Whatever you wish

"If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. (John 15:7, ESV)"

How often do we read these words or think of this verse and focus on only the last part - "Ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you." We often times think of God as a heavenly vending machine and prayer is the quarter that gets us what we want. But this promise from Jesus, like so many promises in the bible is conditional. "IF YOU ABIDE IN ME AND MY WORDS ABIDE IN YOU".

What does it mean to abide, well as we look at the context of this verse we see that Jesus has just got done saying "I am the vine, you are the branches...Abide in me and I in you". It is evident that He means a whole lot more than simply "If you are a Christian". A lot of people look at this verse and think it says - "If I am a Christian I can ask for anything I want, and God will give it to me". And then they get upset when their prayers aren't answered the way that they want them to be.

In light of what Jesus is talking about it becomes clear that "To abide" means to live our life dependent upon Christ for our very existence. If He is the VINE and we are the BRANCH, we will wither and die if we try to live our life apart from Him. This is the key to answered prayer - not only do we live our lives as "Christians" but we live our life dependent upon Him for our very existence.

I believe that we find when we live our lives dependent upon Him for our very existence, the nature of our prayers will change and be in line with what God wants for us rather than what we want for ourselves and when we pray for what God wants - He will gladly give us whatever we wish for.

So why is this so difficult for most people (myself included)?

"Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love." (John 15:9-10, ESV)

If we truly abide in Jesus - we will keep ALL of His commandments just as thoroughly as He kept His Father's commandments - that is what it means to truly abide in Christ. Now that is an ambition worth chasing after in life.