Jesus makes a stunning promise in John 15: “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” Most of us struggle to believe that, because every one of us has experienced unanswered prayer.
The temptation is to try harder to believe. We work up a mental certainty that God will do exactly what we ask. But that is like trying to produce fruit out of thin air. Jesus gives us a different picture. He is the vine, the Father is the gardener, and we are the branches. Answered prayer is the fruit that grows out of our union with him.
Fruit is never produced by focusing on fruit. It is the end result of a living process: healthy roots, good soil, sun, rain, pruning, and time. The Gardener takes care of all of that. The branch has one job, which is to remain in the vine. A dear friend of mine, one of the most fruitful men I have ever met, puts it this way: “This is simple work.”
So what does remaining look like? It begins with the Holy Spirit, the sap, the very life of Jesus flowing into us. It includes letting his words take up residence in us, because faith comes by hearing the word of God. And it includes obedience, especially the command to “love one another as I have loved you.” Whatever we receive from the vine, we pass along to others.
This changes how we think about praying “in Jesus’s name.” It is not a phrase we tack onto the end of a prayer. It is an address, a place to pray from. To be in his name is to be in him, and he is in us.
Something else happens when we live there. Our desires change. Jesus says “ask whatever you wish,” and that wish comes from deep in the heart, below what we think we ought to want. Abiding reshapes us at that level.
I learned this in Africa. I was in a prayer gathering for South Sudan, having just met refugees from there, and I felt the need. But as the group prayed, I grew bored and my mind wandered. I asked the Lord what was wrong with me. I heard, “I’m not giving you a burden to pray for South Sudan at this time.” I slipped out to find lunch. Later, another person admitted she had struggled to pray in the same meeting. Prayer that is always answered flows from genuine desire, and genuine desire grows in the soil of abiding.
This week, try not to strain for results. Linger with the Lord. Let his words settle in. Listen before you ask. Love someone the way you have been loved. Branches do not bear fruit by effort. They bear fruit by staying connected.
Jonathan Friz
New England Alliance