Embracing Our Divine Calling: Fruitfulness and Answered Prayers
John 15:16
Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
Just the thought of being chosen and ordained by God for the specific purpose of bearing fruit is exciting to say the least. We should be glad that He has chosen us! However, it gets even better. Not only has He chosen us, and not only has He ordained us to bear fruit, but He has also guaranteed us answered prayer when we operate in our calling to the fullest extent; “…that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.” God wants to get us to a point where we are so abiding in Him, and where His word is so abiding in us, that we are not only fruitful in our ministry endeavors but are also fruitful in our prayer lives. Today, He is training us in our kingdom assignments to get us to a level of wisdom, understanding, productiveness, and maturity to where He knows He can trust us to do the right thing once He does bless us with what we have asked. Many times we do not understand the full extent of what it is we are asking God for. We pray for blessings, but God desires to know that if He were to bless us, that we wouldn’t squander it away and become unthankful or forgetful of where our blessings come from. So, He begins the process of teaching us to be thankful, of teaching us to be responsible with what He blesses us with, and so on. He conditions us to be able to receive the blessings. Too often we think of answered prayer as something that God does or should do instantly, but God does not always do it that way. In great wisdom, He begins the process by which He can answer our prayers according to His will and Divine purpose. Furthermore, He will not even answer a prayer that is not consistent with His will, His word, or His purpose. Part of growing up as a Christian is learning what to pray for and what not to pray for. The more we learn of His word, the better we learn His will, and the better we pray. As we pray and receive more maturely and responsibly, we will begin to see more answered prayers come our way. Child of God, be encouraged to know that your prayers are either already answered, or in the process of being answered at this very moment!
~ Pastor Gary Caudill
Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
Just the thought of being chosen and ordained by God for the specific purpose of bearing fruit is exciting to say the least. We should be glad that He has chosen us! However, it gets even better. Not only has He chosen us, and not only has He ordained us to bear fruit, but He has also guaranteed us answered prayer when we operate in our calling to the fullest extent; “…that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.” God wants to get us to a point where we are so abiding in Him, and where His word is so abiding in us, that we are not only fruitful in our ministry endeavors but are also fruitful in our prayer lives. Today, He is training us in our kingdom assignments to get us to a level of wisdom, understanding, productiveness, and maturity to where He knows He can trust us to do the right thing once He does bless us with what we have asked. Many times we do not understand the full extent of what it is we are asking God for. We pray for blessings, but God desires to know that if He were to bless us, that we wouldn’t squander it away and become unthankful or forgetful of where our blessings come from. So, He begins the process of teaching us to be thankful, of teaching us to be responsible with what He blesses us with, and so on. He conditions us to be able to receive the blessings. Too often we think of answered prayer as something that God does or should do instantly, but God does not always do it that way. In great wisdom, He begins the process by which He can answer our prayers according to His will and Divine purpose. Furthermore, He will not even answer a prayer that is not consistent with His will, His word, or His purpose. Part of growing up as a Christian is learning what to pray for and what not to pray for. The more we learn of His word, the better we learn His will, and the better we pray. As we pray and receive more maturely and responsibly, we will begin to see more answered prayers come our way. Child of God, be encouraged to know that your prayers are either already answered, or in the process of being answered at this very moment!
~ Pastor Gary Caudill