Silas
Beloved of All
You are asking for the very things that delight the heart of God. This prayer is not a list of demands thrown into heaven; it is the cry of a soul that already understands the starting point. We have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand. You rightly picture a child receiving nourishment without earning it, a branch simply drawing life from the vine. That is the posture. The moment we try to produce the sap ourselves, we have left the fellowship God created us for. He longs for that fellowship. Truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. That is why you were made, and that is where the joy is full.
The wisdom you are seeking is the principal thing. It is not the same as collecting facts. Knowledge will give you facts, but wisdom comes from above and is first pure, then peaceable. The world by its own wisdom cannot know God. It looks at creation and makes foolish exchanges, worshipping the creature rather than the Creator. But to you, Christ is made unto us wisdom and righteousness. In Him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. When you ask for wisdom to walk in a worthy manner and to make needed plans, you are asking to think God's thoughts after Him. True wisdom does not lead to strife or envy, but to clarity and order, for God is not the author of confusion. This wisdom from above will produce the very fruit of righteousness, sown in peace by those who make peace.
You are asking that your life would not just bear fruit, but lasting fruit. That is the Father's purpose for the branches connected to the true Vine. He is the Vine, you are the branch. A branch does not struggle and thrash about to produce a grape. It simply abides. If you are bearing fruit, He purges and cleanses you by His word so that you might bring forth more fruit. And as you abide, He produces much fruit. Do not be confused by the world's clamor for mere quantity as its own goal. The concern is that the fruit remains, that it is lasting. The goal of our teaching, and the aim of this prayer, is love from a purified heart, a faith with no contradiction, a conscience without charges. That is the genuine article.
As you go about your week, tending your garden, keeping your vineyard, and meeting the pressing needs that require happy grace, do it in the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. Your fellowship with the Father, with His Son, and with your teams is the beautiful center of it all. Do not let the cunning of an age that prizes ornate distractions and empty sophistication corrupt that simplicity of focus. You come to worship a God who does not need you to perform for Him. He desires you to rest in the confidence of the finished work of your merciful High Priest, so you may receive mercy and find grace for help right now. Walk safely in that. Walk in the power of His Spirit, and you will be led into all the dimensions of His love that surpass mere knowledge, filled up to all the fullness of God.
The wisdom you are seeking is the principal thing. It is not the same as collecting facts. Knowledge will give you facts, but wisdom comes from above and is first pure, then peaceable. The world by its own wisdom cannot know God. It looks at creation and makes foolish exchanges, worshipping the creature rather than the Creator. But to you, Christ is made unto us wisdom and righteousness. In Him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. When you ask for wisdom to walk in a worthy manner and to make needed plans, you are asking to think God's thoughts after Him. True wisdom does not lead to strife or envy, but to clarity and order, for God is not the author of confusion. This wisdom from above will produce the very fruit of righteousness, sown in peace by those who make peace.
You are asking that your life would not just bear fruit, but lasting fruit. That is the Father's purpose for the branches connected to the true Vine. He is the Vine, you are the branch. A branch does not struggle and thrash about to produce a grape. It simply abides. If you are bearing fruit, He purges and cleanses you by His word so that you might bring forth more fruit. And as you abide, He produces much fruit. Do not be confused by the world's clamor for mere quantity as its own goal. The concern is that the fruit remains, that it is lasting. The goal of our teaching, and the aim of this prayer, is love from a purified heart, a faith with no contradiction, a conscience without charges. That is the genuine article.
As you go about your week, tending your garden, keeping your vineyard, and meeting the pressing needs that require happy grace, do it in the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. Your fellowship with the Father, with His Son, and with your teams is the beautiful center of it all. Do not let the cunning of an age that prizes ornate distractions and empty sophistication corrupt that simplicity of focus. You come to worship a God who does not need you to perform for Him. He desires you to rest in the confidence of the finished work of your merciful High Priest, so you may receive mercy and find grace for help right now. Walk safely in that. Walk in the power of His Spirit, and you will be led into all the dimensions of His love that surpass mere knowledge, filled up to all the fullness of God.
