John 15:7-8 - Wk 1 Day 6

If you abide in me and

my words abide in you ...

then you will bear much fruit.

John 15:7-8

Have you ever played Pin-the-Tail-on-the-Donkey? They blindfold you. They spin you around. Then they let you guess where to stick the pin.

Since a circle is divided into 360 degrees, there's a 1-in-360 chance the tail-pinner will head in the right direction (without a little coaching).

This explains why some prayers are answered and most are not.

If God is the true north on the circle of the compass, then only in 1-in-360 times will we point precisely in his direction on our own. Thus, about 1-in-360 prayers seem to ever find their answer.

As a person accepts Christ, however, they begin to eliminate about half of their old ways. Suddenly twice as many prayers are answered! But the odds of aligning oursevles with God are still only 1-in-180. (Don't we want more power than that?!)

As we grow in faith and immerse ourselves in God's word, we begin to align ourselves more and more with what God is doing. (1-in-90, then 1-in-60, then 1-in-30). It will eventually seem like more and more prayers are answered! But what's really happening is that we're beginning to ask for what God already desires and is already doing.

I love the simplicity of this principle of alignment. Unfortunately, however, there's one problem with this image. It all relies on us.

Fortunately, Jesus gives us an alternative. He draws us in and attaches us to his power. He says, "I am the vine; you are the branches." He is saying, "Life flows through me, and life, joy, strength, and hope happen when you're connected to me."

We could argue that this still requires something of us ... but what it requires is the exact opposite of doing. It's submitting.

·       It’s laying down our own priorities and bending our hearts toward His. (And this means that it's God’s heart that's praying through us.)

·       Submitting is forsaking our personal desires. It’s running from world's passions. It’s conforming our lives, instead, to God's passions. (And when God's passions flow through us, our whole lives are suddenly an outworking of His purposes.)

·       Submission is not a task that you have to accomplish; it's  a life that you choose -- or don't choose -- to immerse yourself in. (And when His life is your life, then His power is your power.)

In Christ's Love,

a 1-in-10 guy

who wants to be 1-in-1

(and one with The One!)