Prayer and Production
If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. John 15:7-8
We are continuing to reflect on Jesus' words to his disciples recorded by the apostle John at the Last Supper. In the last blog we discussed staying plugged into the source of life, Jesus. This week we want to continue in the verse because there are two themes that are produced from Jesus' previous instructions. He told us in the verse to ask and bear, two verbs that are to be seen in every believers life and give us our two points.
Prayer is a lifestyle- This is where things are accomplished. Jesus told us to ask, to seek, to knock. We are to pray as he taught us, "your kingdom come and your will be done" Prayers that are prayed from those that are plugged in and abiding in him will be effective because they are from the heart of God. Abiding has a way of purifying our motives. We can ask what we desire because nothing can be withheld from a heart surrendered to the will of God.
It's easy to sit back and complain, get angry and throw things at the TV because of the current state of the world. It requires great discipline and strength to get on our knees and intercede. To cry out for those who are lost in darkness, to look beyond ourselves and our comforts and stand in the gap to see souls saved. I love what the great evangelist Reinhardt Bonnke said "We want to see hell plundered and heaven filled." Our prayers are the catalyst for the gospel to be taken to the lost, for the harvest to be brought in.
We are supposed to produce- we are designed to bear fruit. Prayer is the initiation of the fruit that is to be born. Obedience expresses that fruit, faith without works is dead. If we truly abide in the life of God it is expressed in our actions, our decisions. We can look at the state of our relationships around us and determine if fruit is being born in them. Do we love our spouse even if just forgot to take out the garbage? Do we respond with joy in the midst of the depression we feel? Do we walk in peace even when we are attacked by our employer? The fruit that is produced glorifies God. It marks us as being from a different kingdom, a different way of life and will stand as a witness to those who are lost.