Ask What You Wish

Good morning.

In the last couple of messages we have been looking at remaining in the vine, which was about getting from the vine what we need for bearing fruit.

“If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples,” (John 15:7-8).

Lord, please open our eyes to see what you’re trying to tell us?

If we work for a company in whatever role, the company is responsible to supply what we need to do our job well. We should have the required safety equipment and also the equipment necessary to do the work. If we need more material we request or order it, i.e. ask for it. If the company can’t provide for their workers, the workers can’t accomplish what the company aims to achieve.

This is what this passage is all about. Our ultimate aim is to make God’s Kingdom efficient on earth. We are Kingdom employees with the aim to win souls for the Kingdom and equip them to win others to the Father’s glory. For this we need the Word in our hearts, the power of the Holy Spirit, wisdom, tactics, financial resources, buildings, ships, aeroplanes, televisions, computers, telephones or whatever we can think of. We need these for the purpose of building the Kingdom.

The condition in our passage is “if you remain in me and my words remain in you”. We are not invited to ask for things to meet our own selfish needs and to spend on ourselves. James put it as follows: “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures,” (James 4:3). When we stay in Jesus with the intention to learn from Him so we could bear the kind of fruit that would nourish our hearers and make them reproduce, i.e. apply the word of the Lord that lives within us, we can ask the Lord whatever we need for that task and we will receive it. If we e.g. need a new computer to use for creating material that would nourish souls, we may ask and the Lord would supply.

When we are in the Lord and act according His instructions, He will tell us what to ask for and we will have the faith to ask. I’m thinking of Operation Mobilisation’s George Verwer who was ‘cheeky’ enough to ask the Lord for a ship. When we remain in the Lord with the view to be as fruitful as we can, there are no limits to what the Lord can do through our lives.

It seems that these days we think only a few are meant to be great and the others should only follow. However, Jesus said that it is to His Father’s glory that we bear much fruit and prove ourselves to be His disciples. He didn’t pick out Peter and maybe John and told them they would be the greatest and the others will only follow. In fact in the previous chapter of John’s gospel He said: “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father,” (John 14:12). In the book of Acts Peter was only the instrument when the Lord opened this new move of His with a big bang and 3000 souls got saved. This was followed up by disciples roaming the environment, winning souls and making disciples as they went along.

How about you in your environment? Jesus said of you: “If......... (your name) remains in me and my words remain in......... (your name), (s)he may ask whatever (s)he wishes, and it will be given......... (your name). This is to my Father’s glory, that.......... (your name) bear much fruit, showing him/herself to be my disciples.”  

“Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends,” (John 15:13).

Lord, I want to remain in you and lay down my life so that Father may be glorified.

Thank you Lord that your Word went out from your mouth, via your servant’s pen, and it will not return to you empty, but will accomplish what you desire and achieve the purpose for which you sent it.

Please pass this on if you think others may benefit by it.