Imagine meeting someone for the first time and 20 minutes later, they ask you to co-sign a loan for them. If you’re anything like me, then your immediate answer will be “NO” because you typically don’t do that for someone you just met. When we first meet people, we get to know them superficially; their name, where they’re from, what they do for work or where they go to school and that’s about it. If we stay in contact with this person, the relationship will grow deeper and we’ll get to know them more intimately and feel more comfortable doing certain favors for them.

“If you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted!” ~ John 15:7 NLT. Definition of “remain” (Merriam-Webster dictionary): 1) to continue unchanged. 2) to be a part not destroyed, taken or used up. Synonyms of remain: abide, dwell, stay, tarry.

John 15:7 was spoken by Jesus Himself therefore, we can conclude that this is an expectation of those who follow Him. As followers of Christ, we need remain in communication with Jesus and not just have a superficial relationship with Him where we go to church, pray only when we find ourselves in trouble, and know the scriptures that make us feel good but never come to a full understanding of who Jesus truly is. Moreover, it is only when we stay/abide/remain/dwell in Jesus that we can ask Him for anything, and He’ll grant it to us. This is possible because the longer we abide in Christ, the more we are transformed to look like Him and therefore, our desires, perspectives, habits, attitudes and everything else about us changes so that when we ask anything from Him, it is actually what He desires for us.

David, in the Old Testament, understood this and that’s why he said “Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you your heart’s desires” ~ Psalm 37:4 NLT. To “take delight” in the Lord means “to very much enjoy” the Lord and we get to really enjoy the Lord only when we abide/remain/stay/dwell in Him.

Remaining/abiding/dwelling in the Lord could be (but not limited to) making a commitment to pray every morning/night and honoring it or reading scripture everyday or literally adding time for God in your everyday schedule. Make the sacrifice to remain in God’s presence and in His word. It is very much worth it and it’ll definitely help us to continue growing 2gether. Grace and peace 🙂