"The assurance of answered prayers...comes with conditions. Am I abiding in Christ? Am I making requests according to his will? Am I obeying his commands? Each of these underscores the relationship, the companionship with God. The more we know God, the more we know God's will, the more likely our prayers will align with that will." (Yancey, Prayer, p.235)

The conditional promise of answered prayer is to abide, to remain in Christ, and that his words remain in us. In other words, the primary relationship with Christ and his words to us, is preliminary to, and the foundation of, answered prayer. This should not be new to us. We know that it is so in every relationship. We have as much influence with another person as the closeness of our relationship. It is not what we know, but who we know that counts. Cultivation of relationships must be a priority in any endeavor. Good relationships produce results. What is true in the human sphere is also true in the spiritual sphere. Answered prayer depends on the closeness of our relationship with Christ and his body - his community.

In fact, we could say that intimacy in relationships is a key to prayer. If we find it hard to love or to receive love, we may find it hard to pray. If we hold others at arms length we may find it hard to get near to Christ. If we distance ourselves from others we will distance ourselves from God. If we find it hard to trust others, we may find it hard to trust Christ. Those of us who are task-oriented, who like to do things our way, may find it hard to work with others, or to value our relationships. Yet, business management teaches us that attention to relationships in working with others results in greater productivity. The person who can get on with others and motivate them can get more accomplished.

How can we fully abide in Christ? The word for 'abide' describes the closest possible relationship between Christ and the believer. Jesus calls us to be 'at home' with him. He uses the metaphor of the vine and the branches. We are organically connected through Christ to the roots of the plant. Only by being so connected can we bear any fruit. Apart from being connected to Christ we can do nothing that is worthwhile, that endures.

The believer is nourished by the Holy Spirit: 'he lives with you and will be in you.' (John 14:17) Like the blood that sustains the body, the Holy Spirit provides the lifeline of the body of Christ of which we are a part. There can be no separation, no amputation, no pruning. "If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers, such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned." (John 15:6) "When you're joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can't produce a thing. Anyone who separates from me is deadwood, gathered up and thrown on the bonfire." (The Message) Distancing ourselves from Christ, trying to go it alone, dooms us to barrenness. When we are connected to Christ his life flows through us and produces the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control. (Galatians 5:22,23)

Abide, remain, make yourself at home, stay, share, be connected: all these ways of expressing our relationship with Christ require time spent cultivating and deepening the intimacy and trust that is involved. It means complete honesty in communication. It means vulnerability in sharing weakness. It means openness about desires and plans. It means enjoyment of each other's companionship. It means a long-term commitment. Over time the relationship becomes second nature. Such compatibility is the result of faithfulness and unselfishness. It requires remaining in the relationship. The branch becomes part of the vine. There is an assimilation, an absorption, a blending, a permeation, or osmosis, so that when you contemplate a decision or an action you know the mind of Christ.

His words remain in you. They have become part of you. You have listened to his words over the years so that you know them by heart; just as you know the mind and words of your beloved companion of many years. Just as you know what your wife, husband, or close friend wishes or desires, so you know what Christ wishes and desires for you. Knowing those words has become second nature to you. You have valued them and proved their worth through many difficulties and challenges. They have sustained you and guided you through many trials and troubles. What Christ wishes for you, you wish for yourself. His words and will have become yours. So, whatever you ask, whatever you wish, is what he would ask or wish for you. What Christ wishes to give you, will be given to you.

The promise of answered prayer is conditional upon the closeness of your relationship with Christ. The only way to win in the battle with lack of faith, hope and love in the world, is to deepen your relationship with Christ. The only way to bear much fruit in your life, is to abide in the vine. The only way to produce anything of worth in this life is to make yourself at home in Christ, and with his words. Jesus is talking about a personal, spiritual experience of a close relationship with him. Faith is not just believing in certain doctrines but entering into an intimate, interior, spiritual relationship with Christ. It has to do with the affections as well as the mind.

Hudson Taylor, envisioned a missionary task greater than any since the days of St. Paul - the evangelization of China. Toward that end he established the China Inland Mission in 1865. After a stint in medical school Taylor sailed for China. He was immediately engulfed in financial crises, language difficulties, homesickness and personality conflicts with other missionaries. Over the next few years Taylor grew bitterly depressed. Then he received a letter from his friend John McCarthy, who told him to try "...abiding, not striving nor struggling." Christ himself is "the only power for service; the only ground for unchanging joy." Hudson said, "As I read, I saw it all. I looked to Jesus; and when I saw, oh, how the joy flowed. As to work, mine was never so plentiful or so difficult; but the weight and strain are gone." New voltage surged through his life and ministry as though they were connected to a heavenly power plant. By the time Hudson Taylor died, CIM had 800 missionaries in China. Today, there are 50-130 million Christians in China.

"In all my prayers, whether I get the answers I want or not, I can count on this fact: God can make use of whatever happens. Nothing is irredeemable...John Baillie prayed:

Let me use disappointment as material for patience.

Let me use success as material for thankfulness.

Let me use trouble as material for perseverance.

Let me use danger as material for courage.

Let me use reproach as material for long suffering.

Let me use praise as material for humility.

Let me use pleasures as material for temperance.

Let me use pain as material for endurance." (Yancey p.240)