September 4, 2016

John 15:5 NKJV - "I am the vine, you are the branches.  He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing."

One of the aspects of prayer that is literally fantastic, is that when we pray we should consciously see ourselves at the "throne of grace" Hebrews 4:16.  And being there we are literally in Christ's presence and having fellowship with Him even if we don't actually think that!  When you pray, God listens.  He hears your voice whether you pray out loud or "just in your heart."  He is there.  He listens.  And, if you give Him the chance by actively listening to Him, He will speak to you too.  You see, Christ wants us to "abide" in Him.

Some of you may remember how "abiding" in Christ was explained.  Usually the thought was to encourage us to think of inviting Christ into our home and making Himself at home, as if we had Him as our actual guest.  And "abiding" in Christ means He IS abiding in us and wants us to be conscious of His Presence.  For you see, once again, prayer is God's way of drawing us into sweet fellowship with Him and we are to think of Him as sitting next to us and we, He and us, are actually talking with each other!  Do you see your prayer life like that?  Do you recognize God's desire to spend that precious time with you, listening to you and being pleased that you're listening to Him! 

Please don't miss the point here.  Christ wants your fellowship!  And prayer allows that to happen.  He IS pleased to have you in His throne room.  Try to see how precious this is and enjoy being with Him as much as He enjoys being with you.  And please note, in our Daily Verse, that our lives become so fruitful when we "abide in Him" as He also "abides with us."