“…that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give you.” John 15:16.
We see the relationship between fruit and answered prayer in both John 15:7–8 and John 15:16. Our Father is glorified when we bear much fruit (v. 8) and thereby demonstrate that we are disciples of Jesus. If we consider that prayer is communion with God, and that it is only as we abide in Christ the Vine that we can bear fruit (15:4–5), then we see that fruit flows from communion with the Divine, indeed, it is a natural result of us abiding in the Trinity and the Trinity abiding within us. If the Trinity is fruitful then where the Trinity abides is fruitful (consider also Revelation 22:1–2).
Jesus, the Firstborn Son, displays the image and pattern of abiding in the Father and of asking in prayer. In Matthew and Luke Jesus teaches a pattern of prayer in a broad sense, for He teaches in public. In the Upper Room, Jesus teaches the sons and daughters of His Father to pray in intimacy, an intimacy in which they offer up themselves as they pray for their brethren. The offering up is to God and for their brethren (John 17:9, 19).
Just as we have learned to pray what we term the Lord’s Prayer of Matthew Chapter 6, we are to learn to pray the Prayer that Jesus Prayed of John Chapter 17. Just as we are called to be the incarnation of the prayer of Matthew Chapter 6, we are to become the Incarnation of John Chapter 17. This is our high calling in Jesus Christ.
The Prayer that Jesus Prayed is the Life that Jesus Lived; we are to Live this Life and Pray this Prayer as we abide in Him.
The Lord willing, when we arrive at John Chapter 17, we will explore the glory of the Holy of Holies in Christ, the glory of participating in the Prayer that Jesus Prayed, flowing from the life that we have in Him.
It is our Lord’s desire that we bear a particular kind of fruit; it is to be a fruit that remains. Are we interested in such fruit?
My sense is that we are more concerned with fast food than food promoting sustained growth. Fast food is eaten quickly and is often eaten “on-the-go.” Since we are an on-the-go people in an on-the-go society we fashion our teaching and preaching accordingly – and then we wonder why we lack character and depth in Jesus Christ, then we wonder (perhaps) why we are consumers and not producers.
Our attention spans are dwindling to nothing, and we are catering to the insanity, in so doing we are desecrating the image of God in Christ. The Scriptures teach us to meditate on the Word (Psalm 1), not to blithely gulp a verse or two down via a “verse of the day” or thought for the day or pithy saying for the day – we are called to holy communion with God, we are not called to “honk if you love Jesus.”
The prayer teaching of the Upper Room is not about getting things from God to consume upon ourselves, it is about living in holy koinonia with the Trinity and our brethren and receiving from our Father so that we may bear fruit for His glory and for the sake of our brethren. The life of prayer portrayed in the Upper Room is a life born of “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.”
The prayer teaching of the Upper Room is about costly prayer, we enter it through the Cross of Christ, we maintain it in the Cross of Christ, we share it flowing from the Cross of Christ.
Jesus deeply desires you to know Him intimately; He already knows your heartbeat, now He wants you to know His heartbeat. Our Lord has removed every barrier to you knowing Him, to your abiding in Him and experiencing His Life in you, He simply calls you to “abide in Me.” Jesus knows that you, in and of yourself, cannot possibly live the Christian life, He does not ask you to try, He does not ask you to attempt such a task; He does call you to abide in Him, the Vine, and to learn to allow Him and the Father and the Holy Spirit to live within you in daily fellowship, in the very koinonia which you will experience in eternity.
Why wait until the future to experience what your dear Lord Jesus desires you to experience now? He calls you to unbroken friendship and communion with Him as your Way of Life. He loves you so very very much, so deeply, and He loves you with overflowing eternal joy.
How to begin? Just ask Him in your own words to draw you deeper into Himself. Speak to Him and then listen and watch for Him…throughout the day. He will come to you, again and again and again. Those who know to look for His coming see Him coming throughout their lives, and He is glorious. O yes, sometimes we may miss Him, but He is gracious and do not be surprised if He says, “Didn’t you see Me when you saw that person in need? Didn’t you see Me when that man needed a word of encouragement? Didn’t you see Me when that woman expressed a prayer need? I was there to touch them through you.”
Jesus is our patient Teacher.
You might also consider meditating in John chapters 13 – 17 for a season of life. Reading and meditating on a small portion each morning, reading aloud, listening for Jesus, visualizing yourself in the Upper Room with Jesus, seeing Jesus with you…for of course He is with you. Allow Jesus to draw you into the holy fellowship of the Trinity, allow Him to take the lead, as Reepicheep in Narnia says, “Let’s take the adventure that Aslan gives us.”
You are not an accident looking for a place to happen, you are a son or daughter of the Living God and He loves you so deeply, He cares for you so passionately.
Why not live today in the incredible love and life of Jesus Christ?
Questions, comments? robertlwithers@gmail.com
