Author Archives: Drew Haninger

Vine, Branches and Prayer

Vine, Branches and Prayer – Jesus’ Instructions on Prayer in John 15

Grape Vines in Washington State

Grape Vines in Washington State

Wow, look at vines, branches and prayer in in John 15, chapters 14, 15, 16, and 17.  In these four chapters, Jesus was trying to comfort His disciples and at the same time get them to just abide in Him.  So right in the middle of that, in chapter 15,  Jesus was talking about abiding. He was talking about how we need to be like branches on a vine. He was the true vine. Some people say this describes kind of an organic, living and real relationship between Jesus and us, or between us and the Father.  Without getting into the rest of the context, there,  John 15:7 says, “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” That seems kind of like a blank check where you can expect God to do anything you ask of Him. Some people look at that verse and they wonder why God doesn’t answer when they pray for something. There is a condition in this verse, though. It says, “If you abide in Me and My words aide in you”.  The “asking” is prayer.

Grape Vines in Eastern Washington

Grape Vines in Eastern Washington

Well, the first condition, there, is, “If you abide in Me… “ Without getting into the context,there, one way to abide is to stay in the Lord, to rest in the Lord, or to remain in the Lord.  So how does one abide in the Lord, it simply means to trust and rely on Him. I would even say it means to do the things God wants you to do, to obey the Lord.  He says, “If you abide in Me”.  Then He says, “And if My words abide in you”.  This passage in the book of John says, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you”, you can ask whatever you will and I will do it. What words is He talking about when Jesus says, “And My words abide in you”? I believe He is specifically talking about the word He is speaking. Oh, and by the way, what ever Jesus says is the Word of God. I believe it also has to include the words of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation.

Grape Vines in Eastern Washington

Grape Vines in Eastern Washington

The video this text is taken from is on  Drew’s YouTube channel.  This portion is at YouTube.

Set the Direction with Morning Prayer

Morning Prayer Sets the Direction for the Day.

Boat on Sea of Galilee, Israel

Boat on the Sea of Galilee, Israel

A great Bible verse is Mark 1:35, “and  rising in the morning long before day, he went out and went away into a desert place, and there prayed“.  The Lord Jesus spent time in the  morning in prayer to get himself in alignment with God, the Father.  Jesus also prayed that the direction of the whole day would be in the Father’s will, purpose and direction. His morning time set the purpose and direction for the whole day.

From the context of this passage we can discern that Jesus probably prayed in the region of the Sea of Galilee in northern Israel. The above picture was taken from another boat on Sea of Galilee.

How do we know Jesus prayed this way? Jesus taught His disciples to pray, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven“. This is a portion from the familiar Lord’s Prayer.

Morning Time for Prayer and Bible Reading

The morning time is an wonderful time to be with God in the Bible and prayer.  Jesus loved the morning time for prayer and Bible reading.

Morning time is an awesome time to connect and be with God in the Bible and prayer.

Just before the day gets started, take time in the morning to connect with God, the source of our life and our strength. He is the one to strengthen us through the whole day.

Consider these encouraging Bible verses on prayer in the morning.

Psalms 55:17—“Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud, and He shall hear my voice.”

Mark 1:35—“Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed.”

Martin Luther Speaking to God in Prayer as a Friend

Martin Luther spoke to God in prayer as a friend.

Veit Dietrich, also known as Vitus Theodorus was a German theologian, writer and reformer. Theodorus was a close friend of Martin Luther. Theodorus, talking about Luther, said, “I overheard him in prayer, … with what life and spirit did he pray! It was with so much reverence as if he were speaking to God, yet with so much confidence, as if he had been speaking to his friend.” God wants us to be men and women of prayer.

Two Trees, Chorazin Israel

Two Trees, Chorazin Israel

God Uses People Like Gideon with Little Faith

God even uses people with little faith. Do we ever wonder why God put us in some situations? Well Gideon also wondered.  Look at this Bible passage. Gideon almost gave up, until the Lord spoke to him. And after the Lord spoke, Gideon had trouble believing God.

Judges 6:13-14
And Gideon said to him, “Please, sir, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? ’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian.” And the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?”

Judges 6:16
And the Lord said to him, “But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.”

Multnomah Falls Oregon

Multnomah Falls Oregon

Gideon still did not believe what God said, and so asked for a “sign”. The Jews also asked for a sign at the time of Jesus. Both situations were considered evil in the Lord’s eyes since they did not just take God at His word. But it’s hard to do that, and Gideon being a man of faith, well sort of a man of faith, really did not fully believe God’s word. So Gideon asked several times for a sign. Notice that God did not rebuke Gideon, but sort of went along with his crazy requests. So Gideon really did not have that much belief and faith in God, but God still used him just as he was.

In the New Testament The Lord Jesus put up with a lot of failures and unbelief from His disciples. He put up with Peter, Thomas and more. Well the point is, God puts up with us just the way we are, and still let’s us work with Him for His Kingdom.

Love Endures

Our encouraging Bible verse is Corinthians 13:4,  Love endures, and is kind; love envieth not; love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up.

Rose in Spokane, Washington in September

Rose in Spokane, Washington in September

The photo is a Rose from our front yard of our home in Spokane, Washington. The flower is looking fresh because my dear wife took care of the garden. I just pushed the button on the camera.

This word “endures” means, that in spite of difficult times, we continue on. We do not give up for any reason, and we keep the relationship fresh, open and loving.