“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
Have you ever considered this? Wondered about it? Tested it? Doubted it? There are people who twist promises like this into a false prosperity gospel, claiming that with enough faith you can pray yourself to perfect health and vast wealth. That isn’t what Jesus is saying at all!
Jesus promises that if you truly abide in Him, pursuing a deep and growing relationship with your Savior AND if you’re faithful about meditating on and obeying everything Jesus spoke in Scripture, then you’ll have a radically different experience of prayer. Your prayers will be consistently heard and answered favorably. But here’s the thing… if you’re richly abiding in Christ and His teachings and commands are richly abiding in you, you aren’t going to be asking to personal health and wealth!
The closer you grow to Jesus, the more your prayers become like His. The more your desires and ambitions become like His. The more your heart and understanding becomes like His. When that happens, you aren’t praying for a pony and a million dollars like a spiritual child would. You’re praying that God’s name would be hallowed, worshiped, praised, and held sacred by all people. You’re praying for God’s Kingdom to come and His will to be done on Earth as it is in heaven. You’re certainly praying for your daily needs but you know the difference between needs and wants and your daily wants have been transformed into the wants of your King. You’ll be praying for daily bread, forgiveness of sins, and protection from temptation.
A deep relationship with Jesus changes everything, especially your desires, priorities, dreams, and ambitions. This is a really good thing as your heart gradually aligns with the heart of Jesus and more than anything, you just want to #FollowJesus more and more. Abide. Pray. Trust.