There’s an aspect of Today’s Holy Nougat that’s somewhat challenging for most of us, which hasn’t yet been discussed. So, let’s prayerfully reflect.
John 15:16 NIV
[16] You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.
Anything We Ask
Wow. This is a heavy lift. But by God’s grace, let’s reflect.
Prior to this, Y’shua spoke about abiding in the vine (actually, being branches of the True Vine), and as we can see, He moved into us being fruitful. Our fruitfulness is connected to our being chosen and appointed by God, in order that God’s glory is revealed through us; AND, so that ‘whatever we ask for, in the name of Y’shua, we will receive from the Father!!!!!’ Siblings, I’ve gotta go Greek, because in English, whatever means anything. Before going Greek, here’s a question
Self-Check
When we see ‘whatever we ask’, and our prayer is not answered as we expected, do we doubt Y’shua, the writer/Bible, or God’s capacity?
Application
Good siblings,
I went Greek.
It’s not quite the same.
The conjunction used in Greek for ‘whatever’ is hoti which Strong’s transliterates as, ‘that’, ‘because’, ‘since’, or ‘for’.
The Nougat should thus read:
You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit, and your fruit should remain, so that since/that/for/because
you [make a] request in my name the Father will give you.
It is subtle, but for me, there is a difference. Our request is connected to our enduring fruitfulness, i.e., fruit that lasts. Moreover, the Amplified Version suggests that it’s not any ask that gets answered … rather it’s when we ask, as Y’shua’s representative; that is – ‘in Jesus name’.
For some of us, this feels like semantics, I’m sure. But here’s a question for us – have we ever prayed and invoked Jesus’ name, but sought our own will, rather than God’s? Or, perhaps worse yet, have we sought to bear fruit so that the glory is ours, not God’s?
I believe the key to understanding the ‘whatever’ lies therefore in the type of fruit we produce. If our fruit is lasting, then it’s the kind that comes from abiding in Y’shua, our True Vine. Thus, the requests we make result from our enduring fruit, so they get answered.
As I type, there’s a slightly different thought persisting, which I’ll give utterance here. From a scientific perspective, a branch would only make demands of a vine in relation to producing the best fruit possible (i.e., fertiliser, water, sunlight, weeding, etc). The branch’s requests would be granted by the gardener in the interest of the vine. Because, in wine tradition, people will produce grapes or even an entire vineyard from one prized vine!!! [think thoroughbreds also, it’s somewhat similar].
By extension, our asks to our Gardener must be about producing lasting fruit as branches of the True Vine! It may be personal, it may be for others, it may even be communal; but the motive needs to connect to our fruitfulness and reflecting the glory of God.
So, how do we ask of God today?
Point to Ponder
Is there an ask that will result in enduring fruit? As we pray, let’s consider how it will glorify God.
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May all we seek be found in Christ
