You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. - John 15:16
What was Jesus' goal in choosing us? "I chose you and appointed you...so that you might go and bear fruit...and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you." When I think about the last part of that verse, it seems a little strange: "I chose you...so that whatever you ask..." There are those who look at this verse as a sort of blank check. Their reasoning is: "Jesus chose me...therefore whatever I ask in my name the Father will give you."
But it does not say "therefore". It says "so that" It is aspirational. It is what Jesus planned. In the same way that Jesus wanted us to become fruit bearers-that is with the character and aspirations necessary to become habitual doers of good-he also wanted us to become the type of askers to whom the Father gives gladly. Bearing fruit is a result of Jesus' new life in us. Likewise, the Father's generosity is a result of Jesus' new life in us. "whatever we ask" is the intended result, not the blank check.
This is similar to what Jesus intended "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you" (Luke 17:6) Faith depends on who or what you have faith in. Pick the wrong "who" or "what" and you may be motivated, but you will be ultimately disappointed.
I want to find out what is meaningful to God and ask for those things. The closer I am to him, the more likely that my asks will be also be his desires. It's always hit or miss, because I have a small brain. But the hits are glorious because it means that, at least for one instant, I had the same mind as the mind of Christ.
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