Appointed To Bear Fruit: A 90 Day JourneyНамуна

Powerful Prayers

Jesus gives us an incredible promise: If we abide in Him, we will bear much fruit and can ask anything in His name, and He will do it for us—anything in His name. Wow, that is awesome. But did Jesus really mean that the Father would immediately give us whatever we ask for? No, He didn’t. The key to understanding this truth is found in the first part of the verse: “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you.” Prayer is not something that is automatically answered by God as though God is a robot. Prayer is answered because we are in Christ, and He works through His children who are one in heart with His mission. 

Being “in Christ” is so crucial that the phrase is used 175 times in the New Testament. Clearly, no fruit will be produced in our lives apart from being in Christ. We can pray and continually ask God for fruit, but God will not give us fruit because fruit only grows as a result of the life of Christ flowing through us. But for those in Christ, even while experiencing great difficulties, we are promised that we will have great joy in the end because we bore fruit. 

In the same way that a husband and wife enjoy an intimate relationship with one another so that they can understand each other, so too do we, who are abiding in Christ, better understand God’s will and heart’s desire. The more we study and meditate on His Word, the more we will understand Jesus’ desire that the Father is glorified (Phil. 2:11) through the salvation of sinners (I Tim. 2:4-5). Those who understand God’s desire will actively pray for His will to be done. Our prayers should center around the subject of proclaiming the gospel to the whole world. God wants all of us to take part in His mission through prayer. What an incredible opportunity we have to proclaim the gospel to the ends of the earth. Through our evangelism and prayer, we become co-workers with Christ. When we share the gospel with someone, we are also praying that the Holy Spirit will work in their heart and bring them to saving faith.

Jesus has already instructed us on how to prevent egotistical prayers that are not in accordance with His will. He said that branches that are abiding in Him will be pruned. In order to grow spiritually, Jesus will be continually pruning us. Through that pruning process, our desires and ambitions will be purified by the Lord so they are in accordance with His plan for the world. Then as we make our requests to God, our prayers will be in line with God’s will. If you were to plant some rice, would you expect mangos to grow from those plants? Of course not. Fruit can only be produced by the same kind of plant. That’s Jesus’ point. 

It’s also important to note that Jesus changed the metaphor. Previously, Jesus said that He will abide in us. Now, Jesus says that His words will abide in us. Both of these statements mean the same thing. Jesus is the Word of God made flesh; He is the true revelation of the Father to the world. Jesus and His Word cannot be separated. The eternal Word of God resided in the physical body of Jesus Christ. So, as we meditate on the Word of God, the Holy Spirit leads us into understanding God’s will. As a result, we deny ourselves and submit to His will so that His plans may be accomplished through us. If you are already praying, reading God’s Word, and submitting to Him, then ask God to give you greater boldness to pray in accordance with His will. The Father’s name will be glorified to the ends of the earth through your prayers. 

Application:  What are you praying for?