John 15:7 If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you.
The first part of this verse (the condition) is the most important part of this verse because it gives the conditions that must be met in order to get to the promise. However many of us just see the second part of this verse. There have been many times when I've heard people quote this verse and not even include the first piece. It's made to sound like regardless of what we are doing, good, bad or indifferent, that we can ask God for whatever we wish and it will be given to us, or done for us. There are many that ask the Lord for something but they are in a place spiritually where they can't receive because they are not in Christ and His words are not in them.
We cannot get what the Lord has for us if we are disconnected from him in any way. In today's terms lets look at using a cell phone. If your cell phone cuts out, you’re disconnected from the person you were talking to. Now you can keep on talking and ask them anything, but they're not going to answer you because the connection broke down. Staying connected to God through prayer, Bible Reading, Bible Study, and meditating on what you've learned is the only way to stay connected. The Lord will honor that because we've abided in Him, so He is in us.
If we are expecting consistent answers to prayer, the words of Jesus must abide in us. That is, Jesus himself must abide in us speaking. We do not just stock ourselves with dead ideas that he spoke a long time ago, but we believe and remember and meditate on the truths that he spoke once and is speaking now as he abides in us. I want to focus on the (result) of this verse, "ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you." If the words of Jesus abide in us, then the result will be that you pray with power and effectiveness.
Prayer is for fruit bearing. God designed prayer to give believers 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. 7If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you. 8 By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples. "By this is my Father glorified". What that means is, by us asking God for things and His giving them to us. 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 we bear much fruit. The implication is that God gets glory when we bear much fruit because we have prayed and God has answered. This gives us a testimony by which he gets all of the glory. Therefore the primary point of prayer is fruit-bearing.
This is confirmed explicitly in John 15:16. Jesus says to his disciples, "You did not choose me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he may give to you." The connections between the two parts of this verse are tremendously important. Jesus says that he chose and appointed his disciples that they should go and bear fruit that remains, so "that whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he may give it to you."
The point is that prayer malfunctions when it is not used for fruit-bearing. Therefore, because prayer is for fruit-bearing, if you are not devoted to fruit-bearing you have no warrant for expecting answers to prayer.
Prayer is not for gratifying natural desires. I know that Jesus taught us to pray, "Give us this day, our daily bread." What's more natural than wanting to eat? I know that there are dozens of instances in the Bible of people praying for desires as natural as the desire for protection, success and healing. I'm not implying that those desires are wrong. What I'm saying is that they should always be subordinate to spiritual desires, kingdom desires, fruit bearing desires, gospel spreading God centered desires. When our natural desires are felt as a means to these greater desires then they become the proper subject of prayer.
Just before Jesus said to pray, "Give us this day our daily bread," he said, make it your heart's desire that God would hallow his name and that the kingdom would come and that the will of God would be done on earth as it is in Heaven. When your heart is caught up with those great desires, then having something to eat is not merely a natural desire, but a means to some great God centered end, and then it is the proper subject of prayer.
Prayer is for God's kingdom and God's will, it is for fruit bearing in all those great things. If our protection, eating, and possessions leads to those great God centered ends, (the kingdom of God and will of God) then that’s Fruitful Prayer.
Please pray with me
Father you are so good to us. You do give us the things we ask for when we are abiding in you.
My prayer God is that you would show each of us the times when we are not abiding in you as much as we should be, because there are times when we will think we're in that right place but we miss the mark. That with your help and guidance God, we would be more obedient to the urgings of your Holy Spirit to be in that right place to receive the blessings you have for us and that through this we would each have more testimonies to give that bring all glory and honor to you and the kingdom of Heaven.
I ask this in Jesus name
Amen
God Bless You All
“The Sharpshooter”
As believers, when we need a healing we call on the God to heal us of an injury or illness. Many of us also call on him for every ache and pain and I think that this is an area where we set ourselves up for disappointment, because we're asking God to do something that he doesn't need to do. God will no doubt heal things that need to be healed by him. He loves to do miracles, signs & wonders. However the things that he doesn't need to heal he'll advise us on and we need to be listening or we'll keep on suffering until we finally do listen. For example if there is something we need to be doing differently than we are currently doing it. That will be the solution he gives us and when we follow the instructions he gives us, we will in fact find relief which is a healing of sorts. I'll use myself as an example.
For the last three months I have suffered daily with intense pain in my left leg and I've prayed and prayed for God to heal it. Pastors and friends laid hands and prayed for this healing, but the healing never came, at least not the way I expected it to. This is where many begin to question God's will or flat out blame God for not healing them and become offended with God. We must understand that God didn't give us the condition we have and he can't because he doesn't have it and you can't give something you haven't got. God is all good, he waits for us to go to him with our problems and when we give them over to him he gives the solutions. Sometimes that will be a physical or mental healing, and sometimes it will be only guidance, because that may be all you need.
I was awakened on Monday morning at 2:30 AM screaming in pain. Later that morning I went to the Emergency Room under the advisement of my doctor to be checked for blood clots, because the pain was mostly behind the knee and that's where the pain would be if a clot had formed. After five hours in the Emergency Room, they found no blood clots but they also found no clear cut reason for me to be in such pain. While I was in the E.R, I finally tuned in to what God was saying and it was then that I realized the pain I was in was muscular not joint related. I got an idea that I normally wouldn't think of. This idea was to see a Massage Therapist. I called on a friend who is in that line of work and made and appointment for Monday afternoon. The moment the therapist felt the muscles in my leg, he told me where the pain was before I had the chance to explain it fully. The muscles were tight as could be and were like iron to press against. There was just no give. It took over thirty minutes but he finally got the muscles to relax and with that came almost instant relief.
He explained that the larger muscles in the leg got stressed and tight and they in turn affected the smaller muscle groups causing the muscles to literally pull on the bones and joints which caused this tremendous pain. Today I am in far less pain and am able to walk normally but there's a catch. I have to change what I'm doing. I was told that I need to spend twenty minutes a day just stretching. If I do that I will keep this problem under control and even relieve it entirely. If I don't stretch, I will go right back to suffering. See it wasn't a healing the God needed to perform. I didn't need a miracle or a healing. I needed to get educated about my problem and change what I was doing. Most of all I had to listen to what God was saying. There's no doubt in my mind that He's been trying to tell me what to do about this for a couple of months. Had I been listening better and spending more time with Him one on one, I could have saved myself months of agony and putting extra burdens and stress on my family. So God gave me his wisdom instead of a healing, but I got the same result. He gave me what I needed and not what I wanted. So be sure that you’re always listening for what God is saying. Your victory could be only moments away.
Please pray this with me.
Thank you Lord God for the wisdom you provided me with as a solution to pain I was in. Father you always come through and you always provide for us in the way you see fit which is always the best way. Father I pray that you would help us to help ourselves by being more intimate with you God, by spending more time in prayer one on one with you and spending time in your word. We need to decrease so that you can increase in our lives. Help those of us that don’t need a healing but your wisdom instead, to listen more closely for your voice Father, so that we could remedy our situations and circumstances as fast as you provide the solutions.
I ask this in Jesus name
Amen
God Bless You All
“The Sharpshooter”
These day's life has become so stressful and difficult that we often times in our frustration, take our problems out on the people that mean the most to us. Most of us have a very supportive cast of characters that make us shine. Our spouses, family, friends, and pastors are all there to support us, but do we realize the full value these people have? In the past, I personally have made the mistake at times of not valuing the people closest to me and that is absolutely the last thing I or anyone else should want to do.
Imagine for a moment what your life would be like without your husband or wife? How would life be without your close friends being there for you? What would you do if you had no counsel with someone such as your pastor? I know that for me personally, if I did not have these people in my life, I would not be the person that I am today. I would be a lonely, depressed and misguided individual. We need to pay special attention to the people in our lives that we could not do without and appreciate them always. Giving them special honor from time to time, maybe take a moment and write them a note thanking them for the things they do that add to your life. Maybe even surprise them with flowers or take them to lunch, just because.
In valuing our family's and friendships, we are sowing and reaping. These wonderful people have sown seed in us by adding to our lives, by building us up, by supporting us and loving us. We in turn are sowing seed by honoring them and as we do, they are reaping the benefits of what they have sown. What a wonderful circle that creates. If we don't honor those that support us and make us shine, we break that circle and invite in all sorts of problems. People will feel disrespected, dishonored and worst of all like they wasted their time on us. Satan will take any opportunity we give him. If we break that circle we have created an opportunity for him to come in and wreak havoc on relationships. So to avoid this, we must always show those who have invested in us, that it was both beneficial and appreciated.
Unfortunately sometimes trouble or tragedy has to hit our lives before we realize what is really important. Times of trouble teach us about our priorities regarding our relationship with God, and our families. We need to constantly be asking ourselves if we have our priorities straight? Do we have God first, then our spouse, family, and Christian and community service? Proverbs 3:6 says, "Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he's the one who will keep you on track." Make a new or renewed commitment today to put God first in your life. Spend time with Him everyday in prayer and Bible reading. If you're not already an active member of a Bible-teaching church, find one today, attend regularly, and get involved. Seek to honor God in your relationships, your time, and your material resources.
Have we spent quality time building our relationships with our spouse and with our children? 1 John 3:18 says "Let us stop just saying we love people; let us really love them, and show it by our actions." What are some practical ways that we can show our spouses and children (or extended family and friends, if single) that you really love them? How can you use this time now to build family relationships?
If we teach our children the proper way to treat others and how to value friends and family, we are ensuring that the circle of sowing and reaping will stay intact. God intended the home to be the seedbed of truth, the place where children and their parents were to learn, appreciate and practice the real values of life; values which can only be learned in the company of others. These values are Love and affection, Honesty, Kindness, Fairness, Sacrifice - that greatest of spiritual investments, Discipline, Thrift, Teamwork, A sense of responsibility towards others, How to live under and how to exercise authority and Good communications. These and many other values are best learned in the family circle; and God has designed it so in order that we may know how to behave towards the whole Family of Mankind of which He is the Everlasting Father. Isaiah 54:13 tells us that. "All your children will have God for their teacher, what a mentor for your children!"
Here is a great opportunity for us to affect change in our own market places. By teaching our children the values of life, how to communicate well and the value of people in their lives, we are equipping them to change the landscape around us by creating good habits. These ways of life will be normal to them and they will be so secure in themselves that when they encounter someone who is not living correctly and these people try to be a negative influence, our children will be secure enough in their knowledge that they will not sway from the truth and they will have a great opportunity to create positive change in that persons life.
Please pray this with me.
Heavenly Father, we thank you for the people that you have put in our lives that build us up and strengthen and support us. Second only to you God they are very important to us being successful in our daily lives. Help us to never mistreat them and if we should make the mistake of taking our frustrations out on them, help us to be quick to apologize for our offense. I pray that our appreciation and valuing of these people would never wane. Father your word say's in 2 Corinthians 9:6 that he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows generously will also reap generously and with blessings. Help us to never allow that circle to break God. I ask for your guidance in raising our children so that they are equipped to be not just the leaders of tomorrow but leaders of lost souls.
In Jesus Name I Pray
Amen
God Bless You All
“The Sharpshooter”
