Abiding in the VineSample

Abiding in the Heartbeat of God

Jesus makes us an almost unbelievable promise in John 15:7–8. Jesus promises that if we abide in him and allow his words to abide in us, then we can ask anything we desire of God and it will happen. Clearly, this is a vital passage for us to understand today. I believe that the Lord has fresh revelation in store for us if we will take him at his word and allow him to transform our understanding of what it is to petition our heavenly Father. So, let’s open our hearts and minds and allow the Holy Spirit to come and do a work in us today as we place our trust in Jesus’ word.

I have spent a large part of my Christian life praying without understanding how to pray. I used to view prayer as time for me to ask God for what I thought would be good and then wait to see if my circumstances lined up with my prayer. Then only through my circumstances would I know if God’s answer to my prayer was yes or no. Then I read John 15:7–8. Jesus clearly teaches a very different model of prayer than I had been experiencing.

Jesus’ model for prayer is abiding in his presence, abiding in his words, and then asking God for our heart’s desires. God desires that we would be so in tune with his heartbeat and so saturated with his word that our desires would be transformed into his desires. His plan is to fill us with the knowledge of his perfect will for our lives in the secret place so that we can pray and live wholeheartedly with full expectation that our heavenly Father will bring to fruition the desires he has placed within us.

Does this model of prayer line up with your life? Is your prayer life marked by abiding in him and his word first? Have you discovered the heartbeat of your heavenly Father? Do you feel as if you know how he feels about situations going on in your life? Are you so saturated with his word that it is transforming your actions, beliefs, emotions, and prayers?

Scripture says in Jeremiah 33:3 ESV, “Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.” 2 Corinthians 3:18 ESV says, “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” (ESV) And Deuteronomy 4:29 says ESV, “But from there you will seek the Lord your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.” God longs for you to search out his heartbeat. He longs to reveal to you how he feels about you and every aspect of your life. He longs to transform your desires into his so that you might desire and ask him for what is best for you.

Asking God for something is meant to be as simple as abiding in his presence and word and praying in line with the desires he’s birthed in you. Discover today the wealth of desires he longs to share with you. Ask him to show you how he feels and thinks. Saturate yourself in his word. Allow the teachings of Jesus to transform your perspectives. And ask your heavenly Father to bring to fruition the desires he’s placed within you. May your desires be one with God’s today as you spend time abiding in the true vine of Jesus.

Reflection & Prayer:

• Do your prayers reflect your own desires or God’s heartbeat?
• How can you let his word shape your longings today?
• Where do you need to trust that he knows what is best for you?

Prayer:
Father, thank you for inviting me into your heart. Teach me to abide in your word and presence until my desires match yours. Transform my prayers into petitions that glorify you and bear lasting fruit. In Jesus’s name, Amen.