Prayer
"If ye abide in Me, and
My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto
you" (John 15:7).
It is interesting to note
that this vital Bible verse, this statement from the Lord Himself, begins with
the word "if." It is possible to be a Christian and not be abiding in
Christ. It is possible to be a Christian and not have His Word abiding in you.
It is possible to be a lukewarm, half‑hearted, un‑disciplined
Christian who follows Christ, but follows afar off.
Now, you don't want to be
that sort of Christian, do you? Of course not. Especially when you know that
sort of Christian misses the adventures of the abundant life; the fulfillment
of a fruitful life and satisfaction of a joyful life, and the peace of an
obedient life. Well, since you don't want to miss the fullness of fellowship,
what do you do?
This verse contains some
basic and simple truth that anyone can learn and apply. He says: "if ye
abide in me." To abide means to stay firm and steady in our relationship
with Him. In simple language it means to base your life on His promises. It
means letting Him lead you by His Spirit and acknowledge your dependence upon
Him.
You can do this through
daily prayer, you can also do this by trusting Him to cleanse you from pride,
rebellion, bitterness, fear, doubt, anger, and all of those things that weaken
your Christian life, and make you spiritually sick. We all need to keep the
glory of God in the forefront of our hearts and minds.
Someone says, "Did you
say that was easy?" No. Of course I didn't say that sort of lifestyle was
easy. What I said was, it is simple. Christ Himself will give you the strength
and power to do it.
It is up to you to desire
it, to want it. The whole matter pivots on the one word, "if." He
says, "Will you?" What is the basic desire of your heart? What is the
alternative to a life lived in intimate union and loving obedience to Christ?
The answer to that is obvious.
Look around. You become just
one more person following one more shopping cart through one more supermarket.
Is that what you want your life to be? Of course not.
As we look further into this
vital Bible verse we see one more condition: "If my words abide in
you." Now you can do something about that. Tomorrow morning you can sit
down with your Bible, open it, and let Christ speak to your heart.
The context of this verse
pictures Christ as the vine and we as the branches. As we maintain our strong
union with Christ through obedience, His life flows through us, through His
Word. He said: "the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they
are life."
Then follows the staggering
promise: "Ye shall ask what ye will and it shall be done unto you."
The promises that live in us, that are stored in our hearts, lie ready to be
turned into life‑changing prayers. Prayers that have the power of the will
of God at their root.
This vital Bible verse is
just one of 60 carefully selected scriptures that are contained in the
Navigators Scripture Memory course. If you want to
memorize Scripture, but aren't sure what to memorize or how to get started,
this is exactly what you need. The Topical Memory System includes memory verse cards in four different Bible versions -
NIV, KJV, NASB, NKJV. Topics include all of the basics of the Christ-centered
Spirit-filled life, sharing your faith, and growing on to maturity in your walk
with God. May God bless you as you fill your life with His Word.
© Copyright 2002, LeRoy Eims