Pray this day that you will let the Lord eliminate all that is not of him in your life

“I am the real vine and my father is the winemaker. Take away every branch in me that bears no fruit, and whoever does it prunes so that it bears more fruit. " John 15: 1–2

Are you willing to let yourself be pruned? Pruning is necessary if a plant is to produce an abundance of good fruit or beautiful flowers. For example, if a vine is left to grow without pruning, it will produce many small grapes that are of no use. But if you take care of pruning the vine, the maximum number of good grapes will be produced.

Jesus uses this image of pruning to teach us a similar lesson in bearing good fruit for his Kingdom. He wants our lives to be fruitful and he wants to use us as powerful tools of his grace in the world. But unless we are willing to undergo the purification of spiritual pruning from time to time, we will not be the tools that God can use.

Spiritual pruning takes the form of allowing God to eliminate the vices in our lives so that the virtues can be properly nourished. This is especially done by letting Him humble us and strip our pride. This can hurt, but the pain associated with being humiliated by God is a key to spiritual growth. As we grow in humility, we become increasingly dependent on the source of our nourishment rather than relying on ourselves, our ideas and our plans. God is infinitely wiser than we are and if we can continually turn to him as our source, we will be much stronger and better prepared to let him do great things through us. But again, this requires that we allow him to prune us.

Being pruned spiritually means actively letting go of our will and ideas. It means that we give up control over our lives and let the cultivating master take control. It means that we trust him much more than we trust ourselves. This requires true death for ourselves and true humility with which we recognize that we are completely dependent on God in the same way that a branch depends on the vine. Without the vine, we wither and die. Being firmly attached to the vine is the only way to live.

Pray this day that you will let the Lord eliminate all that is not of him in your life. Trust in Him and His divine plan and know that this is the only way to bring the good fruit that God wants to bring through you.

Lord, I pray that you will get rid of all my pride and selfishness. Purify me of my many sins so that I can turn to you in all things. And as I learn to rely on You, may I begin to bring abundance of good fruit into my life. Jesus I believe in you.