Brining Forth Fruit through Prayer John 15:1-16 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO
Introduction:
- The theme of this passage is “Bringing forth fruit”, Verses 1, 5, 8, 16
- Luke 1:30-31, Bringing forth means to birth something. We have the opportunity to be in on the conception or birth of something.
- There is also 2 prayer promises connected, Verse 7 and Verse 16
- I believe there are some great examples of bringing forth fruit through prayer in this passage
- Not everyone in the body of Christ is preacher, teacher, singer, cleaner, but all can pray
- Everyone can bring forth fruit
No need to preach to you about praying for your wants and needs, we are all well versed in that.
Purging Prayer [Verse 1-3]
- Verse 2 – to purge: to cleanse, clear, or purify by separating and carrying off whatsoever is impure.
- Illustration of purging Crawfish
- Verse 3 – the word of God cleans or purges ( my testimony of purging in reading Bible)
- The purging effect in talking out a matter with your spouse, it’s the same with God.
- There is a purging effect in prayer
- [1John1:9] “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”
- The prayer of Salvation, purges away past sin
- Prayers to forgive others, purging bitterness, etc.
Abiding Prayer [Verse 4-5]
- To abide: to rest, or dwell, to stay, or stand firm
- Abiding prayer concerns your fellowship with God, staying in His will
- Thanksgiving is vital to your fellowship with God, just like with your spouse or parents
- [Phil.4:6-7] “with thanksgiving” We spend far too much time concerned with the things we don’t have and seeking the things we want.
- Asserting the will of God, we get in the way of seeing his will by not removing our will
- [Rom.12:1-2] submitting to Him
Loving Prayer [Verse 9-10, 12-16]
- The Lord’s greatest gift of Love, Verse 13
- His commandment to us, Verse 12
- One of the greatest ways to show that love for others is prayer
- Verse 16 shows that He has chosen us and ordained us to bring forth fruit.
- I believe God expects us to pray for others
- Job chapter 7, he confesses his sin, and nothing changed
- Job chapter 41:10, he prayed for his friends, blessings came.
- [1Sam.12:23] “Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you”
- If one of the greatest ways to show your love for others is to pray for them, then praying for folks to get saved would be a great loving prayer.
- Examples: Before, during and after preaching, during any attempt to witness to others
- Pray for your pastor
- Pray for the ministries of this church
- Pray for missionaries
- Wednesday night prayer request.
Conclusion:
- Verse 16, Fruit that remains?
- Verse 11, the joy of the Lord! According to Nehemiah it “your strength”
- Purging prayer will bring joy to you and Him
- Abiding prayer will bring joy to you and Him
- Loving prayer will bring joy to you and Him
- My loving prayer is that you will seek to improve in these three areas of prayer!