Skip to main content

Ask Whatever You Wish and It Will Be Done

Image
By
Jesus said in John 15:7-8, “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.” The word “ask” in the original language is a strong one. It means to beg, to call for, to crave, to desire, and even to require of the one entreated. That is to say, this word implies great passion, intensity, and fervency in prayer. And indeed, fervency is a necessary aspect of all true praying. Consider these words from the nineteenth-century pastor E. M. Bounds:

“Prayers must be red hot. It is the fervent prayer that is effectual and that availeth. Coldness of spirit hinders praying; prayer cannot live in a wintry atmosphere. Chilly surroundings freeze out petitioning; and dry up the springs of supplication. It takes fire to make prayers go. Warmth of soul creates an atmosphere favorable to prayer, because it is favorable to fervency. By flame, prayer ascends to heaven. Yet fire is not fuss, nor heat noise. Heat is intensity—something that glows and burns. Heaven is a mighty poor market for ice” (The Complete Works of E. M. Bounds on Prayer, Prince Press, 2000: 35). 

The question is, though, how do we gain such fervency, such fire of soul, such glowing intensity? Answer: we get these things by abiding in Christ and by allowing the words of Christ to abide in us until they saturate our hearts and minds, teaching us how to think and feel. As the words of Christ take root in our lives, the flame of Christ eventually sets our own souls ablaze with love for him and others, and with wisdom for prayer. 

Indeed, it is the Spirit and the words of Christ that shape and impassion our prayers. They shape our prayers by giving us revelation and wisdom, sight and insight; by renewing our minds and causing us to think God’s thoughts after him, as it were; by transforming our lives so that we die to our ways and live to Christ’s ways. And they impassion our prayers by setting our hearts on fire with the flame of heaven, as the Holy Spirit impresses on our soul the very fervency of Christ and applies to our lives the implications of his words. 

Do you pray with this kind of fervency? If not, Beloved, flee to Christ and spend time with him. All the passion and earnestness you will ever need is there with him. But it will take time. You will have to discipline yourself to deny your flesh and stay with Christ when your flesh would have you fly to work or television or food or 1,000 other things. Abide with Christ, and when he is ready he will set your soul on fire. 

Prayer Focus: Pray that Christ will cause you to abide in him and cause his words to abide in you so that the fire and fervency of his soul will set your soul aflame. Pray for the perseverance to stay with Christ and listen to him when you would rather fly away.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

To Have My Soul Happy in the Lord, by George Muller

By Anonymous
To Have My Soul Happy in the Lord By George Muller “It has pleased the Lord to teach me a truth, the benefit of which I have not lost for more than fourteen years. The point is this: I saw more clearly than ever that the first great and primary business to which I ought to attend every day was to have my soul happy in the Lord. The first thing to be concerned about was not how much I might serve the Lord, or how I might glorify the Lord, but how I might get my soul into a happy state, and how my inner man might be nourished. “I saw that the most important thing I had to do was to give myself to the reading of the Word of God—not prayer, but the Word of God. And here again, not the simple reading of the Word of God so that it only passes through my mind just as water runs through a pipe, but considering what I read, pondering over it, and applying it to my heart. To meditate on it, that thus my heart might be comforted, encouraged, warned, reproved, instructed. And that thus,...
Post a Comment
Read more

Worship Songs, October 15, 2017

By
We post these worship songs leading up to the worship service so that parents may listen to them in the house or in the car within the days leading up to the worship service. Our hope is that children will hear the songs prior to and it will prepare them to participate in worship on Sunday mornings. My Redeemers Love Hope Has Come I Will Glory In My Redeemer Blessed Be Your Name Here In Your Presence Your Glory Be Still My Soul (In You I Rest) -- Sermon Text: John 11:1-16 That the next generation will set their hope in God and not forget the works of God (Psalm 78:7).
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations on the Glory of Christ: He Sits at the Right Hand of God

By
In Hebrews 1:2-4, the author makes seven claims about Jesus that when taken together greatly exalt his glory. The seventh claim the author makes about the Son is that, having made purification for sins, he now sits at the right hand of the Majesty on high. The words “he sat down” set the stage for chapter 7 where we’re taught that Jesus is both Priest and King. Prior to Jesus, no king offered his own sacrifices and no priest sat on the throne of David, for that wouldn’t be right. God had decreed that there should be a separation of powers between the priest and the king, but Jesus, unlike all before him, is worthy and able to fulfill both roles. So, on the one hand, Jesus sat down at the right hand of God after making purification for sins because the sacrifice he offered, namely himself, is sufficient. Other priests were always standing, as we see in chapter 10:11-14, because their work was never done. The blood of bulls and goats can never take away sins, so the priests could...
Post a Comment
Read more