“Remain in me, and I will 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.”
John 15:4
When our first child was born, she was immediately taken from my wife’s arms in the delivery room to life support in the neonatal intensive care unit. That evening, as our daughter’s life hung in the balance, I walked into the hospital chapel and was met there by a large group from our church, all praying to God for her life. Lying flat on the floor with his face to the ground before God in prayer was our friend Al.
I asked Al, my prayer warrior friend, to share about his abundant prayer life in Christ. He points to John 15:4: “In Eugene Petersen’s The Message, Jesus tells us, ‘Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can’t bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to the vine, you can’t bear fruit unless you are joined with me.’
“Jesus clearly calls us to live in Him, to be joined with Him. So too with our prayer lives! To be joined with Jesus will somehow result in fruitfulness in this earthly kingdom. The type of abundance that Jesus refers to can only come by living in Him.”
I asked Al, my prayer warrior friend, to share about his abundant prayer life in Christ. He points to John 15:4: “In Eugene Petersen’s The Message, Jesus tells us, ‘Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can’t bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to the vine, you can’t bear fruit unless you are joined with me.’
“Jesus clearly calls us to live in Him, to be joined with Him. So too with our prayer lives! To be joined with Jesus will somehow result in fruitfulness in this earthly kingdom. The type of abundance that Jesus refers to can only come by living in Him.”
Scripture Focus
John 15:1-17
Insight
“Pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” (James 5:16)
Bible In A Year
- Jeremiah 17-18
- Psalm 112
- Romans 15-16