"Then" is the Important Word

I have been listening to the messages of Pastor Richard Sipe of First Baptist Church in Marshalltown, IA. The focus for the past three weeks has been John 15:16.

"You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. This is my command: Love each other."

The first week he teaches about the fact that Jesus said "you did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit". The things we encounter in life are because Jesus chose us and that we should have God Purpose Driven lives.

In the second week, we learned about bearing fruit, "fruit that will last". Christians do not grow the fruit, Jesus grows the fruit, we just need to bear it. We need to remain a living branch attached to the vine, and the fruit of the Spirit will do what it does...it will produce fruit.

It is very important to understand that Jesus chose to give all Christian's the provision of the Holy Spirit, and every Christian has fruit, the fruit of the Spirit. Each Christian has been given spiritual gifts to build up the Body...to make the Body strong, not the individual, but the Body. Jesus chose to give us these things, Jesus chose to provide us with these things.

Now, read the verse again and take note of a four letter word, the connective term: then

"You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. This is my command: Love each other."

If you understand that you did not choose Jesus, and that He chose you, and that He appointed you to "go and to bear fruit, fruit that will last...then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. This is my command, love each other", your prayers may be different. When you understand the role of the Spirit in your life, and what it means to bear fruit, then, and only then will you understand what "then the Father will give whatever you ask in my name" means.

As you bear fruit, you are to love others. In fact, bearing fruit would inevitably mean you are loving others...that God is showing His love to others through you! As you love other people, the second fruit comes, and you will have joy. When you have joy, it will lead you to have peace. Peace will lead to patience! If you want to have patience, start loving other people!

Think about it, when you are impatient, you are all stressed out and tense. You need peace. If you want peace, get the joy that comes from loving other people. So if you want patience, love other people!

As you start having patience, you will have kindness toward other people. Kindness will lead to goodness flowing out of you. Goodness is following the ways of God, or obedience. You want to be obedient? Start being kind and good to people. You want to be kind? Have patience. You want patience? Have peace. You want peace?...it all goes back to loving others.

So when you have goodness, and you start doing the things of God, and doing them consistently, it will lead into faithfullness. Through that faithfullness, there will become an air of confidence in your life and so you'll have an air of gentleness. Gentleness will lead to self-control.

Do you have a problem with self-control? The Bible says if you love others, joy will come. Out of that joy will come peace, and in that peace you will have patience. If you are patient, you will show kindness and goodness. Doing the things of God, you will develop faithfullness which leads to gentleness and self-control.

That is the fruit of the Spirit. If you prayed your prayers through the fruit of the Spirit, would your prayers be different? God desires for us to know Him more, and if we pray in the Spirit, and start our prayers asking to know Him more, and to understand His ways and His purpose, maybe He will start revealing Himself to us and also some of the specifics of our lives to us, to help us understand. God will always answer prayer.

"Then the Father will give whatever you ask in my name."

The apostle Paul prayed a lot for others. He understood what loving others meant and therefore was an intercessor in prayer. Pastor Sipe warns against using too much "self-cessory prayer". We should strive to make others a focus of our prayer lives, and be an intercessor for those we love. Loving others will bring joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfullness, gentleness and self-control. "Then the Father will give whatever you ask in my name".

"This is my command: Love each other."