John 15:7
If you abide in Me, and My Words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.
The word translated as “ask” is translated from the Greek word “aiteo” = to ask, beg, call for, crave, desire, require.
The word translated as “what” is a compound word in Greek “hos he ho” = which, what, that… and “ean” = whatsoever, whosoever. Together they would mean a definite whatsoever you desire.
The word translated as “desire” from the Greek “thelo” = have in mind, intend, purpose, desire, wish, love, like, take delight in, have pleasure, determine, choose, prefer.
The word translated as “done” is the Greek “ginomai” = to become, to come into existence, begin to be, come to pass, happen, be performed, finished, be made. This word is used with great latitude—literally, figuratively, intensively, etc.
Ask whatever you desire
So, Jesus is telling His disciples that if we live IN Him, make our home IN Him, take up residence IN Him…and His Word lives in us—we meditate on it day and night (Joshua 1:8) make it a part of who we are and how we think… then we can ask, desire, require whatsoever we have in mind, purpose, desire, take delight in! AND it will come into existence, come to pass, be performed, be made for us!
Wow! Do you see what God’s Word is saying here?
When we delight ourselves in the Lord, when His desires have become our desires, when we take pleasure in Him and desire to be obedient to His Word in and for our lives—THEN we can ask for whatever we desire and it will be done for us.
This is not a “maybe” people! This is a plain and simple and undeniable “WILL be done” for us.
When our hearts are aligned with God’s—then our desires become the same as His desires! In what world would we ever think that God wouldn’t want to fulfill His desires in us…and through us to others???
How can we know?
But how do we know if our desires are the same as God’s desires?
Psalms 37:4 tells us to
Delight yourself also in the LORD, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.
“Delight” from the Hebrew “anag” = to be soft, be happy about, take exquisite delight, make merry over. The dictionary defines it as “to very much enjoy”.
Does this describe your relationship with the Lord, or the desire of your heart? If you can say yes to this then you’ve probably already noticed that your dreams and desires are changing. Your taste in what you watch or read or how you spend your time is changing.
The more I started to desire to be with the Lord, the more I found myself hungering for a closer relationship and a better understanding of Him…the more I found my tastes changing. I became fussier about what I watched on TV, what I read, what I spent my time talking or thinking about. Slowly, but surely, my tastes began to change over time.
The more you find yourself hungering to know God more, to understand His ways better, to draw closer to Him, to receive and understand His love better—the more you know that you are delighting yourself in the LORD!
And when you do that His desires unknowingly and increasingly become your desires and you can be guaranteed that He will give you the desires of your heart! Then you will be able to “ask for whatever we desire and it will be given to us”.
And honestly…think of it…what loving parent doesn’t give their child their heart’s desire if it’s at all possible for them to do so? How much more will our Father in Heaven give good things to those who ask of Him! (Matthew 7:11)
Abide in His Love
John 15:9-10
As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.
You are to abide, to remain, to tarry, to not depart, to continue to be present, to live IN Jesus’ Love for you.
You are to attend carefully to what Jesus has commanded you, to guard these commands, to keep an eye on them, to prevent them from escaping.
You are to prevent them from falling out of your understanding and knowledge, from falling into disuse in your life. You are to be keeping them in a fortress where they can’t be stolen from you by the cunning lies of the enemy!
Our commission
You are to keep doing those commandments of Jesus—and as you keep them you’ll be living in His Love—because Jesus was all about LOVE! To do His commandments is to LOVE on others. To pour out His LOVE to those around you. LOVE activates you. LOVE sends you to work in the fields and reap the harvest of souls. LOVE commissions you to be Jesus to all those around you. To…
“Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” (Mark 16:15-18)
This is what your life is to look like. This is how you LOVE like Jesus LOVED while He walked the earth!
When Jesus left He sent you the Holy Spirit to live in you. To make you all like Jesus. To turn you into His little brother or sister who continues His work that He was doing while He walked the earth.
That is your commission. That is the Father’s desire for you. And that is what the devil has stolen from so many of our hearts…mine included…for so many years.
It makes me sad😞😫😭 to realize just how many of my years were wasted chasing the things of this world—when our God, our Abba, our Daddy—has something so vastly much better for all of us to do!
Don’t let my mistake be your mistake. God has so much good instore for you and to do through you! If your heart is hungry to know more of this amazing God of ours…leave me a message. I’d be happy to share what I’ve been learning with you!
We are all brothers and sisters IN Christ! Let’s start working together to share the “to good to be true” gospel of Jesus Christ!