Prayer and the Great “If . . . Then” Promise of Jesus – Part 4: “If My Words Remain In You”
Jesus makes us a conditional promise in John 15:
“If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask for whatever you wish and it will be given you” (John 15: 7 NIV).
The conditions are, “If you remain in Me and My words remain in you . . . “. The promise, which follows, the ‘Then’ part of the sentence is, “ask for whatever you wish and it will be given you”.
Here are some other translations of this verse:
“But if you make yourselves at home with Me, and My words at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon” (MSG).
“If you live in Me – abide vitally united to Me – and My words remain in you and continue to live in your hearts, ask whatever you will, and it will be done for you” (AMP).
“If you abide in Me and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you” (NKJV).
In each translation, the verse begins with the word, “If”. “If” signifies a condition – it means “in the event that” or “on the assumption that”. The Greek for ‘if’ is ena and it means In Greek “indefiniteness or uncertainty” (Strong’s). If the condition is not met, then the promise is not available.
I wrote about the first condition – to remain in union or in relationship – with Jesus. The second condition centers around the words, “My words”. The Greek for “My words” is rhema.
Rhema is a spoken word, uttered by the Living Voice, Jesus. For example:
“But He answered and said, “it is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but on every word (rhema) that comes from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4: 4 NIV).
Jesus also said, “The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words (rhema) I have spoken to you are Spirit and they are life” (John 6: 63 NIV).
“And Simon answering said unto Him, “Master, we have toiled all night, and have taken nothing; nevertheless at thy word (rhema) I will let down the net” (Luke 5: 5 KJV).
“And Mary said, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word (rhema). And the angel departed from her” (Luke 1: 38 KJV).
We hear and listen to the voice of Jesus, according to Scripture: “The sheep that are My own hear and are listening to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me” (John 10: 27 AMP).
David pleaded with God, “Hear, O Lord, and answer me for I am poor and needy” (Psalm 86: 1); and, “In the day of trouble I will call to You, and You will answer me” (Psalm 86: 7). David expected God to hear him and respond with a word for David – a rhema word.
A rhema word is a word spoken by Jesus. When I am in union with Him, when I have bound my mind and heart to His mind and heart, I am (or can be, should be) acutely listening for every word that comes from the mouth of Jesus, like the still, small voice heard by Elijah. In listening for and hearing His voice, His rhema word for me, I can learn His will for me in any particular situation (God can make His will known to me in other ways as well, such as through Scripture, other people, dreams and visions, even His creation. The rhema word will never contradict Scripture).
Matthew 7: 22, 23 describes Christians who performed miracles, prophesied, and cast out demons in Jesus’ name. Yet, He turns to them and says, “I never knew you. Depart from me you evildoers. Walter Wink writes:
“They were doing what ‘everyone knows’ is the will of God. But they had not consulted God . . . Perhaps God intended something quite different for them, and they never stopped to listen” (pg. 33, ‘Unmasking the Powers’).
“Away from Me, you evildoers” is the equivalent of the branch being cut off from the vine.
Rhema words are words Jesus speaks to us in conversation. In his commentary on the gospel of John, Bruner writes about rhema words:
“A major way Jesus makes His home with His disciples is when His conversation – His words (rhema) – can find listening friends, can find a home where these words are taken seriously, listened to expectantly, and responded to honestly” (pg. 885).
In his book, ‘Why I Am Still Surprised by the Power of the Spirit’, Jack Deere makes these observations about rhema words from Jesus:
“The Bible tells me that self-righteousness is a sin, but it can never tell me that I am self-righteous. Only the Holy Spirit can do that. Our worst sins are spiritual, and we never see them by our discipline and knowledge of Scripture because they lie camouflaged in caverns of deceit at the bottom of our hearts. We can only see them by the special, supernatural revelation of God (His rhema word)” (pg. 249, parenthesis added).
And:
“I can’t imagine how I could ever be close friends with Jesus without hearing His voice regularly. Everyone who keeps the main thing the main thing – who loves God, loves others, and teaches others to love what God loves – has learned how to hear the voice of God” (pg. 251).
Prayer is conversation with God, the Creator of everything. Prayer is intended to be two-way. Andrew Murray said “Prayer is not monologue, but dialogue; God’s voice is its most essential part. Listening to God’s voice is the secret of the assurance that He will listen to mine ”.
How can we hear Jesus’ voice and listen for His words? Set aside a quiet time, in a place where you will not be disturbed, and speak to Jesus. Like Samuel, you can say, “Speak Lord, your servant is listening”. Or, you can begin by sharing your heart with Jesus – share your fears and burdens; or praising Him. And then stop speaking and listen. Don’t give up, keep at it. First, you need to recognize His voice. You might find He has been talking to you for years; you just didn’t know it was Him.
Jesus’ great promise, “Ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you” is dependent upon 2 conditions: 1) If you remain in Me; and 2) If my rhema words remain in you. The second condition – “If My words remain in You” – is dependent upon the first; both conditions are necessary to receive the promise through prayer. Why is that? Because prayer is both something we do and God does in us. In the deepest sense the work of prayer is a mystery. But, through His Word (logos), God takes us deep into the dynamics of prayer. If we understand these two conditions first, Jesus promises we can pray prayers of power. The dynamics of prayer is the topic of part 5 in this series, ‘Prayer and the Great “If . . . Then Promise of Jesus – Part 5: The Dynamics of Prayer’.
John