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Preached in Markham Baptist Church, February 17, 2008
 

You will remember the path that we have taken during these past few weeks as we have studied this great passage in John 15.  We have seen how Jesus has given us a picture of the Christian life in this passage.  He has told us that He is the vine, God is the gardener, or the vinedresser, and we are the branches.

Jesus is the vine - that is, He is the source of all we need to live the Christian life.  We have celebrated the great truth that Jesus Christ is in us – those who believe – and as a result we have everything we need to live this Christian life.  I have tried during this series to get us to focus on Christ – not on programs or doctrine, or worship styles or religious practices. Our focus, our trust, our dependence must be upon Christ, for as Hebrews 12:2 tells us, He is the author and perfecter of our faith. 

God is the gardener –  He is the one for whom we produce fruit.  He is the one who lovingly prunes us – through discipline and life’s situations – to enable us to produce more fruit.

And we are the branches it is our job to bear fruit and we have discovered that that fruit is a Christ-like character.  We don’t have to produce the fruit – that’s the vine’s job. As branches we simply bear the fruit – that means we must rest in the vine who is Christ, we must trust in the vine, who is Christ; we must depend on the vine, who is Christ.  All of this is summed up in the words Abide in me, Remain in me. 

It was Hudson Taylor, that great missionary to China, who spent 15 years as a missionary in that country utterly frustrated by his own failure to serve God effectively, to produce the fruit he felt God was asking of him.

He prayed; he agonized; he fasted; he tried to do better; he made resolutions.  He read the Bible more carefully; he ordered his life to give more time for rest and mediation.  But all this had little effect.

It was then that he discovered what he termed the exchanged life.  As he wholly surrendered his life to Christ, Christ gave His life wholly to him.  Now it was not what he could do for Christ, but what Christ could do through him.

It was as he meditated upon our text that he found the secret to a fruitful life.

"How great seemed my mistake," he said, "in having wished to get the sap, the fullness out of him.  I saw not only that Jesus would never leave me, but that I was a member of his body and that apart from him I could do nothing.  The vine now, I see, is not the root merely, but all - root, stem branches, twigs, leaves, flowers, fruit - and Jesus is not only that; he is soil and sunshine, air and showers, and ten thousand times more than we have ever dreamed, wished for, or needed.  Oh, the joy of seeing this truth."

We are to surrender our lives to Christ fully – that is, remain in Him.  This is of utmost importance.  Then as we abide in Him we learned last week that we are called to practice the disciplines of reading His Word, obeying His Word and prayer.

Now this morning I want to take some time and focus on one verse in particular – it is a fantastic promise that Jesus make us. It is a verse that has often been twisted and distorted, but an amazing truth that I want us to take in today.  Verse 7” “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be given to you.” 

Now I mentioned this verse last week – it is a call to prayer.  And I said last week that prayer is a natural part of our relationship with Jesus Christ.  If Christianity is all about a relationship with the living Lord then prayer is the conversation part of the relationship. It is the means by which we communicate with God and God communicates with us. 

But this week I want us to think of the amazing promise that is here.  “Ask whatever you wish and it will be given to you.” 

It is not the only time that Jesus makes this promise.  In your daily devotions for this past week I had you look up John 14:13, 14 where Jesus says, “I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son my bring glory to the Father.  You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”

Then again in chapter 15:16 Jesus says, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit – fruit that will last.  Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.”

These are amazing promises given to us by our Lord.  And we love the promise.  We claim the promise, we believe the promise, we preach the promise.  But sometimes we overlook the condition to the promise.  Did you know that all of God’s promises have a condition?  There is always a condition with God’s promises – what the dynamic preacher E.V. Hill called a “prelude” to the promises.

For instance we all love the promise that God gave to us in Malachi 3:10 where God says, “See? If I don’t throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough to store it.”  But there’s a condition to that promise isn’t there? “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house.  Test me in this says the Lord Almighty.”

Or the promise that Jesus gives us in Matthew 6:33. He says, “all these things will be given to you”.  What is the condition to that promise?  Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 

There’s always a prelude to the promises. 

And so with our text today – there is a great promise. Verse 7: “Ask for whatever you wish and it will be given to you.”  What is the condition?  What is the prelude?  “If you remain in me and my words remain in you.” 

We cannot overlook the condition – the prelude to the promise.  If we overlook the prelude, the condition to the promise we are liable to treat God like Aladdin’s lamp – get down on our knees and rub the lamb and say, “O great and powerful genie god, give me this and this and this and this.”  And poof, there it is. 

No, prayer is not that.  God is sovereign and we don’t tell God what to do.  Prayer is not a means to twist God’s arm to make Him do what we want. 

And also, if we overlook the prelude to the promise we are sure to live a disappointing Christian life.  Our prayers will go unanswered and we will be angry with God.  “You said to ask and you would give me whatever I wish!  Where is it?”

But let us pay attention to the condition.  The first condition is, “if you abide in me.”  If you remain in me.  If you make your home in me ask for whatever you wish and it will be given to you.

We have learned that to abide in Christ means to rest in Him, trust Him, depend on Him, to die to self.  So what does that mean for our practice of talking with God?  How does that impact the way we talk to God and our attitude as we talk to God in prayer?

That phrase says three things to me – first it speaks of a constant relationship.  If you abide in me - that’s different from saying, “if you vacation in me.”  The places we go for vacation are different from the places where we abide and reside.  The places we holiday we visit once in a while – in some cases once in a lifetime.  But the places where we abide are places where we dwell, rest, where can always be found. 

Well, some people treat Jesus like a holiday resort – a nice place to go to when life is difficult, to escape the stress of life – but once we are refreshed we move on to where we truly live and leave the vacation place behind. 

Even the most seasoned Christians can be guilty of treating Jesus as a vacation destination. We rest in Christ on Sundays and whatever night our Bible study is, but we don’t rest in Christ on Mondays at work or at school – Jesus Christ has nothing to do with that world.

We cannot just bring Jesus Christ in when it’s convenient, live our own lives the rest of the time, bring Him in when we need Him again, but live with no regard to His rule and life in our lives.  That’s not abiding in Christ. 

But Jesus says, “if you remain in me,” ask for whatever you wish and it will be given to you.  It speaks of a constant relationship.  We are always to be looking to Christ, depending on Christ, submitting our selves to Christ. In every situation, in every day and moment of our lives.  It is a condition for answered prayer.

There was once a fisherman out with some friends in a storm.  This fisherman had been a Christian but he was out of fellowship with God.  And his friends knew that he had been a Christian.  And in this storm they said to him, “You pray.  This storm is threatening to swamp our ship.  You’re a Christian - pray!” 

He said, “Well it’s been a long time since I’ve ever done that.  It’s been a long time since I’ve entered a church.” 

But they said, “There is no one else here whose ever claimed anything like you have to be a Christian.  So, you pray.”

And so he prayed, and he said, “O Lord I haven’t asked anything of you for the last 15 years.  And if you help us now and bring us safely back to land I promise I won’t bother you again for the next 15 years.” 

You see, prayer like that doesn’t work.  Sure, if you’ve been away from God, you can come to Him in sincere prayer – but my friends, don’t draw away from Him again after you’ve got what you wanted.  That’s treating God like a genie in a bottle.    We are to be constant relationship with Him.

If you abide with me – it is a condition for answered prayer.  What does that look like?  It looks like a constant relationship – and it also speaks of being God-centred in our prayers, not self-centred. 

You see, abiding in Christ in prayer does not mean that we come to Him with a shopping list of what we want to happen - that’s self-focused. Instead we are to be focused on God, focusing on what He wants and what He desires.  As we do that, we know that our prayers will be answered. 

Do you know the story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal?  Elijah was God’s man at a time when the people of God were denying the power of God and the presence of God and Elijah had had enough.  So he challenged the prophets of Baal to a competition and he said, “Let’s build two altars.  You build an altar to your god and I’ll build an altar to the living God and who ever of our gods sends down fire first – well we know they are they true God.” 

I don’t have time to tell the whole story, but the prophets of Baal fail.  And then it’s Elijah’s turn – he has his altar doused with water not once, not twice, but three times.  And Elijah stands up and he prays – listen to his prayer: “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be know today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command.” 

Does anything happen at that point?  No.  Nothing happens.  So Elijah continues, “Answer me, O Lord. Answer me, so these people will know that you, O Lord are God and that you are turning their hearts back again.” (1 Kings 18:37)

And the text says, “Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice.” 

Do you see the shift of emphasis in the prayer?  The first part is all about Elijah – that the people may know that I am your servant!  “That I have done these things at your command.”  Nothing happened.

But then he prays, “that the people may know that you are God.  That you may be glorified” and the prayer is answered. 

So we have that great promise in Psalm 37:4 - “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

You see, our text in John 15 does not give us permission to command God.  There are some Christians who use the phrase “in the name of Jesus” the same way Ali Baba used the phrase “Open Sesame” to open up his secret caverns.  They believe it is a phrase that demands attention, action. 

Charles Price tells a story which he says is true. It is a story about a 3-year-old boy who entered the grocery store with his mother.  Before they went into the store his mother said to him, “Now you are not going to get any chocolate chip cookies today, so don’t even ask.”  She put him in the cart and began to pick up all the groceries she was there to get.  The boy was quiet at first but eventually he piped up and said, “Mom, can I have some chocolate chip cookies?”  And she said, “I told you don’t even ask.  You are not going to get any today.”  He went quiet again.  They went down another aisle or two and the boy again got the courage to ask, “Mom can I please have some chocolate chip cookies?”  She said, “I told you no. Be quiet.”

Finally they were approaching the check-out line and the boy thought this was going to be his last opportunity so this time he decided to use his loud voice and he asked, “In the name of Jesus give me some chocolate chip cookies!” 

It’s a true story, and people were amused and gathered around and the story is that the mother left the store with 23 boxes of chocolate chip cookies that everyone else had bought for the little boy!

Sometimes we treat that phrase like a magic formula that we must use in order to get our prayers answered.  But that’s not true.  

That phrase is used in 14:22 – and I believe it is explained for us in our text John 15:7. In John 14:22 Jesus says, ask for anything in My name and you will receive it.  John 15:7 Jesus says, if you abide in Me, ask for anything you wish and you will receive it.

That tells me that to ask for anything in Jesus’ name is the same as abiding in Jesus.  It means that we are looking to our desires but to the desires of Jesus Christ, we are dying to our agendas and wants and we are living according to the wants and desires of Jesus Christ.  It is to be so intimately connected to Him that His will is our will – that His desires are our desires – so that when we ask Him for something – of course we will receive what we are asking for because it’s exactly what He wants to achieve in the first place. 

Our problem is that we think we know better than God.  So we tell God what to do.  We tell God what we want to happen.  And that’s the content of our prayers.  And sometimes – God DOES grant our selfish desires, but it’s not for the best.

Do you know the Old Testament story of Hezekiah?  He was a great king but one day the prophet Isaiah came to him and said to him, “You time is up Hezekiah.  Put your house in order because you are going to die. You will not recover.” (Isaiah 38:1).

Hezekiah turns his face to the wall and pleads his case before God, weeping bitterly. And God says, through Isaiah – “Okay, I’ll give you what you’ve asked for.  I’ll give you 15 more years.”

And at the end of Hezekiah’s life and reign, Hezekiah’s son Manasseh becomes king and he is one of the WORST kings of Israel. He worships idols, he sacrifices his sons to pagan gods.  He practices divination, witchcraft, and consults with mediums and spiritists. (2 Chronicles 33:6).  And in 2 Chronicles 33 we read that Manasseh becomes king when he is 12 years old.

Now if you do the math you discover Hezekiah was given 15 years to live.  His son is 12 years old when he becomes king.  It means that as a result of Hezekiah’s life extension Manasseh was born.  Imagine how happy Hezekiah is – he’s given a longer life!  He is given an heir to the throne! He got what he asked for – but what a disaster.

Do know what Psalm 106:15 says in describing the Israelites in the wilderness?  It says, “God gave them what they asked for – but sent leanness to their souls.”  

My friends, when we do not get what we want in prayer can I suggest you do two things?  One is thank God.  Say to Him, “Thank you God for not giving me what I want because I know you are a loving heavenly Father and if it really was a good thing that I was asking for you would have given to me.  I trust you God.  I rest in you God.  Teach me how to pray for this situation.”

The second thing is, ask that God’s will be done.  Say, “Lord, may your will be done in my life.”

How many of us have said, or how many times have you heard a testimony that began with the words – “I prayed and prayed and prayed and prayed about a situation or a person and nothing ever changed.”  And then how does the testimony go?  “But then I gave it all over to God and said, ‘Lord not my will, but your will be done,’ and now I see a change … this situation has changed, this person has changed.  And it happened as I gave the situation, person, over to God and said, Not my will but your will be done.” 

“Ask for whatever you wish and it will be given to you,” - if you abide in me. 

And make no mistake – I believe this is the same as praying in the Spirit that we read about in Ephesians 6:18.  I come across some Christians who believe that praying in the Spirit is some mystical higher spiritual experience.  I don’t believe that at all.  Praying in the Spirit means – praying according to the Spirit – in submission to the Spirit.  And since the Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus Christ – abiding in Christ and praying in the Spirit are one in the same.  It simply means we are praying with God at the centre and not ourselves. 

Well there is one other condition here – not only are we are to remain in Jesus, but Jesus says, “if my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be given to you.” 

We have seen already in our series that part of what it means to abide in Christ is to obey Christ.  And so we have this condition.  We can only expect our prayers to be answered as we are obeying Jesus Christ our Lord.    And so we have this promise in 1 John 3:21 “Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him.”

So this morning we have to ask ourselves, are we obeying God in all our ways?  If God is telling us to do something are we doing it or are we resisting?  If we are we will find that our prayers will go no further than the ceiling. 

We have here in John 15:7 a most amazing promise – it astounds me that we are actually able to pray and have our prayers heard and answered by our God.  It is possible as we abide in Christ, as we follow His Word – to see God at work through the prayers of His people. 

Do you know in John 2 Scripture says that when the people saw Jesus do the miracles many trusted Him, but Jesus did not entrust Himself to them for He knew what was in them. 

I have no doubt that today – all of you trust Jesus.  The question is – can Jesus trust you?  Can He trust that you are living in constant relationship with Him?  Can He trust that you are putting Him first in your life?  Can He trust that you will submit to His will?  Can He trust that you will obey His Word?  Is that your purpose in life?  To please Him above all things?  If He can trust you in this – you can trust Him that whatever you ask, He will give it to you. 

Copyright MBC and Tom Cullen - February  2008