There are 3 factors, here in this verse, that involve prayer.
The first one is Abiding. The second one is Asking. and the third one is Answering.
Abiding: John 15 :4-5 "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
Our walk with the Lord is pictured here like a vine. It holds the branches which produce the fruit. Just like it could not produce fruit if the branches were not abiding in the vine. But, as the branches bear fruit, they are going to be abiding in the vine. If they weren't attached to the vine, the fruit would go dry or it won't even produce anything. It will die. We as the branches need to abide in Christ who is the vine. Christians are united by Christ to the faith. One way is through communion. We must have fellowship with Christ and draw upon His life and His power. We are to keep in fellowship with Christ through the Word of God, worship and obedience.
Asking: When you spend time in the Word, God talks to you. And when we pray, we talk to God. And through this talking, we would be making requests to God. But prayer is much more then just asking. It involves many other things. It involves praising God, giving thanks, worshipping Him and surrendering to Him. God hears our cry. We have a rite to be heard by God, because we are His children. When my children come to me, I stop everything, and I listen to what they want to say. God does the same thing. God has invited us to pray. He wants us to pray to Him.
Answering: And, then, of course, He will answer those prayers just like you answer requests from your children. God knows when and how to answer.
Start with abiding-. Let God's word purify your heart. Then ask what is in your heart. And, leave the matter with Him to answer in His way and His time.
We are cleansed by the Word. So, as we abide in Him and are cleansed by His word. We're not going to be asking for things that He is not pleased with, because we will know what He is pleased with. And we depend on Him. If we keep Jesus' commandments, we will abide in His love. From verse 12. It says, "This is my (Jesus) commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you." So, His main commandment to us is to love one another. Don't be fighting. Don't be bickering. Don't be complaining. But to love and take care of each other.
We didn't choose Jesus, but He choose us. One of the reasons He choose us was because He wants us to bear fruit and spread His word here, while we are on earth. As we abide in Christ, we should be bearing fruit. And, some of the fruit is listed in Galatians 5:22-23 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law"
So, we should be bearing fruit and walking in His path.
Inspiration was taken from this book:
"The Bumps Are What You Climb On, Encouragement for Difficult Days", by Warren W. Wiersbe, Baker Books, 1980, pages 85-89
