The Secret of

Power in Prayer

Charles H. Surgeon

Contents

I. What Is This Special Blessing?

II. Obtaining the Blessing

III. Why This Privilege Should Be So Obtained

The Secret of

Power in Prayer

 

“If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be

done unto you.”—John 15:7

 

The gifts of grace are not enjoyed all at once by believers. Coming unto Christ, we are saved by a true union with Him; but it is by abiding in that union that we further receive the purity, the joy, the power, the blessedness, which are stored up in Him for His people. See how our Lord states this when He speaks to the believing Jews in the eighth chapter of this gospel, at the thirty-first and thirty-second verses: “Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” We do not know all the truth at once: we learn it by abiding in Jesus. Perseverance in grace is an educational process by which we learn the truth fully. The emancipating power of that truth is also gradually perceived and enjoyed. “The truth shall make you free.” One bond after another snaps, and we are free indeed. You that are young beginners in the divine life may be cheered to know that there is something better still for you: you have not yet received the full recompense of your faith. As your hymn puts it—“It is better on before."