John 15:7,8 gives us some crucial insight into answered prayer.
“If you abide in me, and my words abide in you,
ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
By this my Father is glorified,
that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.”
The phrase, “By this my Father is glorified” explains the intended result of prayer. God is to be glorified. Our desire to be honored above everyone else is one of the things that God needs to prune out of our lives. Selfishness is so automatic that we usually do not even realize that we have the problem. We begin cleansing self-centeredness from our hearts by recognizing and rejoicing in the glory of God. God is the Creator/Provider of all things. He is the center of creation. He is the source of all good things. All prayer should revolve around Him. All praise and honor and glory belong to Him. In the third chapter of John some people came to John the Baptist saying that Jesus, whom he had endorsed, was baptizing more people than John was. John answered, “He is the bridegroom. I am the friend who rejoices when I hear the voice of the bridegroom.” Then John added, “He must increase. I must decrease.”
The point of God answering our prayer is that God will receive the honor due Him. That is at the heart of our joy in the Lord. Real joy comes as we shift our focus from ourselves—me, me, me, and begin to focus our hearts and minds on Jesus.
I do not believe Jesus is simply saying that the point of prayer is the glory of God. Rather, He is saying our whole lives are to bring Him glory. We are to remain in Him, His word planted deeply in our lives, bearing fruit as disciples of Jesus, so that God will be glorified in everything He does in and through us.
This is part of a blog series on keys to answered prayer. If you click on http://watchinginprayer.blogspot.com/ and scroll down you can see the previous posts.
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