Day 20: Kingdom Harvest: Being Fruitful - 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting
Made to Bear Fruit
Welcome to Day 20 of our 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting. Yesterday we asked the Holy Spirit to fill us. Today we look at what a Spirit-filled life produces over time.
Jesus said:
“This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” John 15:8 (NIV)
Fruit Grows from Connection
Remain in the Vine
Jesus pictures Himself as the vine and us as the branches. A branch does not strain to produce grapes. It stays joined to the vine, and the life of the vine does the work. Jesus puts it bluntly: apart from Him we can do nothing (John 15:5).
The first question about fruitfulness is therefore not “How hard am I trying?” but “How close am I staying?”
Expect Some Pruning
Jesus also says that the Father prunes every branch that bears fruit, so that it will be even more fruitful (John 15:2). Pruning is not punishment. A gardener cuts back the branches he has hopes for. Some of what God removes from our lives is making room for more.
What Kind of Fruit?
The fruit of character. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22–23). This is what people meet when they meet us.
The fruit of good works. We are to live a life worthy of the Lord, bearing fruit in every good work (Colossians 1:10).
The fruit of changed lives. Jesus chose us and appointed us to go and bear fruit that will last (John 15:16). The people we lead to Him and help to grow are fruit that lasts into eternity.
Jesus said that a good tree bears good fruit (Matthew 7:17–18). Fruit is not a performance. It is the evidence of what is going on at the root.
Fruit Has a Season
The person who delights in God’s Word is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season (Psalm 1:3). Trees do not bear fruit every week of the year. There are seasons of blossom, seasons of growth that nobody can see and seasons of harvest.
If you have been sowing faithfully and have seen very little, take Paul’s encouragement to heart. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up (Galatians 6:9).
And while we wait for our own fruit, we look up. Jesus told His disciples that the harvest is plentiful and the workers are few, and that they should ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers (Matthew 9:37–38).
Three Steps for Today
Stay close. Set aside unhurried time with Jesus today, with your Bible open. Remaining comes before producing.
Choose one fruit. Which fruit of the Spirit is most lacking in you at the moment? Ask the Holy Spirit to grow it, and look for a chance to practise it today.
Pray for the harvest. Ask the Lord of the harvest to send workers into our city, and tell Him that you are willing to be one.
Prayer for Today:
Lord Jesus, You are the vine and I am a branch. Forgive me for trying to bear fruit without staying close to You. Keep me joined to You today. Father, prune whatever is holding me back, even when it is uncomfortable. Holy Spirit, grow Your fruit in my character, and let my life bring glory to God. Send workers into Your harvest, and send me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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