Persistent Prayer Yields Fruitfulness

Jim Connell • September 12, 2024

If you love the Lord, you will want to please Him. Jesus said, “Anyone who loves me will obey

my teaching” (John 14:23). We obey out of love.


Jesus tells us we need to rest and rely upon Him and His strength rather than our own. As

Jesus explained, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him,

he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)


He also goes on to say, “If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch

and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.” (John 15:6)


The Lord expects His people to be fruitful. But how can we be fruitful? In his letter to the

Colossians, Paul prays that God would fill them with the knowledge of his will through all

wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the

Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the

knowledge of God… (Colossians 1:9b-10).


How will we gain wisdom and understanding without a whole-hearted pursuit to know God’s

Word? The same Spirit who inspired the Biblical authors to write the infallible Scriptures is the

same Spirit that will guide you to understand its meaning.


And just as meditating on God’s Word is a key to attaining wisdom, so is prayer. As we go into

our private place of prayer, it’s like having Jesus Christ open the door into the room where God

reigns so we may sit as His feet to share our most intimate thoughts with Him, without any fear

of rejection.


Since He is our good Heavenly Father who has adopted us into His family, He only wants the

best for us. His Word tells us that if we belong to Christ, by faith alone, there is no

condemnation, that all things work for good to those who love Him, and absolutely nothing will

separate us from the love of God. With these assurances and the knowledge that all things are

possible with God, we can trust that He wants us to share our concerns with Him.


The Bible says, Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart

(Psalm 37:4). If you delight in Him, you will also desire the things He desires.


Prayer engages faith, which results in our being fruitful. When Peter pointed out the withered fig

tree that Jesus had cursed, Jesus answered, “Have faith in God…whatever you ask in

prayer, believe you have received it, and it will be yours” (Mark 11:22b, 24).



By Jim Connell


Jim is the founder and retired director of Lexington Rescue Mission and author of

Jesusislordblog.com, faithanswerspress.net, and Creator of FAQs of Faith (mobile app).

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