“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.

“And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” – John 14:3

This is the great assurance of our faith. It’s not so much about a place, as wonderful as that will be. It’s about the Person we’ll be with – Jesus! Our Lord and Savior, our Good Shepherd, the Bread of Life, the Resurrection and the Life. One day, Jesus will return and take everyone who follows Him to be with Him forever. While Heaven and the renewed Earth will be more amazing than we can possibly imagine, the ongoing, eternal presence of Jesus will be infinitely greater than that!

Think about it! Imagine yourself basking in His love, His joy, His peace, His kindness, His gentleness, His power, His grace, His mercy, His patience, His wisdom, and His glory! Forever!!! You will see Jesus, hear Jesus, and learn from Jesus continuously forever…. Let this truth take your breath away!!!

It’s good to not only remember these truths but to spend some time imagining what they’ll be like. Let your thoughts soar and your heart sing! Though the reality will be better than you imagine, this holy imagination can help strengthen your faith and sustain you through dark and difficult times. Always remember that your Savior, the Lamb of God, loves you and is coming back for you! #FollowJesus

“If I had cherished iniquity in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened.”
– Psalm 66:18

Christians sometimes feel like their prayers are going nowhere, bouncing off the ceiling, unheard by the Father. Often that’s just a lie of the enemy to keep us from praying. However, unconfessed sin can hinder our prayers. So, if you ever feel like your prayers aren’t being heard by God, do a thoughtful review of your life to see if you have any unconfessed sin hindering your prayers. Ask God to help you see any truths about yourself that you don’t want to see…

– Is there some secret, sinful behavior, addiction, or activity you need to confess to God and then fight in the Spirit’s power to cut out of your life? Are you looking at, watching, clicking on, playing, consuming, or doing something that mistreats others, degrades yourself, or draws you away from God?

– Do you say things God’s children shouldn’t say – hateful, cruel, abusive, vile, profane, or obscene things? The language that passes for “normal” today is often sinful in itself. If you’re part of that, confess it to God and ask for His help in changing what comes out of your mouth and the heart within you that produces those words in the first place.

– Are you holding onto some sinful attitude toward others – bitterness, unwillingness to forgive when asked, racism, envy, jealousy, or hatred? This can be hard to admit and harder to let go of, but if you are, confess it to God and ask for His help to destroy this attitude within you.

There can be many reasons why your prayer life feels unfruitful. Keep praying anyway! However, do make sure that you don’t have something in you interfering with your conversations with your Creator. #FollowJesus

“Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him.” – John 12:37

Miracles definitely have their limits in terms of leading people to faith in Jesus. It seems humans have an extraordinary ability to consider something to be interesting but still move forward without letting it change their thinking. Though Jesus performed countless extraordinary, visible, undeniable miracles, most of the people who saw them were unaffected spiritually over the long term.

This is an important lesson as we pray and work to make disciples today. While miracles certainly can get people’s attention and draw a crowd, they are insufficient to save people. People must hear and respond to the Gospel good news of Jesus Christ. Know how to share that and don’t worry about whether or not you can point to a current, visible miracle. Be able to share your own story of what you were like before you trusted in Jesus, how you came to believe in Him for salvation, and what He’s done in your life since then. That’s all the miracle you need for God to bring someone to new spiritual life in Jesus Christ!

Talk about God’s love, mercy, and grace which are far more important than any miracle. Share how God sent His Son into this world to rescue us from sin, living a perfect, sinless life, dying an atoning, sacrificial death, being buried, and rising from the dead. Share how this was God’s loving response to the brokenness and evil in our world, His path for anyone to experience forgiveness and reconciliation if they believe, and His way of empowering every believer to recover His good design for their life and pursue a deep relationship with Him. Ask people to accept the invitation to #FollowJesus regardless of any miracles they may see, trusting they will immediately experience the miracle of becoming new creation in Him.

“When iniquities prevail against me,
you atone for our transgressions.”
– Psalm 65:3

When you fail and sin wins a battle in your heart, Jesus already has you covered! In Christ, failure is never final. Sin is never OK for a Christian, but our gracious Savior knows we’ll still struggle with temptation and sometimes, we’ll give in. When that happens, Jesus wants you to know that He’s already paid the penalty for your sin. The Apostle John explains this in 1 John 2:1, “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”

As Christians, we have the power to not sin and we’re called to crucify our sinful desires. However, we will still struggle and fail from time to time. When we do, Jesus has us covered! All Jesus asks when that happens is that we recognize our sin as sin, repent of it, and confess it to Him. 1 John 1:9 assures us, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

So, if sin wins for a moment in your life, don’t give up in shame. Don’t sin more because of your failure. Don’t become discouraged or feel like Jesus won’t want to have anything more to do with you. Remember that He’s already paid for that sin as well. Don’t hide from Jesus when failure happens – run to Him and know that He will forgive you. #FollowJesus