“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.” – John 15:5
Yesterday, we began talking about how to pray like Paul, specifically, praying Carpe Diem prayers. We talked about how we should be praying that we would be guided by the will of God, guarded by the wisdom of God, and gratified in our walk with God. But that’s not all we should be praying for. In fact, there are three more things we should be praying for on a consistent basis. Let’s dive into those prayer components now.
First, we should pray to be growing in our work for God. If we know the will of God, through the wisdom of God, as we walk with God, that should lead to our growing in our work for God. Paul refers to this as “bearing fruit.” That tells us something that he alluded to before. You don’t manufacture fruit; you bear fruit.
Jesus said in John 15:5, “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.” We are not the tree. We are the branch. Our job is to let Jesus bear His fruit through us. The way we do that is by growing in the knowledge of God.
But what does knowing God have to do with being fruitful? Well, you can’t love God until you know God. You can’t love God more until you love God better. The better you know God, the more you love God, and the more you love God, the better you will serve God. As you serve God, you are bearing fruit.
Second, we should pray to be grounded in our witness for God. You cannot come within a mile of living the Christian life in your own strength and your own power. The good news is what God enlists us to do, He empowers us to do. God will give us all the power we need to do whatever He wants us to do, as long as He wants us to do it.
God’s power never gets overloaded. It never shuts down. It is an inexhaustible supply. When we acknowledge this truth, we can be grounded in our witness for God.
Finally, we should pray to be grateful in our worship of God. The problems and difficult people we deal with should never have an effect on two things: our joyfulness and our gratefulness. You should always be joyful because of who Jesus is in you, and you should always be thankful for what Jesus has done for you.
Whether we are being persecuted for what we believe, insulted for standing up for what we believe in, or rejected because of the one we believe in, we should pray that we will never react with bitterness. We should respond with joyfulness that we have been counted worthy to suffer for Christ and thankfulness that the one that we stand for stands with us.
Lord, thank you for Paul’s example that he set for us on how to pray. Remind me each time I sit down to pray and talk to you to incorporate all six of the components we’ve discussed the last two days. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Topics: Prayer
