By Pastor Naomi Mitchell
For Carter County Times
John 15:7 says, “If you abide in Me and My words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done unto you.” If the words of Jesus abide in us, then the result will be that you pray with power and effectiveness.
One little word here in this verse gives us a clue of how this will be done. That word “abide” means to “live, dwell, accept or act in accordance with a rule.” Just get filled with Jesus and His words will live in you!
Sometimes it feels like we’re being attacked from all sides, and indeed we are. Ephesians 2:2-3 mentions three sources of attacks: “this world, the ruler of the kingdom of the air (Satan) and the cravings of our flesh.” It’s not surprising we get weary in the battle!
Think about this, prayer is for fruit-bearing. God designed prayer to give his disciples the joy of bearing fruit while God Himself gets the glory. We can see this in the connection between verses 7 and 8 and then in verse 16. If you abide in Me, and My Words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you. By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples.
God gets glory when we bear much fruit because we have prayed, and God has answered.
“By this is my Father glorified” — that is, by your asking Him for things and His giving them to you. He gets glory as the one who is rich and good enough to answer prayer. But also “By this is my Father glorified” — that is, that you bear much fruit. The implication is that God gets glory when we bear much fruit because we have prayed, and God has answered. Therefore, the primary point of prayer is fruit-bearing. Prayer is for fruit-bearing.
Charles Spurgeon said, “We do not have to earn our way into prayer. We pray with confidence because God is full of grace, NOT because we are good enough.” He continued, “The soul-enriching path of prayer is open to the very weakest saint.”
No matter who you are, if you’ll abide in Christ and let His Words abide (live, dwell) in you, He has promised to give what you ask for in accordance with His Words. It says “His Words” not ours. His Words are truth and life. We must never cease to pray. No case is hopeless while Jesus lives.
If you expect the Lord to answer your prayers (fruit bearing prayers) then examine yourself. See if you truly are abiding in Him and His Words are abiding in you. If you are then you should certainly be receiving answers to your prayers doing it God’s way! AMEN! SO BE IT!
JOYFUL House of Prayer, 2519 Quicksand Road, (P.O. Box 856), Jackson, Kentucky 41339. Send Comments/Prayer Requests: Pastornaomi4god@gmail.com. FB: JoyfulHoprayer. Services: 10am Sunday and 6:30pm Thursdays. Radio Broadcast: WJSN 97.3 FM & WEKG 81.0 AM Sundays 1-2pm.
