In chapter one we said that to abide in the Lord is to enjoy the Lord’s life. In chapter two we saw that for us to abide in the Lord and enjoy His life, we need to live and walk by the Spirit. After such a fellowship some brothers and sisters may not understand and still wonder how we can remain in spirit all the time. For example, a lightbulb functions properly when it “enjoys” and “abides” in the electricity. However, if the switch was not securely installed, the lightbulb does not function properly and, therefore, does not shine steadily. If one is a careless Christian, he is indifferent about continuously abiding in the Lord and does not think there is a problem. A seeking Christian, however, would consider, “How can I abide in the Lord continuously?”
As those who pursue the Lord, we should always pray and petition, longing to abide in the Lord continuously and enjoy His life that we may shine and function every day in a normal way. However, our experience is that we flicker every day. The reasons for our flickering are usually not the big things but the small things. Particularly, our family life and our married life cause us to flicker frequently. For example, both a husband and wife may shine normally immediately after their morning revival, but when they come to the dining table, the husband complains that the milk is too hot, while the wife complains that the husband is too hard to be waited on. Immediately both of them begin to flicker. The newly married ones are not the only ones who are in this condition; even those of us who have been married thirty to fifty years are in the same condition. We can sympathize with one another as fellow sufferers of the same ailment.
I have been saved for almost fifty years and have experienced more problems than you; the problems which you experienced I have also experienced. Hence, I know all the problems in your practical living. I also know that to suffer a relapse from an old disease is easy but to cure it completely is difficult. How then can we solve the problems, the flickering, in our daily life? When you repair a flickering lightbulb, you must first repair the switch and then turn it on; after it has been turned on, do not turn it off again. In your home life, however, your spouse and children, needless to say even you yourself, are capable of turning off your spiritual electricity. Sometimes you are doing well from morning until noon by having fellowship with the Lord and abiding in Him. In the afternoon, however, when the children come home from school and jump around the house, right away you cannot stand it, and your spiritual electricity is turned off by their jumping. Then you quickly repent and confess, praying to the Lord for the cleansing of His precious blood. In this way the switch is turned back on. But after another five minutes, your electricity is turned off again. This is our problem.
Hence, the best way to keep the spiritual electricity from being turned off is to install a safety box and lock the switch in. How do you lock it in? The way is to “unceasingly pray and in everything give thanks.” This is not doctrinal but experiential. In doctrine, no one can connect “unceasingly pray and in everything give thanks” with “abiding in the Lord.” There is one book in the New Testament that specifically covers the matter of abiding in the Lord, and that is the first Epistle of John. Yet in such a book there is no mention at all of unceasingly praying and in everything giving thanks. Knowledge is one thing, while experience is another. Often those with a Ph.D. are inferior to those who are experienced. Therefore, I am not telling you about knowledge or doctrine; I am speaking about experience. The secret, the key, to remaining in the enjoyment of the Lord is prayer and thanksgiving.
We all can understand what it means to pray and to give thanks. When we pray, we are shining within, but if we also give thanks, we will become enlivened within. Prayer may be likened to connecting the wires, and thanksgiving, to shining the light. Sometimes our “wires” have been connected, yet it seems that we do not sense any reaction. The light does not shine if there is only prayer but no thanksgiving. Therefore, if we want to have a life that is always shining without flickering, we need to pray unceasingly and give thanks in everything. According to our experience, if we pray and also give thanks, even if before we were not abiding in the Lord, we will spontaneously enter into the Lord and abide in Him. If we want to get in and not come out but remain inside all the time, we need to pray unceasingly and give thanks in everything.
A vile sinner needs only to believe and repent, praying to the Lord, “Lord Jesus, I am truly a vile sinner. I pray that You save me.” Immediately the “connection” is made, and Christ enters into him. This sinner, however, still has to say, “Lord Jesus, I really thank You.” Then the light in him will shine, and he will abide in the Lord. Hence, whether we are believers or sinners, we all need to abide in the Lord through prayer and thanksgiving.
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