Asking God to do His Work
Tyler Johns, our Student Ministries Director, is continuing that thought on the blog this week. God is ready and willing to do the work in our life, but He is waiting for us to ask Him to do it:
“Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Psalm 139:23-24
Many of us don’t practice this important principle enough. I know I could definitely put it to use more in my life. And because we don’t practice it, our growth is held back in various areas of our lives.
Jesus said in John 15, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit He prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.”
In order for the branch to reach its greatest potential and produce “even more” fruit, it must be pruned. Take special notice that the branches that aren’t producing fruit obviously get cut off, but the branches that are producing fruit also get cut. The dead and overgrown spots from the fruitful branches need pruning too. You see, God wishes to rid us of things that are obvious AND things that aren’t always so obvious. The things we know we struggle with constantly and the things we tend to overlook or just simply can’t see because of our perspective.
So how are we to recognize what needs to be “cut off”, obvious or not, unless God reveals it to us?
Well, in order for the unfruitful branches to be cut off and for the fruitful branches to be pruned and become “even more fruitful”, the Gardener has to seek them out first. But you see our God is a gentleman. He will not search out branches and cut them off without our asking. So it all comes down to asking. We must ask Him to search our hearts and rid us of anything unfruitful in our lives.
James 4:2 says, “You do not have because you do not ask God.”
We often stunt our own growth because we just simply don’t ask. We need to discipline ourselves to continually ask God to search our hearts for what needs to be cut off and pruned. Ask Him to reveal to us the hidden things lurking behind the overgrown branches in our lives. It is essential to our growth in Him and our ability to produce “even more” fruit in His Kingdom.
Later in the John 15 passage Jesus even says, “Ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”
If we take our Lord up on this promise by asking Him to search us and prune us, you can bet we will see an abundance of growth and fruitfulness in our lives!
Do you want your life to be fruitful? How about even more fruitful? Don't miss an opportunity to grow simply because you haven't asked God!