The BluePrint - Abide in Prayer

Good morning. Am I on? Oh, I am on. How's everybody

doing today? Good to see you too. It's good to

see some new faces this morning. I hope that

after church we get some time to say hello like

Greg said and I'm so honored to be with you guys

today. My name is Marissa Cantu. I'll be bringing

you the message. We've been in the series of

the blueprint and this blueprint today is talking

about abiding in prayer, abiding in Christ and

I wanted to open up with a bestie story, right?

So one of the questions was what's a favorite

memory with your best friend, right? And so the

reason I said that is because One of my best

friends is here. Her name is Beverly. And we

have this long -distance relationship where we

don't have to talk every day, but she's always

in my heart. I always think about her. But I

had to do something to create that long -distance

relationship. We have a lot of memories together,

but I don't think that it would have worked if

I would have met Beverly in Florida and said

hello and then just moved. to Illinois and then

we would have this just natural amazing connection,

right? Like something had to happen in the middle.

Like something had to happen to create and establish

that relationship and that connection and that

endurance. And so we met at the park. playing

tennis with her sister, and the story is that

she stole me from her sister because I knew her

sister first. But we became fast friends. We

found out that we lived about five blocks away

from each other. We ended up having the keys

to each other's house. We found out that we had

a lot of things in common. We loved the same

style of clothes. We wore the same size, the

same size shoes. She's a foodie. I like to cook,

so I would leave my leftovers on the counter.

She would come and eat them. any time of the

day and so when something was missing in my closet

I would call her hey do you have my belt yeah

I came by earlier and so we just had that kind

of relationship right and then it came time to

for me to move back home and it was a sad time

right it's a sad time when you break away from

relationships of any kind. And so I moved back

home, and we find our way to each other at least

four or five times a year. She's been here almost

every month since June or July. I'll be down

there in December. And so we find our way back

to each other often. And we have this relationship

that is steadfast. There's not a time where there's...

these ebb and flows of ups and downs. There's

things that we go through in life, but there's

never judgment. It's like that one game. We listen

and we don't judge, right? And so there's this

connection that has been established. There's

a consistency between our relationship that created

this deeper sense of friendship, right? And so

the scripture that I'm going to talk about today

is the journey of Jesus. talking to his disciples,

like right before he's going to depart. And before

I get into that, let's just pray. Let's pray

about the word. I pray that we're not thinking

about the Chicago Bears versus Green Bay game

at noon. Don't think about the wings or the chili

on the stove or whatever you left cooking. Let's

take some time to just bring it all in and ask

that we could focus on what God has for our hearts

today. Amen. Father God, we just come before

you and we thank you for this opportunity that

we get to come and we get to gather. And we're

together this morning. We don't have to be. We

could have been at home. We could have been doing

other things. But this morning we chose to take

some time aside and to just focus on you. And

we're thankful for this time that we're together

in fellowship. If you're watching from home,

I'm thankful that you're just... taking this

moment to listen to the word, to be in worship,

to refuel for the week. In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen. And so let's look at this passage of abiding

in prayer, abiding in me. I am the vine, you

are the branches. It's out of John chapter 15.

John 15 · chapter mention

We're going to be reading out of verses 3 to

5, if you'd like to stand while we read the scripture.

It might look a little bit different. I'll be

reading a different version this morning. It's

the NRSVUE. I don't even remember what the U

and the E stand for. Updated edition of the scripture.

So John chapter 15, verses 3 to 5, it says, You

John 15:3–5

have already been cleansed by the word that I

have spoken to you. Abide in me as I abide in

you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by

itself, unless it abides in the vine. Neither

can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine,

you are the branches. Those who abide in me,

and I in them, bear much fruit. Because apart

from me, you can do nothing. Amen? Let's have

a seat. So just like I mentioned that a relationship

takes time, it takes consistency, there's a deeper

relationship that is a result of that. Abiding

in Jesus Christ takes time, and it takes consistency

so that you could see results. And eventually,

this scripture talks about the results being

the fruits of the Spirit, right? And so we see

prayer in our lives as very different. And I

was going to do this at the end, but I kind of

want to do it now so that we could kind of get

an idea of where prayer lies in our lives. I

asked a couple people this week. how often do

you pray? Some said, not often. Some said, at

meals. Some said, usually when I need something.

Some said, always. And when I asked, how do you

pray? Other people said, with their eyes closed.

Some people said, I'm just thinking it all the

time. Others said that they kneel. on their bed

that's how we learned to pray with my mom we

kneeled on our bed we crossed our hands and we

said our prayers at night but the the word of

God says to pray without ceasing right and so

it's not about how we're praying it's that it's

a part of our lives that we're doing this thing

to have a constant relationship that we're doing

this thing that is causing us to grow right And

so we see in Psalms, there's so many different

examples of prayers in the Psalms. One of my

favorites, and I'm going to get to this activity

that I want to do with you guys, is Psalms 139.

You could open any Psalms and it's a prayer,

right? You have searched me, Lord, and you know

me. You know when I sit and when I rise, you

perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my

going out and my going in, my lying down, my

standing up. You're familiar with all of my ways.

Where can I go from your spirit? Where can I

flee from you, your presence? For you created

my inmost being. You know me. You knit me together

in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am

fearfully and wonderfully made. Your works are

wonderful, and I know that fully well. Doesn't

this sound like a prayer that's super connected?

It sounds pretty intimate, right? Man, you know

who I am. You formed me in my mother's womb.

You know how many hairs are on my head. That's

such an intimate prayer. It's at the end of Psalms,

and I don't know if I've ever looked at Psalms

and said, you know, Psalms is a little, it's

a little like in this. Verse 1, it starts, like,

building. It's Psalms 139, so I just wonder if

this relationship gradually grew and grew and

grew. Just like maybe our prayers might be formal

in the beginning, but then sometimes the prayers

are so messy, and they're so, like, tears are

coming out of our eyes, we're on our knees, we're

sobbing. And guess what that means? That there's

intimacy. That there's been a relationship that

has been established. That you know that God

knows your heart. That you know that God knows

what you're going through in that moment, right?

So there's this sense of relationship. And there's

this sense of he knows who I am. He knows what

I'm going through. It's okay if it's an ugly

cry prayer, you know? It's okay. So I want you

guys to close your eyes real quick. And Pastor

Greg and I have talked about, and I know... Jen,

you've talked about many ways to pray, like examples

of prayer, praying with the finger process, how

you pray for others, praying inwardly, outwardly.

And this is just a tiny practice of a prayer.

So I want everybody to close your eyes. And this

is prayer of the four points of the cross and

the center. And so with our eyes closed, we're

going to think of a moment where we would need

to kneel. at the bottom of the cross, where we

might be praying for a need. It could be a physical

need. It could be a financial need. It could

be a need for God to fill voids. It could be

a need to fill emptiness. Whatever need that

you might have, you're at the foot of the cross.

You're kneeling down before him, heart open,

maybe hands down, maybe postured all the way

down. You're at the foot of the cross. And there's

this prayer for need. And you're just asking

in this moment, maybe do a little something for

me, Lord. Hear my cry. Answer this prayer. And

then another way that we approach God is moving

up to the center of the cross, to God's heart,

in which we give gratitude. We give thanks. There's

different parts of the Bible that says give thanks

in everything, and so we're in this middle process

of the heart of God, and we're in gratitude.

We're giving praise. We're giving thanks, even

in the midst of difficulty. There's a sense of

gratitude right into the center, into the heart

of God, until we know that maybe things aren't

going great, but you know what? Praise him anyway.

Those moments that it's like there's something

about the name of Jesus. And maybe Jesus is all

you need to say, and that's a prayer, Jesus.

And then we focus outwardly. And with your hands

closed, if you have space, just open your arms

from right to left. And this prayer goes outward.

It goes towards others. It goes towards community.

It goes for family, friends, leaders. This prayer

is outward. It's for others, for God to fill

them, for God to help them to grow. For God to

do something for them, to bless them. Because

prayers and blessing others is such a beautiful

thing. And then we focus on moving upward to

the head of the cross. And in this moment is

a moment where you're focusing on always thinking

about God. Where your mind and your thoughts

are aligned. Your prayers are abiding in him.

Your prayers are... consistently with him your

prayers are always your thoughts are always in

the name of Jesus and it's not this radical time

that you're taking apart it's those inward thoughts

it's those prayers it's those moments in your

office while you're driving when you're trying

to stay sane when you're trying to remember that

Christ is in you and you don't want to cause

harm or maybe you're a little bit holy a little

bit hood but there's something inside of you

and your thoughts that say Center me, Father

God, right? In this very moment, it's a thought.

It's those prayers that are thoughts. And maybe

we practice this on a regular basis. Maybe we

do different points of the cross at different

times. But you can open your eyes now. And that's

just one example of how you can pray because

there's so many, right? There's so many. But

when we're praying the cross, our focus and our

center is in Jesus Christ. Amen? So as we move

a little bit further into this scripture, where

we see him saying that I am the vine and you

are the branches, I talked a little bit about

the context of the scripture being Jesus was

about to leave the disciples. There are some

moments in scripture that said Judas was already

out the door when this scripture, when Jesus

was talking to the disciples. The cross, the

story of the cross, it was right around the corner.

He was about to be deceived. He was about to

go to the cross. And he's sitting down with his

disciples. And he's saying, I'm about to leave

you. I've already shown you. You know, verse

3 says, I've already told you that I'm the light.

I've already cleansed you by the word that I

have spoken to you. But now I want to show you

and tell you that I'm about to leave you. But

I need you to know that you still have to abide

in me. You still have to stay connected to me.

You still have to find ways to see me without

seeing me. Can you imagine being a disciple in

that table in that moment? All we get is the

stories, right? I was sharing last week that

I went to Greece and I got to see where the Apostle

Paul stood after... 50 years of service after

his conversion, four to six years. My brother

and I were thinking the conversion came about

four to six years after Jesus Christ had died.

50 years later, he's still traveling and talking

about Jesus. The disciples were there and what

we get are stories. And so don't you think we

have to dive in a little bit more to abide in

Jesus when we didn't even get to see him? Thank

God for people. that are Jesus in the flesh for

us sometimes, the people that come with their

torches and their lights in the midst of our

darkness, Jesus in the flesh are those people

that come before us in those moments of critical

care. And thank God for those moments, right?

But the context is that he's sitting there with

the disciples, and he's about to be crucified,

and he's telling them, remember me, stay connected

to me, abide in me. The vine is the source of

life. He's the vine. We're the branches. The

branches is a sense of dependency on the vine.

And the result of a beautiful vine that's connected,

a beautiful branch that's connected to the vine

is fruit. So what does it mean to abide? Abide

comes from the Greek word meno, M -E -N -O. It

means to remain, to stay. to dwell. And doesn't

all of that sound like a relationship? You're

staying, you're dwelling, you're abiding. So

this relationship gets stronger in staying connected

to the source. The vine is the source, the branches

is our dependency, the fruit is the result. So

when we remain and we stay and we dwell, there's

this complete reliance to the vine. It's not

a self -effort. Abiding, can you come up real

quick? Abiding literally means to like stand

next to, to stay, right? Am I less standing next

to you if I do more, if I'm going all over the

Quad Cities or all over wherever I decide to

go and do ministry? Does that make me less standing

next to you if I'm doing more? Is it a trick

question? It's less together if I go and I do

more. We're less together, right? You can have

a seat. Abiding in Jesus doesn't mean that we

have to go all the way around the world and do

more, even though we might have a calling for

that. The Word of God tells us that abiding in

him is just being near him. It's being next to

him. It's dwelling. It's staying. It's staying

connected to him. Do you feel like a branch gets

disconnected from the tree and it grows more?

Does it grow more when it gets disconnected?

Santos, you trim trees all the time. When you

cut off a branch from the tree and you lay it

there, what do you wait for it to do sometimes

before you pick it up and you take it out? You

wait for it to what? You wait for it to die and

dry. Because it's lighter that way, right? Does

the branch have life after you cut it off? It

dries out. One time I pulled out my huge sunflower

plant because my neighbor had been asking for

one. They just took over my yard one time, so

I pulled it out, and he said, I'm going to dig

a hole, I'm going to put it in there, and I'm

going to water it. And so I laid three big sunflower

plants on his yard. He didn't dig the hole. He

didn't plant them. And he didn't water them.

And what do you think they did? They just died.

They withered away. And they died. And nothing

happened. And I picked them up and threw them

with the rest of the weeds in the bushes. And

I told him, you asked for these, but I had plenty

more to give to him, so I wasn't too worried

about it. But nothing happened, right? It withered

away, and it died. So abiding in Jesus doesn't

mean that you have to disconnect from him to

go do the things and go and stay busy. It means

that you stay connected in prayer. When I say

abiding today, let's think of me saying abiding

in prayer, right? And so I know we always say

take out your phones, but let's take our phones

out real quick if you have one. What's your battery

life at? Everybody check their battery life.

Yell it out. Who forgot to charge their phone

last night? What's yours at? 49. Ani, what's

yours at? Not bad. Who charged their phones and

they've only been on it a couple of seconds or

minutes this morning? Mine's at 99, miraculously.

It's never at 99. If we take our phone and we

charge it, what is it doing? Obviously, it's

what? It's charging, right? If we take our spiritual

connection, our branch, and we connect it to

the vine, what happens? We charge. We gain strength.

We gain this sense of confidence in our steps

in Jesus Christ, right? And maybe that leads

to sharing Jesus with others. Maybe it leads

to bringing others to Christ. Maybe it leads

to planting a seed somewhere. Maybe it leads

to us not yelling at somebody when we really

wanted to or not having road rage. Just for that

moment when we're connected to the source, your

phone is charging. It's gaining strength, right?

Because we use it all day long. Once we disconnect

it, what happens? The battery life starts going

down. Depending on what you use your phone for,

you might have to recharge it by noon. Some of

us by 10. Some of us don't even have to recharge

it. I know you. Yours is probably disconnected

at 6 and it's back in by 7. But whatever we're

using our phones for, however long that battery

life is, it's good for that, right? And then

it depends on how many apps you have on it, what

you're using it for, how many photos you have,

what your data is. So imagine the phone and the

apps and the data being all of the things that

we do in our day. All of the busy things. Are

we still connected when we're doing all of the

busy things? Do we still have the battery and

the energy and the source? Yeah. It's charged.

So it might get depleted, and like I said, whenever

it gets depleted, what do we do? We plug it back

in. And when we plug it back in, what happens?

It recharges. So if we're trying to go through

our day without being connected to the source

and recharging, and we get to the end and we're

drained, and we don't plug back in, what happens?

We're going to be drained. The phone's not going

to come on. The branches are going to die. So

when we're connected to the source, we're connected

in ways that are consistently always thinking

upwardly. We're in prayer. Our thoughts are in

prayer. So why should we be connected? Why do

we need to recharge? Well, we want to bear fruit.

What are the fruits of the Spirit? Ani, some

of them? I would always talk to them. Christina?

Love, joy, patience, kindness. Any more fruits?

Self -control is in there. We abide in Jesus

Christ. We stay connected to the source because

we want to bear fruit. We want to have the fruits

of the Spirit. And so we stay connected. I think

that one of the biggest flexes that we can have

in life is spiritual growth. Spiritual growth

needs to natural maturity. You start acting differently.

You start responding differently. You start letting

things that used to bother you not bother you

so much. So one of the biggest flexes in life

is spiritual growth. And how do you get to spiritual

growth? Relationship building, prayer, abiding,

your thoughts always in Jesus Christ, right?

So why do we abide to have these fruits? Because

we're being obedient. Because in bearing fruit,

we're bearing witness to Jesus Christ. This verse

goes on to say that apart from him, we're nothing.

I'm going to read it one more time. This part

on the bottom, verse 5, it says, Those who abide

in me and I in him bear much fruit, because apart

from me, you can do nothing. For me, I'm going

to go into a little step deeper. When I read

this scripture, I think about how there's people

that do good because of morals and values, and

they're doing. They're doing all of the things,

all of the good things. But this scripture says,

without me. You can do nothing, so all of those

things have to be connected to a source. They

have to be connected to a spiritual source in

Jesus Christ to be doing all of the things because

of him and in him. So when we're doing the good

works, when we're doing the things that Jesus

has called us to do, to love our neighbor, as

simple as that, it doesn't take money. It doesn't

take action, per se. It doesn't take a lot of

thought to love your neighbor. But does it cost

a little bit of sacrifice? Does it cost a little

bit of maybe selflessness? Yeah. Because we're

doing the things that bear witness to Jesus Christ

and seeing those fruits of the Spirit. So when

we're disconnected, when that branch is cut off

and it withers away, when your phone doesn't

have battery life, Man, I know some of us are

like, where can I connect my phone? Some people

go and buy a charger because they forgot their

charger, right? How many of you have stopped

at the gas station, Walgreens, to buy another

connector, another device, because you need that

phone? So let me ask you something. I know I've

related a lot to the phone and disconnect and

charging, but what happens when our spirit is

in critical condition? What happens when our

spirit is in critical condition? Have you ever

gone to the hospital to visit someone in critical

condition? It's sad. You're praying for them,

right? But what are they connected to? Anybody?

Machines? What else? Life support? Anything else?

IVs? Fluids? There's maybe two, three different

IVs. Heart rates? They're checking, they're monitoring

everything, right? They're in critical condition,

but they're still connected. When our spirit

is in critical condition and we ignore that,

we don't get IV fluids. We're just in this sense

of apathy, in this sense of stillness, this plateau.

There's no growth. We're drained. We're in critical

condition. We need to connect to the source.

And in those moments, the easiest thing that

you could do sometimes is just say, Jesus, I

need you. So when we're disconnected and that

branch withers away, there's spiritual dryness.

There's purposelessness. Like, did I say that?

Purposelessness. We feel purposeless. There's

loss of passion. Maybe we feel anxiety. Maybe

we're feeling distant. We feel doubt. Our calling

and what we're doing for others, like all these

doubts fill in. We're busy. We fill our life

with busy work. We're doing the things, but we

don't feel connected. We could even be coming

to church. We could be doing spiritual work,

and we could still be disconnected. I went to

a church one time, and I saw that a family came

in. The mom was on one side. The son and the

daughter walked in, and the son was trying to

have them go sit by the mom, but the daughter

-in -law wanted to go sit on another side of

the church. And I watched as she went to the

other side of the church, and she knelt and she

prayed. I don't know what was going on with the

family, you know, mother and daughter -in -law

issues, right? According to scripture, if there's

something going on with your... brother or your

sister, God isn't hearing your prayers. If there's

a spiritual disconnect where you can't have forgiveness

and you can't go with, and I'm going to tell

you, forgiveness doesn't mean that you have to

go to the person. Forgiveness means that in your

heart of hearts, you've let go, right? But I'm

saying sometimes what looks good when we're doing

all of the things doesn't necessarily mean that

we're connected. Maybe there's some things that

need to happen in between. So how do we abide

in closing? We stay in constant prayer. Practice

praying the cross, the four points of the cross,

the center, whatever you need to practice in

prayer. Say in his word, the word of God says,

your word is a lamp unto my feet. And just stay

connected. Refuel. Re -energize. Hang out with

other Christians alike. Amen? All right, let's

pray. Father God, we just thank you so much that

you are the source that we connect to, that you

can refill us every single day, every single

hour, every single minute. I pray that you continue

to allow us to bear fruits, that the fruits of

the Spirit continue to come out of us, that we

live outwardly towards you, Lord, so that others

can see your light in us. In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.