Fruit-Bearing Prayer 

Connecting Intercession with a Willing Heart

By Kim Butts

Several years ago, my husband and I were taking shifts in our ministry’s prayer room during the night hours of a ten-day season of 24/7 prayer. One night, about midnight, as we came into the prayer room, we saw an extraordinary and encouraging sight. Five young, male college students were seated on the floor in the middle of the room, praying earnestly for their generation.

Suddenly one of them said to the others, “I have a sense from God that we are to get up and go minister to all of the drunk and lost college students at the fraternity parties tonight.”

The others heartily agreed, and before we knew it, they all jumped up and rushed out of the building.

We heard later that these young men offered a cup of cold water in Jesus’ name to several people on fraternity row that night. They were the hands and feet of Jesus as they helped some get back to their dorms safely. They shared His love as they comforted, listened, and prayed with others. What a sweet testimony!

Those who seek the Father obey what they hear!

R.A. Torrey said, “The chief purpose of prayer is that God may be glorified in the answer.” As these college guys were praying for their peers, the Father lovingly gave them a deep burden and a strong sense of love and caring for the lost. God filled these young men with His love and showed them how to be the answer to the very prayers they were praying.

Remaining in Christ

Jesus gave us the key to being the answers to our own prayers. In John 15:1–8, we read:

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. . . . I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”

When my husband teaches, he often asks the question, “What is the job of the branch?” Most people will quickly answer, “To bear fruit!”

Yet a careful reading of this passage shows that the job of the branch is to stay attached to the vine. If that doesn’t happen, no fruit will come forth. Jesus clearly says, “Apart from me, you can do nothing” (emphasis added). No fruit. None!

What does it mean to stay attached to (remain in) the Vine, and how does one effectively do so? Personally, I don’t know any other way to stay connected to the lifeline of Christ than through prayer. Prayer and intercession bear much fruit in the Kingdom of God only when we are effectively attached to (abiding in/remaining in) the Vine.

Many of us miss the opportunity to bear abundant fruit simply because we do not stay continually in the presence of God in order to hear from Him. And if we don’t listen, how can we respond to His voice? Many believers fail to multiply the effectiveness of prayer because they don’t submissively go beyond the act of prayer to obedient action!

The praying college guys were abiding in the Vine—Christ Jesus—the One who could create in them a desire to care for others. And fruit came as a result.

The Power Source

As we learn to intercede on behalf of people and situations, the Holy Spirit will flow from the Vine into our hearts and create within us a desire to undertake and bring about the Kingdom purposes of God as He directs. If we detach ourselves from the Vine and attempt to do good works apart from Him, we will not be acting like a disciple, but more like the hypocrite Jesus spoke of in Luke 18:9–14. This man stood on the street corner loudly praying and proclaiming his own piety. But his works, deeds, and heart were actually bent on receiving his reward from the admiration of others.

We operate from the secret place of God when He speaks His plans and purposes into being through us! Our job is to stay attached. The Vine’s job is to produce the fruit in and through us by the power of the Holy Spirit. He alone can show us how to be the answer to the prayers we pray in ways that will glorify the Kingdom!

Seven Ways to Be the Answer

God often chooses to work in and through those who are willing to respond to His heart’s desires through prayer—and then follow through in obedient action. Nehemiah is a great example of someone intimately connected to the Lord through prayer. (He stayed attached to the Vine.) And God used him to be the answer to the prayers he prayed.

Nehemiah paid attention to what was going on around him. He knew how to pray what was on the heart of God. He was humble, always giving God the credit for the work he was given to do on behalf of the nation of Israel. And he did what God called him to do.

Twice, in the Book of Nehemiah, the prophet refers to what the Lord had put in his heart:

• “I set out during the night with a few others. I had not told anyone what my God had put in my heart to do for Jerusalem” (Neh. 2:12).
• “So my God put it into my heart to assemble the nobles, the officials and the common people for registration by families” (Neh. 7:5).

God works through His prepared servants who are willing to receive what He puts in their hearts. Here are some ways to learn how to yield to the Lord’s plans and purposes as you pray—individually and corporately:

1. Pay attention to what is going on around you. Nehemiah’s example clearly shows us this important key to prayer: God was pleased to put specific things on his heart. The sons of Issachar in 1 Chronicles 12:32 also paid attention. They understood the times in which they lived and “knew what Israel should do.” If we consistently develop awareness of what is going on around us physically and spiritually, we will be more adept at praying according to the plans and purposes of God.

2. Learn how to pray God’s heart. Praying just for the sake of making a religious noise is not God’s intent for prayer. Praying to get something from God is also not God’s plan. Studying the Word and paying attention to the world around you is a key. See what God is doing and what He desires us to do as His people. Then as we pray those things that are close to His heart, He is pleased to answer!

What do we know of His heart?

• We know He wants us to love Him with all our hearts, and to love others as we love ourselves.
• We know He wants us to pray for the lost.
• We know He wants His people to experience revival.
• We know He wants unity in the body of Christ.

You can probably add many other prayers that are dear to God’s heart.

3. Be willing and humbly expect God to answer your prayers. If your heart never expects God to answer, there is no point in praying. James writes, “When you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord” (James 1:6–7).

When you pray in the name of Jesus, believing that He has heard and will answer, you will see Him do amazing things—sometimes in and through you! Always remember that God’s ultimate goal in answering prayer is to bring Himself glory: “I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son” (John 14:13).

It is also important to be willing to be the answer to your prayers if God is choosing you to do so. We can come to God with a humble posture like that of Isaiah—whom God commissioned—willing to respond: “I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!’” (Isa. 6:8).

4. Be a good listener. It is important to spend time being quiet before the Lord. If we are doing all of the talking, we won’t be able to hear Him speak. “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth” (Ps. 46:10).

I wonder how many instructions and promptings we miss because we don’t take the time to learn to distinguish the voice of the Shepherd! Jesus said, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27).

5. Confirm what you think you hear. Even when you have asked the Father for something that you know is upon His heart, what you hear may not always be what you expect. If you are not certain whether what you are hearing is biblical—or even if it is really from God—seek counsel from a pastor or other mature believers for confirmation before moving forward in obedience. As you are faithful in the small things, He will trust you with bigger issues.

6. Be obedient. When you sense that you have a word from the Lord and it agrees with the Bible, act on it. God will likely begin working with you slowly. Maybe He will impress upon your heart to write a note to someone or make an encouraging phone call. If you didn’t actually hear directly from the Lord, you are still doing something that will reflect the character of Jesus living within you.

7. Encourage and mentor others to be willing to be the answer to the prayers they pray. Help your children, grandchildren, and others to learn how to stay attached to the Vine in order for God to use them. We all need to be stretched and challenged in new experiences of being the answer to our own prayers.

Share your stories and teach others what you’re learning.

Listening Lifestyle

If you determine to turn your prayer life into a lifestyle of listening to the Lord, He will use you to be the hands and feet of Jesus in the lives of others. You will experience blessing upon blessing, just as God did in using Abraham (see Genesis 12:1–3). As your prayer life grows, remember that Jesus, who lives in you, will show you how to be the answer to your prayers.

KIM BUTTS is a speaker and author of several books. She and her husband Dave are the co-founders of Harvest Prayer Ministries. Her books are available at prayershop.org.