During February we’re focusing on seeking guidance. Please click the Prayer tab above to read our strategic prayer request for this month.

By Delaina Spence

Last spring in Dallas, PBT’s weekly chapels focused on the theme “Remain in Me” from John 15. As I was reading through the Gospel of John and preparing to speak in chapel, I began to notice in a new way the amount of connectedness Jesus had with the Father.

Jesus modeled for us what it looks like to seek guidance for our ministry through our connectedness to the vine. Before Jesus appointed his 12 disciples, he spent a night praying to God on a mountainside (Luke 6:12-13). Many times throughout the Gospels, it is recorded that Jesus went off by himself to pray, to spend time with the Father. His ministry was an outflowing of what he heard from his Father and what he saw the Father doing.

In John 8:26-29 Jesus says “… He who sent me is reliable, and what I have heard from him I tell the world…. I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.” And a little later he says, “I am telling you what I have seen in the Father’s presence” (John 8:38).

These words really struck me. Jesus himself did nothing on his own! And if he, as the perfect Son of God, did nothing on his own, then we sure shouldn’t try to, for “apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).

What would it look like for us if Jesus’ words in John 8 described our lives and our ministries? If we could honestly say that we do nothing on our own but speak and do only what we have heard from God or have seen him doing? None of us can do this perfectly of course, but when we are deeply connected to God, our lives will naturally bear fruit. Seeking God’s guidance happens when we spend time with him in prayer, listening for what he might be saying to us, and allowing him to teach us through his word.

Delaina is trained as a Bible translator.