**"{c:red}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.{/c}"** John 15:7–8 (NLT) What did Jesus actually mean when he said, "you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted!" Did he really intend for us to think that there was no boundaries regarding our requests? Can we ask for extravagant amounts of money or fame? Perhaps, but I believe that as 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 chapter 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 produce fruit we can expect to 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 will truly be a request that will be joyfully fulfilled by our Father. 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 totally dependent upon our connection to the vine. If when we read the 15th chapter of John, 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 can gain some insight into the problems that can occur from requests that are made when we are not aligned with the desires of God from the 4th chapter of James. **"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. It seems as though the first impulse is not ask God for it and when we do get around asking Him our requests, they are not granted because of our selfish motivations. If we are concerned that our needs and desires will not be met if we only ask for things that will enable us to bear more fruit, we would do well to remember the words from the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus said, **"Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need."** Matthew 6:33 (NLT) This passage in John chapter 15 is not a formula that enables us to fulfill selfish desires, but instead it is about asking for provision for increasing the quantity and quality of the fruit produced in our lives. 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.