Pray This Way (W. 1) - John 15:5-7, Mark 1:35

Union with Christ: Believers are spiritually connected to Christ like branches to a vine

Abiding: Ongoing, relational connection with Jesus as the source of life

Fruitfulness: Spiritual productivity comes only through abiding in Christ

Alignment of will: Prayer becomes effective when shaped by God’s Word and presence

Communion with God: Prayer is relational, not merely transactional

Eph 3:17–19; Ga 2:20

Ephesians 3:17–19 (ESV) — 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Galatians 2:20 (ESV) — 20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Results of abiding in Christ

Fruitfulness

Jn 15:4–5 The picture of “bearing fruit” may cover many aspects of Christian life but it includes that of developing Christian character, effective Christian service and mission. These result, not from human effort, but from abiding in Christ.

John 15:4–5 (ESV) — 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

See also Ga 5:22–23

Galatians 5:22–23 (ESV) — 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Answered prayer

Jn 15:7; Jn 15:16

John 15:7 (ESV) — 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

John 15:16 (ESV) — 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.

Freedom from persistent sin

1 Jn 3:6–9 John is not saying that Christians are absolutely sinless. He says elsewhere that to claim sinless perfection is to deceive oneself (1Jn 1:8). But when people are born again there is the real possibility of living lives in which sin is not the norm. As believers abide in Christ more deeply, the grip of sin upon their lives is lessened.

1 John 3:6–9 (ESV) — 6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. 7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. 8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. 9 No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God.

Relationship with God the Father

See also Jn 14:23; 2 Jn 9

John 14:23 (ESV) — 23 Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.

2 John 9 (ESV) — 9 Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.

Confidence in the face of the last day

1 Jn 2:28

1 John 2:28 (ESV) — 28 And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming.

Warnings to those who fail to abide in Christ

Mt 24:12–13; Jn 15:2; Jn 15:6; 1 Co 15:2; Heb 6:4–6

Matthew 24:12–13 (ESV) — 12 And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

John 15:2 (ESV) — 2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.

John 15:6 (ESV) — 6 If anyone does not abide in me, he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.

1 Corinthians 15:2 (ESV) — 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

Hebrews 6:4–6 (ESV) — 4 For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.

Bottom line: Prayer is a posture of dependence on God.

There are people in your life that you are so close with that you can sit in the room with them without saying anything. This is the idea of communion. You know them so well, that there is comfort, there is understanding. But it's just about sitting with them and being near them.

Before we practice prayer, we need to have the posture of prayer.

Mark 1:35 ESV

35 And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.

John 15:5–7 ESV

5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in me, he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

The whole point of John 15 and abiding in Jesus is to be fruitful and to glorify God. That truth and reality changes my asking/requests.

1. Prayer is Relational

John 15:5 ESV

5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

This is all about abiding. Abide in Jesus. Abide with Jesus.

What is abiding? What is relational about prayer?

2. Prayer is Essential

John 15:6 ESV

6 If anyone does not abide in me, he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.

When you don’t abide, this is what verse 6 says.

I cannot survive without abiding in Jesus and prayer.

If I don’t abide, I’m thrown into the fire. We cannot do anything without prayer.

3. Prayer is Fruitful

John 15:7 ESV

7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

This is all about aligning with God’s will and Word. It’s an alginment of being “okay with how God runs His business.” In dependence, it’s all about trusting God for the fruit and the results.

Prayer moves things that nothing else can.