August 27, 2022 - John‬ ‭15:4-5

The Battle – Prayer #13

“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. “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.” John 15:4-5 NKJV

Lord, this might not typically be a verse we associate with fighting a battle, but I think that this is extremely key to winning battles for you. We must learn to abide in you if we are going to be successful. You are the source of life for us. We cannot be sustained unless we are abiding in you. If we don’t take the time to abide in you, it is like we are cutting ourselves off from the vine. We will shrivel up and die without your life flowing into us. It is in the abiding that we receive your strength for the battles. It is in abiding in you that we are restored when we get weary. It is in abiding in you that we are healed if we are injured in the battle. It is in abiding in you that we receive your strategy for the battles we face. Basically, if we are not abiding in you then we are facing spiritual battles in our own strength. Spiritual battles are definitely not battles that we will succeed in winning when we are fighting in our own strength and knowledge.

Lord, teach us how to truly abide in you. We want to be “plugged into” you. Open our eyes to the times when we are getting too busy or distracted and begin to “unplug” from you. When we see it give us an overwhelming desire to fix the situation immediately. Grow us into a healthy, strong, and fruitful part of your vine. Teach us the importance of abiding in you if we want to be mighty warriors for your kingdom. We praise you that you desire us to be your flourishing warriors, and not weary from fighting in our own strength or our own way. We praise you for how you sustain us.

In Jesus name, amen.