The greatest problem I have seen with many of us believers is presumption. The ways of God are steps laid out one after another. Every time you ignore a step, you suspend your progress in your walk with God, which can eventually lead to being cut off from the LORD. Things will not get supernaturally better, as if the LORD would take over your responsibility to obey simple instructions. As a principle, you must determine that prayer and praying IS your priority.
Presumption is a deliberate avoidance of responsibility or a deliberate refusal to apply the knowledge you have. When you presume you are OK in spite of not doing the truth you know mentally or in spite of not knowing at all. I don\’t know of any Christians who don\’t know they should be praying more than they are currently doing. For most, it remains a feeling of guilt and sometimes it becomes suppressed until the heart is no longer responsive to God.
Those who escape this unresponsiveness to God have simply agreed with the Holy Spirit to do something about it. This is the secret of spiritual life. Deliberate action to do what you ought to do regardless of the struggles. You will see that deliberateness of action is a result of the concentration of (your) thoughts on the LORD. This is the starting point of abiding in Him (Jesus).
4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
John 15:4-5 KJV
So you must remain in life-union with me, for I remain in life-union with you. For as a branch severed from the vine will not bear fruit, so your life will be fruitless unless you live your life intimately joined to mine.
“I am the sprouting vine and you’re my branches. As you live in union with me as your source, fruitfulness will stream from within you—but when you live separated from me you are powerless.
John 15:4-5 TPT
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Let\’s start with the conclusion of verse 5: \”…for without me ye can do nothing. \” KJV \”…but when you live separated from me you are powerless.\” TPT. Has that dawned on you? Since you are a branch on the vine, you cannot do anything without Jesus. This is a statement of fact. But if it has not yet dawned on you, you will continue to struggle. This revelation has done three things for me:
- It has shown me that my determination alone in itself will get me nowhere.
- It has activated desperation to seek His help continuously.
- It has helped me to be a bit more disciplined to use my opportunities for prayer.
We have seen the fruit of relationship and righteousness previously. In this edition, we are looking at the fruit of responsibility. \”For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he…\” Proverbs 23:7. You are responsible for releasing your thoughts to the LORD, thinking about Him, meditating on His Word to you and continuously giving thanks. This releases your thoughts to the delight, duty and discipline of praying. It is because of this responsibility that the Holy Spirit says to \”Keep and guard your heart with all vigilance and above all that you guard, for out of it flow the springs of life.\” (Proverbs 4:23 AMP).
Remember we already established in the last post that when we expose ourselves to God\’s Word, we are confirming our relationship with God and our genuine response at that point in thinking thoughts based on what God is saying, leads to praying. The cleansing we are promised through His Word is an outworking of our genuine response to Him in prayer.
What makes abiding permanent is our continuous dance in the cycle of relationship, righteousness and responsibility. If you break the dance flow at any point, abiding in Him will no longer be possible. When this breakdown is not quickly corrected, another dance begins, which can lead to apostasy – being cut off from the vine completely. This is the dance of rebellion, unrighteousness and irresponsibility. Let\’s pray together!
LORD, I am grateful for Your Word released to wash me. I humble myself before You as I open up my heart and life for You to work upon. Help me to be responsible with my thoughts, mind and heart so that they can produce the consequences of abiding in You such as prayer, obedience and victories. Thank You, my LORD. In Jesus\’ name. AMEN.
