Abiding In Intimate Prayer (John Wimber)

Abiding In Intimate Prayer

In the Gospel of John, Jesus talks about an absolutely essential element for a quality prayer life. “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given to you” (John 15:7). The word “remain” here means to live in Jesus, to take your sustenance from him, dwell with him, give yourself over to the process of living there.

If you remain in him, his words will remain in you and be dynamic and powerful. The result? “…Ask whatever you wish, and it will be given to you.”

You say, “You mean all I have to do is live in Jesus and his words live in me and then I can ask anything I want to?” If you’re remaining in Jesus and his words are abiding or remaining in you, you’ll be asking on a different level and a different plane. Remaining or abiding in intimate prayer means you will care about those things that God cares about and pray the prayers of faith that he already wants to answer.

Abiding, or remaining, is directly related to obeying. 1 John 3:22-24 says that we can have confidence because we 

“…receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him. And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ and to love one another as he commanded us. Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.”

So, there’s a relationship between abiding in Jesus and obeying Jesus. It is all wrapped up in the Person of Jesus and a relationship with him that’s intimate and eternal. It is imperfect on my part, but perfect on his part; perfectly provisioned on his part, imperfect in response on my part.

Saving us isn’t enough — he wants to love us. Taking us to heaven wouldn’t be enough — he wants to be our intimate friend. He wants to talk with us, be with us, enjoy us. He has a sense of humor, too. (If he saved me, you know he has a sense of humor.)

John Wimber, Prayer: Intimate Communication (Anaheim: Vineyard Ministries International, 1997), 12.

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John Wimber on Abiding In Intimate Prayer: “Saving us isn’t enough — He wants to love us. Taking us to heaven wouldn’t be enough — He wants to be our intimate friend. He wants to talk with us, be with us, enjoy us.”
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