My Words In You

My Words In You

If you stay joined to me and my words remain in you, you may ask any request you like, and it will be granted! –John 15:7

Ask any request I like and it will be granted? Gee, that sounds great! Like a genie in a bottle, it would seem that my wish becomes God’s command. But there is an “if” there. If I have stayed joined to Christ, if the words of Christ are in me. How do I stay joined to Christ? How do his words come to be “in me”? And how does that affect what I ask for?

If we want his words to be in us, we have to listen, and we listen best when we meditate on Scripture. Once we have listened, we can then make our requests boldly because our requests are shaped by what God has said.

I must admit, sometimes I just don’t know where to start with prayer. And even if I do start, I have such difficulty keeping my focus. I find myself saying the same phrases over and over and I’m embarrassed at how hollow they can sound. In these times, I find it helpful to “pray the Bible”—to use passages of Scripture to form my prayer. Here is an example of how it works: Do you have a child caught in the clutches of rebellion? Turn to 1 Peter 5:6-7 and pray, “I ask that my son will humble himself under your mighty power and in time come to honor you. I give my worries and fears about him to you, knowing that you care about what happens to him.” Is your focus only on what you’ve lost and not on what God has given you? Turn to Isaiah 63:7 and pray, “Lord, your love never fails me. I praise you for all you have done. You have been good to me and made me your very own. You are even willing to suffer with me. At the lowest points of my life you lift me up and carry me.” We can be confident we’re praying in God’s will if we use his words.

Ask any request I like and it will be granted? That sounds great! And it is. As praying the Bible shapes us and shapes our requests, our prayers align with God’s will. The rough edges of our selfishness and the excesses of our appetites are conformed to the supreme purposes of God. What pleases him begins to please us, guiding and directing what we ask for. And he gladly says yes.

Eternal Word, you not only provide everything I need, you give me the words for my requests in the words of your Book. Show me the joy of being joined with you and being filled with your words and your will.

DIGGING DEEPER