Responsibility Attached to Faith

You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name. [John 15.16]

All of us want "whatever we ask for" when we pray. But there are 'responsibilities' attached to many of our favorite 'faith scriptures' that we, all too often, overlook.

This scripture is no exception.

The word "so" is our clue that there is a contingency upon "the Father will give you whatever you ask for...

What must take place "so" that the Father will give ...whatever we ask for...?

We must be producing lasting fruit. 

What is that fruit? It is more of the same of the branch from which it comes! If we are in Christ, then bearing fruit is bringing others into Christ. The purpose of fruit is reproduction to make more of the same fruit.

THEN, we are told the Father will give whatever we ask for!

This is not inconsistent with one of the most well-known "faith" scriptures:

So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. “And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.” [Mark 11.22-26]

If you have anything against anyone... forgive. How do we bring others "into the vine" of Jesus? It begins with our own forgiveness of them! The fruit we produce is the result of our effort to forgive (as we have been forgiven!).

Ours is the ministry of reconciliation!

Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. [2 Corinthians 5.18-19]

If we are to be in Christ; if we are to bear fruit unto the same, then, like the Branch, we must also "not impute trespasses" against those we wish to recruit.

Unforgiveness renders us fruitless. Fruitlessness disqualifies us from the benefits of faith. In fact, fruitless also has greater implications:

He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit... [John 15.2a]

If the power of God is to be manifest in the earth today, it will be when God's people genuinely and purposefully forgive.

Father, help us to understand the mandate upon our lives to forgive.