What do I pray? 

\”If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.\”

John 15:7-8 KJV

We have established so far that prayer or praying is a mark of new life in Christ Jesus. The old creation began with man\’s fall and it thrives on its independence from God. Adam and Eve began to know for themselves (without divine input) both good and evil. This was the beginning of morality. You can see for yourself that morality itself is evidence of the fall. It is a pill sponsored from hell to mimic the Christian life and weaken the testimony of the gospel.

The issue is not doing what is good and avoiding evil; the issue is ORIGIN. What is the origin of morality? Disobedience. Sin. Death. The appeal of morality is the capacity to know both good and evil, and do good publicly while secretly doing evil. The bottom line here is to do what serves you. Have you seen that this is the basic appeal of humanism which is the nucleus of most philosophies, psychology, the New Age and satanism?

In the old creation, independence thrives; therefore, there is no need to pray. Even if you have to pray, you pray to yourself or to the universe, higher consciousness etc. All these New Age terms are simply deification of self, which is the worship of satan and demons. Let me say that again: if you are praying to yourself, releasing your thought energy into the universe as they say, or emptying your mind through yoga or any form of transcendental meditation, you are worshipping yourself. Any form of self-worship is demon or satan worship.

The whole goal of praying in the New Creation life is union with Christ – the creature united to the Creator, that is you submissive to the LORD Christ, living only for God\’s will (Matthew 6:9-10).

\”But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.\”

John 4:23-24 KJV

The Father seeks true worshippers to worship Him in spirit and truth. Many of us are unconsciously worshipping ourselves. If you don\’t have a prayer life, whatever your excuse for not praying, you are worshipping yourself. Even those of us who think we have been saved. Prayer is not about having results of answered prayers. Prayer is evidence of a vital connection to/relationship with God.

That you pray specifically for something and get answers is secondary. The real test of prayer is that you are vitally connected to God and actively seek His will on earth (primarily through your life). \”After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.\” (Matthew 6:9-10)

Now, back to John 15, we see the life sequence leading to prayer. \”If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.\” (verse 7). That is, praying as a means of fellowship with/relating to God follows hand in hand with immersing yourself in Bible reading/study to the extent that you are increasingly conscious of God\’s mind; and out of that consciousness, you ask what you will and it shall be done.

Prayer as a relationship is the universal set, mathematically speaking, while prayer as a request is a subset. If you are having answers to your prayers and not progressing as much in your relationship with the LORD, there is a problem. Why? In verse 8, we see that there is a way to measure an organic, growing and God-glorifying prayer life. \”Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.\”

That you bear fruit. What fruit? More money? Promotion? Miracles? Signs and wonders? Since you (assuming you are born again) are a branch, what will be the appropriate fruit? And when you bear this fruit, it will confirm your discipleship (Please note that the \”fruit\” is singular, but it can be had in increasing quantities: \”much fruit\”). What is that fruit? We will call it the fruit of life.

This is the fruit of a transformed life. This is a life growing in obedience and Christlikeness. John the Baptist said to those who came to his baptism, \”Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:\” (Matthew 3:8). These are implications of repentance such as making things right (restitution) and ending all unrighteousness. All these fruits (plural) of repentance are what produce the fruit (singular) of righteousness.

Now, in verse 16, we have another fruit to bear, which is still singular. \”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.\” (John 15:16). When you have the fruit of life (which is evidence that you are no longer in the old creation and you have satisfied the requirements of life – repentance, faith towards God, good works etc), you can now GO and bring (not only bear) the fruit of service.

This is the fruit of serving God\’s purpose. This is your life becoming a means for God to recover and transform other lives.

Hence, the fruit of life and the fruit of service are the outcomes of a vital relationship with God. This intensifies your union with Christ as you keep your secret prayer life of fellowship with Him. In answer to the question, \”What do I pray?\”, you pray the will of God that you discover in the Word of God until you bear the fruit of life and then bring forth the fruit of new disciples (service). This is what glorifies God. The ministry of the Word and prayer converts your will to His will so that you can pray in line with God\’s will. \”The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul…\” Psalm 19:7

 I will love thee, O LORD, my strength. (Psalm 18:1). I want to abide and abound in You, O LORD. Help me focus on the universal set of my relationship with You more than the subset of my various requests. Let me remain in You so that I can bear the fruit of a transformed life as well as bring forth the fruit of service. AMEN.

Definition of some terms

Old Creation – This speaks first of Adam as the first human being, the progenitor of the human race, and his fall into sin that led to the unfortunate life (of sin) bestowed to all who are naturally born into the world as an inheritance.

New Creation – This speaks first of Christ as the second man, the new man (son of man), the progenitor of the new race, and the Higher life that is bestowed as an inheritance by Him to all who are spiritually born (through Christ) as the ONLY way out of the old creation that is condemned to sin, into the new life that does not sin because of its dominion over it.

Psalm 51:5, Genesis 5:3, Romans 5:12 ff, John 14:6, John 3:14-18, Romans 6:6-14