John 15:1-8

The Vine and the Branches

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”

Our Role in Fruit-bearing — “ask”

People in ALL religions pray. Jesus very clearly instructs us to be filled with His Word first, and then “ask” Him to naturally fulfill the new desires put into our hearts as a result of His words (and will) remaining in us. Consider the following statements and respond with True or False:

If we regularly pray to Jesus we obligate Him to answer our prayers.     True     False

If we regularly pray, God keeps a record of this and counts it toward our good works.     True     False

If we regularly pray, at some point we will fill up a request bowl in heaven and get a positive answer.     True     False

If we regularly pray, then and only then will we be protected from evil and earning a good standing before God.     True     False

Praying is how we score points with God.     True     False

Pardon me for these absurd statements, but I mention them because they represent the views of RELIGIOUS people who are walking dangerously close to WITCHCRAFT – not relationship! PRAYER is NOT a mechanistic “hocus pocus” say these magic words and certain things will happen in life kind of deal – that is the spirit of witchcraft! TRUE BIBLICAL PRAYER is the NATURAL OUTFLOWING of a heart that has been filled with His desires, words and will. Remember your first “boy/girl” human relationship? What did your phone bill look like?!!!! BOTTOM LINE: If we have a relationship with Christ (abide/remain), and we have intentionally ingested His love letters to us (the Word), we CAN’T HELP BUT PRAY!!! True prayerlessness is not the result of not enough “discipline” so much as it’s the result of NOT ENOUGH JESUS!

Write down your conversation with Christ about the concept above: