfect harmony. (Hymns #1163 stanzas 3-4)
About aGodMan
Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1959, vol. 4, “Lessons on Prayer,” p. 123
When we abide in the Lord, we will have His words abide in us, and we will know what his heart”s desire is.
Then, we will pray according to His desire, and such a prayer will surely be answered by the lord, for it is His desire expressed through our prayer.
all prevailing prayers, prayers that can be counted effective before the Lord, must surely be the result of our abiding in the Lord and allowing His words to abide in us.
After we have touched God’s feeling and understood His intention, spontaneously we will have His desire in us.
At that moment, His desire becomes our desire, and what He wants is exactly what we want.
Amen Lord Your will be done!
In John 15 we see the key to the effective prayers that match God’s desire and intention.
First, we abide in Him, then His words must abide in us – creating in us His desire.
Then when we ask according to these words which express His will we have the boldness, the assurance that His will be done in us when we ask of Him.
Amen. Lord, may we pray one with You!
Ameeeen!!!
All prevailing effective prayers are the issue of our abiding in the Lord and allowing His words to abide in us.
As we touch the Lord and understand His mind and intention spontaneously there will be a desire in us which is a duplication of His desire and then we express such desire in prayer.
And when we pray such desire the Lord does not have a choice but to answer. This prayer results from abiding in the Lord. Ameeen!!!
https://youtu.be/xWBOXoTHMKw?feature=shared
Amen for the love of God that constrain us to love Him and each other.
The closer we get to our father the more we see ourselves – our conscience becomes more sharpened and we do not want to be us anymore but to be with the One who is life and the lover of our soul. In the book of Mathew 5 the Lord says, look at the birds of the heaven they do not sew nor reap but the Heavenly Father nourishes them, another part He says the rain falls on the just and on the unjust, so you see the Lord has provided for our natural needs.
We need to abide in the Lord so that His word can abides in us- in this way we can pray the golden incense prayer according to His will.
According to Psalm 23:8 God guides us with His eyes…this higher demand can only be met by the Father’s divine life, not by our natural life.