Whatever You Wish

John 15:7-8
If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

Whatever I wish, eh? OK, I want a million dollars, a new house, and two new cars. I want to be famous and powerful. I want my husband to be perfect and my children to follow suit . . . it doesn’t work this way? Ah yes, I must remain in Christ and allow His words to remain in me, then, I can ask whatever I wish. This seems as though it could be a strange "if/then" statement, but once we dissect it and look deeper, I think we’ll discover some little gems that will reveal much about the Word of God.

First, we must remain in Him, which isn’t as easy as it may sound. It takes a conscious, daily effort of bending our knee to Him each and every morning. We must give Him the rights to our life for that day – every choice, every action, everything we do must be rooted in Him and His truths. We must make a conscious effort to walk with Him and stay tucked up under His protective wing.

The second part of that "if" statement could be a little more complicated. His words are to remain in us? Interesting. Consuming the Word of God? Well, that’s actually not too far off base. The Greek transliteration for "words" in this verse is rhema, which means "that which is or has been uttered by the living voice, thing spoken, word; a series of words joined together into a sentence (a declaration of one's mind made in words); subject matter of speech, thing spoken of." In other words, this verse is not talking about the Word of God in general, it is not speaking of the entire Bible remaining in us. Rather, it is speaking of the specific words of God, individual verses. We must consume His Word, allow it to take us over and change the way we think, the way we view the world, the way we interact with each other.

How does it remain in us? Memorization. Yes, reading and studying the Word is great. That is definitely where we must begin. But to really consume His Word, letting it seep into our every pore so that we will become all that it is, we must chew on it. We must take it in, and keep it in, meditating on it through the day and the night. Memorization is a very important key to living a powerful, victorious life in Christ. Get a memorization partner, or a group together. Carry a new verse around every day, or simply chose one per week. Memorize small pieces or large chunks. Do what we must, it is essential.

Then what? So, we memorize Scripture, and all of a sudden God is at our every beck and call, giving us everything that we want? I don’t think so. Rather, when we live daily in Christ, and His words begin to dwell and take root in us, we will be changed, and as a result our desires will change. Instead of praying for all that we want, we will begin to ask for what we need. We will begin to ask according to His perfect will for our lives. Then, everyone around us will see the change. They will see the fruit and they will marvel at how God answers our prayers, and we can point to God, giving Him all the glory and praise.