“But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.” John 15:7–8 (NLT)
What did Jesus mean when he said, “you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted!” Did he intend for us to think that there were no boundaries for our requests? Can we ask for extravagant amounts of money or fame? When we look deeper, we will find that the conditions of remaining in him and his words remaining in us will change the desires of our heart.
The words of Jesus here in John 15 are not about us asking for things to fulfill our desires, but rather it is about asking for the resources to produce more fruit through our lives. This chapter begins with Jesus declaring that he is the True Vine and that the Father is the gardener. We then learn that we are the branches, and we are expected to produce fruit in our lives.
If we bear no fruit, we face the expectation of being cut off from the vine and even if we do bear fruit we will be pruned in order to bear even more fruit. We must be careful that in our haste to ask for anything that we want, we do not forget that our primary purpose and therefore, ideal desire, should be to ask for things that will enable us to bear even more fruit. This is a request that will be joyfully fulfilled by our Father.
Stay Connected
Jesus tells us that branches that are severed are incapable of bearing fruit. For us to remain in Christ means more than staying in close proximity, it means that we are attached and therefore we receive our sustenance and life flow from the vine. We are dependent upon our connection to the vine.
If when we read John 15, our attention is drawn to the idea that we can get anything that we ask for instead of bearing fruit and bring glory to God, we have missed the whole point. Can you imagine the trouble that we can get into, if our requests were granted apart from the condition that we remain attached to the vine and that Christ’s words remain in us?
We may be tempted to think that we can accomplish something on our own. Jesus plainly says: “I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can’t produce a thing. John 15:5 (MSG) Simply stated, apart from Christ, we are useless.
Check Your Motives
James provides insight into the issues that arise when our requests are not aligned with God's desires.
“You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.” James 4:2–3 (NLT)
Desires that arise from discontent will seldom be beneficial to us or to those around us. Whether we are motivated by greed or envy, many people will be affected by our reckless pursuit of what we want. We often don't ask God, and when we do, our selfish motives prevent our requests from being granted.
Heart’s Desires
Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires. Psalm 37:4 (NLT)
Carnal desire sees the last part of this verse but not the beginning. To take delight in the Lord must precede the rewards. When our delight is in God, our desires will change. It is inevitable. We are to enjoy ourselves in the Lord. Left to ourselves, our hearts’ desires are at best, suspect, even downright evil. (Jeremiah 17:9-10).
When God is the object of our joy and desire, it will change the things that we ask to receive. And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for. 1 John 5:14–15 (NLT)
How do we know that we are delighting ourselves in the Lord? Here are a few observations. We will love his Word, and act upon it. …you thrill to God’s Word, you chew on Scripture day and night. Psalm 1:2 (MSG)
Other indications that we delight in God include “Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 (NLT)
True Delight
John 15 is not a formula that enables us to fulfill our desires, but instead it is about asking for provision for increasing the quantity and quality of the fruit produced in our lives. When we abide in the vine, our desire and purpose is to produce fruit.
When we abide in Christ, and his words abide in us, everything comes into alignment with his will and purposes for us. We will agree with the Psalmist who said: May all my thoughts be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the Lord. Psalm 104:34 (NLT)
Finally, I am reminded of the words that Fanny Crosby wrote in the hymn, “Draw Me Nearer.” “Consecrate me now to Thy service, Lord, By the pow’r of grace divine; Let my soul look up with a steadfast hope, And my will be lost in Thine.” Even Jesus said, “Not my will, but yours be done." It is when our will and our desires come into alignment with God’s will and desire that our requests will be granted, and that will result in a fruitful life that will bring joy and glory to God.
Steve Ekeroth