“If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” (John 15:6-8)
Remaining in Christ and Christ’s words remaining in the Christian believer is the great need of the centuries and of the hour! Regrettably, remorsefully, and hopefully repentantly, the church in general has failed to do this, and that is the reason many of us are in such insipid weakness, desperate want, and tottering on the threshold of apostasy! If we can find the courage to be honest with ourselves, we will have to admit that often we pray and ask God for the things we need and for the needs of others, (i.e. financial provisions, healing for our bodies and minds, deliverance from bad habits and demonic oppression, salvation from our highhanded and deliberate sins, etc), but tragically, much of the time our prayers go unanswered, and unless we repent and learn to remain in Christ and allow His words to remain in us, this will continue to be the pitiful, pathetic, painful, devastating, and extremely dangerous case!
“Without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that comes to God must believe that He is, and that He rewards them that diligently seek Him.” (Hebrews 11:6) “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:17) “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision avails anything, nor un-circumcision, but faith working through love.” (Galatians 5:6) “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) “This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.” (1 John 3-4) Nevertheless, Jesus Christ Himself pondered, “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8)
It is important to realize that faith in Christ and faithfulness to His commandment to love God with our entire being and to love our neighbors as ourselves are one and the same, so unless we hear the words of Christ and also do the words of Christ, we are self-deceived if we think we are remaining in Christ and His words are remaining in us.
“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” (James 1:22)
It is by both hearing and doing the words of Christ that we remain in the faith! This is how we remain in Him! This is how we pass God’s test! This is how we prove His good, and acceptable, and perfect will! Question: What is God’s will? Answer: That the church be one with Christ in wisdom, purity, power, and love!
“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in Me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as You are in Me and I am in You. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that You have sent Me. I have given them the glory that You gave Me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and You in Me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that You sent Me and have loved them even as You have loved Me.” (John 17:20-23)
It was because of His unity in plan, purpose, and pursuit with His Heavenly Father’s will that Jesus always knew whenever He prayed that His prayers would be answered because He always sought to do God’s pleasure instead of His own pleasure or the pleasure of anyone else. (i.e. self, Satan, and sin; not to mention Mary and Martha who wanted Jesus to show up and heal their brother Lazarus before he died, but God had another agenda and a better plan that resulted in His greater glory and a better testimony of the fact that His only begotten Son Jesus Christ is the resurrection and the life. In other words, God’s way of dealing with the drama of Lazarus’s illness resulted in greater benefit on behalf of the people to whom Jesus was sent.) Anyway, let’s look at Christ’s prayer and testimony when He raised Lazarus from the dead.
“Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank you that you have heard me. And I knew that you hear me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that you have sent me. When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!’ The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, ‘Take off the grave clothes and let him go.’” (John 11:41-44)
As was true of the Master, the same is true of the disciple.
“My little children let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him. For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment.” (1 John 3:18-24)
The “prayer of faith” is the prayer of the faithful, and this is why the church was instructed, “Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.” (James 5:14-15)
At the time the above scripture was written, the church was under great persecution. To be appointed and to remain an elder would have required great faithfulness, and this quality in a man or woman would have given them the authority to pray the prayer of faith in the name of Jesus and get the desired results. There are elders in the church today who can do this, but regrettably they are the exception, not the rule. If you don’t believe it, go ask some elders in your church to pray for you and see if they get the desired results to their prayers! Some will flat out refuse to do it, saying that divine healing and miracles are not for today. A lie from the pit of Hell! Others might tell you that it’s God’s will that you fulfill the sufferings of Christ in your own body and therefore remain ill. A doctrine of devils! Others who do believe that healing is for today will pray for you, and when nothing happens, they’ll tell you to exercise patience, saying that God will heal you in His time and in His way. The problem is that you already are a patient and that’s why you requested prayer! In all fairness, it must be stated that the person requesting prayer must be in a place of faith also, not just the elders.
Having said that, to be able to pray the prayer of faith in the name of Jesus and get the desired results of our prayers should be the rule for all Christian believers, and there should be no spiritual pride attached to getting results. As followers of Christ, when praying the prayer of faith in the name of Jesus, we have only done what was expected and required of us as obedient servants. God deserves all the glory and credit for answered prayer because He has paid the ultimate price through allowing His sinless Son to suffer the unbearable consequences for our sins so that we might be prospered, healed, delivered, and saved! With this in mind I’d like to share a testimony with you.
Once Dr. Lester Sumrall was starting a church in the Philippines and was involved in a big building project. There was a woman in prison who had been arrested for prostitution. The newspaper had reported that while in her cell, bite marks had begun appearing on all parts of her body, both front and back. Many of the bite marks were in places that would have been impossible for her to inflict upon herself. The newspaper’s front page read “Bitten By Demons.” This was accompanied with a plethora of photographs of the woman and the bite marks all over her body. It was revealed in the article that the jailers would hear her screaming in the night and run to her solitary cell only to find her writhing in pain and crying out for help. The whole country had become aware of this case because it lasted for several months and had received full media coverage.
When the article came to Lester’s attention, the Lord told him, “Go and pray the prayer of faith over that woman and cast the demons out of her in My name.” Lester said, “Lord I’m very busy, can’t You send some other minister to do it.” The Lord replied, “I don’t have anyone else who can!” Lester went and ministered to the woman, and over a period of time, she was completely set free, and the pain and the bite marks disappeared, never to return again. The media also covered her deliverance, interviewing brother Sumrall, who gave God all of the glory. A great revival began in the city where he was starting the church, and it spread throughout the whole country! Many souls were saved and healed during this time, and many members were added to his congregation.
I shared that testimony with you, dear reader, to remind you, and myself, that in order to be available to be used of God to bring deliverance and healing to hurting human beings through the prayer of faith in the name of Jesus, we must remain in Christ and His words must remain in us. We must be sanctified, set apart, and prepared for the Master’s use as branches abiding in the Vine and bearing fruit to eternal life. If we are not, we must not waste other people’s time or unrealistically get their hopes up only to be dashed upon the rocks. Our prayers will not be answered! We will only bring reproach to Jesus Christ by using His blessed name in prayer while not getting the desired results from our prayers. This is most often the case because we are still harboring iniquity in our hearts and continuing in our un-confessed and un-forsaken sins instead of continuing in Him and His words continuing in us. Jesus always got the desired results when He prayed, and He is our example and goal!
“Nevertheless the foundation of God stands sure, having this seal, The Lord knows them that are His. And let every one that names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.” (2 Timothy 2:19)
Regarding the above testimony of Lester Sumrall, the Lord knew Lester was His and that he had departed from iniquity so he could pray the prayer of faith in the name of Jesus with authority and get results. But what must we conclude about the other professing Christian ministers in the area whom the Lord could not use?
And consider this scripture,
“Likewise, you husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honor unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.” (1 Peter 3:7)
In the above scripture we discover that if a husband does not honor (love and respect) his wife, his prayers will be hindered. What is true for the gander is also true for the goose! As Christian believers we must all walk in love towards God, each other, and the world if we do not want our prayers to be hindered.

Paul declared,

 “I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 2:3-5)
Jesus Christ told the church at Laodicea, “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I will vomit you out of my mouth.” (Revelation 3:15-16)
He also gave an ultimatum, “Let him who does wrong continue to do wrong; let him who is vile continue to be vile; let him who does right continue to do right; and let him who is holy continue to be holy.”
For the professing and practicing Christian believers the only option is to be white hot and zealous in doing right, and to continue to pursue and perfect holiness (godliness) in reverence of God. “To be a disciple of Christ will cost you everything; not to be a disciple of Christ will cost you a whole lot more!” In other words, the cost of being a disciple of Christ is great, but the rewards for doing so and the consequences for not doing so are greater still. You might ask, what are the rewards for remaining in Christ and His words remaining in us, and what are the consequences for not doing so? The answer is simple; so let me be succinct. The rewards for obedience are, “you can ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.” (John 15:6) The consequences for disobedience are “your prayers will be hindered.” (1 Peter 3:7) Which will we choose?
Now, according to Jesus, having our prayers answered and having demons subject to us through His name is no reason to rejoice. This is just a bi-product of remaining in Him and allowing His words to remain in us. The real reason for remaining in Him and allowing His words to remain in us, and the real reason to rejoice is because in doing so we will assure ourselves that our names are still written in Heaven! (Luke 10:20)
With these things in mind we must ask ourselves, what will happen to those unbelievers who do not repent and believe the gospel? Jesus tells us that the unbelieving will have their place in the lake of fire. (Revelation 21:8) And what will happen to those backsliding professing Christians who do not wake up and put their energies into the things that are of eternal value through repentance from dead works and obedience to what they have received and heard regarding the word and will of God? What will happen to those who do not overcome the defiling of their garments through their sexual immorality, human debaucheries, slothfulness and spiritual sleepiness, and the hypocrisy of having a reputation of being alive while in reality they are dead? In other words, what will happen to those unrepentant, un-revived, backsliding, reprobate, and apostate professing Christians who fail to remain in Christ and allow His words to remain in them?
Let’s take a look at two scriptures regarding both people groups. Notice, if you will, that the first scripture, offered by Peter, promises that if unbelievers repent and are converted, their sins will be blotted out. Good News! Jesus spoke the second scripture that I will quote, and promises that the believers who overcome will be dressed in white and never have their names blotted out of the book of life. Good News!

The first is written to the unbelievers: “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. (Acts 3:19-21)

The second is written to professing Christian believers: “To the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God. Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you. Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” (Revelation 3:1-6)

So, at the end of the day, we can have our prayers answered or hindered, and we can have our sins blotted out, or our names blotted out of the book of life. The choice is entirely ours! Which will we choose?