What Actually Makes a Year “Successful” (According to the Bible)

Come on, in God's presence, would you just open your hands today? And if he's your everything today, that means you, you don't have to hold on to anything because he's holding on to you right now. Just be real still in the presence of God and let him work in your heart for a moment. Holy Spirit, we welcome your presence. We know when we try to hold on to everything around us, life seems complicated and difficult and empty and meaningless. But when we release that and just let you be our everything, it's full of purpose and meaning and peace. So we encounter your peace today, Holy Spirit. You are our everything because you are worthy of everything. You're the highest, the greatest. We worship you today in this place. Receive our praise today. May the simplicity of our worship bring you honor and glory. You alone are worthy, worthy Jesus. You are worthy, Jesus. We worship you. We thank you for the presence of the Holy Spirit. May it move in our hearts and our lives. Our hearts are now open to receive from you. So speak to us from your word. May it change us. May it cause us to leave from here changed because, God, you are awesome. And we love you today. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen, amen, amen. Come on, church.

Aren't you glad to be together today? We welcome you right here in Yorktown and in Newport News and Virginia Beach to the men at Indian Creek and those of you joining us online. It's a great, great day to be at church. We are on day 14 of 21, everybody. Come on, it's day 14. And if that doesn't make a lot of sense to you, it's okay. You can still jump in and join us. As a church family, we've dedicated these first 21 days, 21 days to the Lord. We're spending with him and fasting and prayer. And today is 14. So why don't we do this as we get ready to receive God's word. Find somebody around you. Get ready to give them a high five and tell them, tell them this. Tell them you look like, tell them you look like you lost a few pounds during the fast. All right. Tell them that. And then you could take a seat, everybody. You could take a seat. You look good. Online. Make sure you say hello to us over in the chat. You look like you lost a few pounds during the fast. I think the Lord, I think the Lord is okay. If you tell a lie in church when it's about fasting. All right, everybody, we're so glad you're here. And like I said, if you'd love to jump in with us, maybe you missed the first two weeks of our prayer and fasting. It's okay. Seven more days to go. And if you just get out your phone, you could tap the sticker on the seat back in front of you.

It'll take you to a website that tells you all about 21 days of prayer and fasting. Or you can go directly to that website, watersedchurch.net forward slash 21 days. And there you can read all about the ways that we're praying and fasting in this season. We have all sorts of resources available for you there. You can also opt in. You can sign up to receive a 6 a.m. text message reminder every day, every day. We text you at 6 a.m. You get seven more of those this week. And our church is praying together, reading scripture together. It's an awesome, awesome time. We also have some incredible prayer and worship events. You can join us on Wednesday at our Yorktown, Newport News and Online auditoriums will be open. You'll be able to come and pray from noon until one on Wednesday. And then, of course, it all leads to this weekend, a special, special weekend in the life of our church. Prayer and worship weekend starts on Friday night with prayer and worship services, Saturday morning prayer, worship services, then back here. together on Sunday, where we'll be praying and worshiping in our Sunday services. And it's the best way, the best way to start your best year. How many of you haven't your best year in 2026? It's your best year. I know some of you like not yet, Pastor, not yet. Well, it's coming. It's coming. That's the series title your best year. Today's part three of that series. And really listen, it's more than just a hype title. It's more than just a cute catchphrase. It's more than just wishful thinking or spiritual hyperbole. We really do believe that this can be your best year. If you'll make it your best year spiritually. That's the goal. If it's your best year spiritually, I believe it'll be your best year. And let me just remind you in case you missed the first couple weeks of the series, your best year will likely look different than you thought it would. This, this is not a series, promising you, promising you new cars and fancy

vacations and, and big raises and, and huge bonuses. This is not that's not what this series is all about. In fact, when I say your best year, the reason some of you didn't clap is because, it's because when you think of your best year, you have the wrong picture in your mind. Some of you, some of you have a picture in your mind, kind of like this little boy I read about who, when, when, when asked, Hey, what do you want in your future? This little boy, he gave three answers. This is, this is what he said. He said, I want to get a girlfriend. I want to kiss her and I want to rule the world. That's awesome. And that's how some of y'all think when I say your best year, you think like that little boy, I'm going to tell you, like I would have told him, um, that probably ain't happening this year. And can we all just agree if that all did happen, if you get a girlfriend, kiss her and rule the world, it might not be your best year, but it will be your most complicated one. Can we agree on that? And I want to, I want to teach you today that, that the picture of blessing, it probably looks a little different than you thought your best year is a blessed year. We're learning that from Psalm chapter one, the first of all the Psalms paints for us a picture, a description, if you will, of a person who is blessed walking in the blessed way. I would say a person who is having their best year and all series long, we've been looking at different aspects of, of this Psalm. And I want to continue that today. And since it is our third week of the series, I thought we might do something a little different today with Psalm one. I thought we might, um, I thought we might read it all together out loud. I actually believe that one of the best ways to get scripture from the pages of your Bible and deep into your heart, isn't just

to read the words to yourself, but to actually speak the words out loud. And so I want to teach you today from Psalm chapter one and I'd love it if you would join me in reading it out loud. We'll put it up on this big screen so everybody can see it. And from the front to the back, from side to side, joining us online, if you're able minute, Indian Creek, come on, lift your voices and let's read Psalm one together. It says, blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither, whatever they do prospers. Come on, put your hands together for the word of God. What an awesome, incredible promise from God's powerful word. And every single week, like I said, we've been looking at different parts of that Psalm. And today I want to focus in on the phrase in the Psalm, which yields its fruit, the phrase which yields its fruit. And I want to teach you today that your best year will be fruitful. It'd be fruitful. You might say it like this, a blessed life is a fruitful life. For 2026 to be your best year, you're going to have to produce some fruit. You're gonna have to get to the end of the year and have some fruit to show for it. Fruitfulness is a product of blessing. And this is a big deal. It's a big deal, not just in Psalm 1, but literally all throughout the pages of the Bible, we see that fruitfulness is God's desire for your life and mine.

Let me show you a few examples. In another one of the Psalms, the Bible says this. It says, the righteous will flourish like a palm tree. They will grow like a cedar of Lebanon, planted in the house of the Lord. They will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still, here's our phrase, bear fruit in old age. They will stay fresh and green. So the Bible says this. It says, even if you're old, I'm looking at some old people today. Even if you're old, come on, if you're over 50, the Bible says, even if you're old, you can still bear fruit. The Bible says, you can still be fresh, even if you're old. Uh-huh, that's the old people getting fired up right now. Little delayed, because we're a little slower, but I appreciate it. Because God's desire is that your life would be fruitful. Give you another example. This one from the prophet Jeremiah. He said, but blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by water that sends out its roots by the stream. Now look at this. It says, it does not fear when the heat comes. Its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought. And now look at the promise.

And it never fails to bear fruit. So even when the heat comes, you know what that means? It means that even when the pressure is on, even when there's trouble and turmoil and strife and stress, the Bible says, even then, and even in a year of drought, a year of drought is a season in your life where you feel like you don't have what you need. It's a season where you feel like you're lacking. And the Bible promises that even in a year like that, a year where there's trouble and a year where there's lack, a year where there's heat and a year where there's drought, even in those years, the blessed person is still bearing fruit. That's a picture of your best year. It's a picture of a blessed life. I'll give you one more example. It's all throughout the Bible. Jesus, he says this, this is to my father's glory. So Jesus is saying, if you wanna glorify God, if you wanna bring glory to God, the father, here's how you do it. And he tells us very simply that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. So fruit bearing in the Bible, that's a big deal. It's a big deal. The Bible wants you to be fruitful. A blessed person is fruitful. Your best year will be a fruitful year, a measure of success at the end of this year. Won't be the car you drive, the house you live in,

the raise you got, the vacation you took, the memories you made, a measure of success at the end of this year will be the fruit produced by your life. You got that, everybody? Because that's so important. So important that you understand. Okay, I'm assuming you got it. So I'm gonna test you, I'm gonna test you. I'm gonna put you to the test. We're gonna play a little game that I call name that fruit. All right, that's the game. The name of the game is name that fruit. And the way the game works is this. I'm gonna show you a picture of a fruit tree. And when I ask you to respond, you're gonna tell me the name of the fruit the tree produces. That's how it works. Simple game, simple game. Online, jump over to the chat. You can even play along with this incredible little game called name that fruit. Are y'all ready for this? You should be fired up right now. How often do you get to go to church and play a game? I mean, really? Here's the first one. Here's the first one.

This is an apple tree. What kind of fruit does an apple tree produce? Apples. Y'all are so smart. smart so so smart I started with an easy win all right here we go this is a pear tree what kind of fruit does a pear tree produce. Oh you catch it all so good so good this is a plum tree what kind of fruit does a plum tree produce. All right OK this is an orange tree and what kind of fruit does an orange tree produce. This is an oak tree what kind of fruit does an oak tree produce. So I'm not acorns everybody acorns give you another one this is a pine tree and what kind of fruit does a pine tree produce pine cones is the answer if you said pineapples you're wrong all right. Now now because you're so enthusiastic I'm going to show you the next one. I don't want you to answer it though all right I don't want you to answer it because this is a Christian think about it what kind of fruit is a Christian produce when the Bible says to us that we're to be like the tree planted by streams of water which yields its fruit what is it talking about what is the fruit produced by a Christian. If I'm going to walk in the blessed way what's the fruit produced from my life if it's going to be my best year what's the fruit that will be produced from my life. I want to teach you about that fruit today because the Bible actually describes it in two different ways. If you're not taking notes yet let me invite you get that notes

page out jot down some notes or open up your water's edge church app you can follow along there in the notes section the first fruit the Bible talks about in a blessed life or a person who's experienced in their best year is fruit first that is produced in my life fruit that's produced in my life right now God is wanting to produce some fruit in you right now God is working to produce fruit in your life Paul in the New Testament described that fruit like this he said but the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit where in our lives fruit in our lives love joy peace patience kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness and self control fruit in your life. In fact I think we ought to do like a little a little fruit check a little inventory of the fruit in our lives. Let me let me give you the fruit of the Spirit again what is listed out so everybody can see it love joy peace patience kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness and self control. Is there one up there you wish I'd have skipped over how many of you wish I'd have skipped over patience you're like can you just leave that one off the list pastor. Yeah what I want to tell you today is that if 2026 is going to be your best year you will get to the year and you will be able to look at your life and say this is the year that I have more love more joy more peace more patience more kindness more goodness more faithfulness more gentleness and more self control at the end of the year than I had at the beginning of the year and that'll make it your best year. You see how it works fruit being produced in your life and by the way by the way notice that when the Bible talks about this fruit it talks about it singularly singularly it's like a like a cluster of grapes.

It's it's it's it's singular fruit the fruit God is producing in you is all the fruit listed there all of it all of it that's all one fruit love joy peace patience kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness self-control. God wants you to have it all it's not like pick and choose I'll take a little joy but a little less patience. Oh I'd love some of that goodness but I don't really care much for the kindness that's not up for you to pick and choose it's one fruit and God's producing all of it in you if you'll allow him to. By the way, this is why so often as a follower of Jesus, life feels complicated and complex because you don't realize it in the moment, but God's producing something in you. If you're ever frustrated because of circumstances, like, oh my gosh, God, why do I have to have my desk by that person's desk at the office? Because that person grates my last nerve. Or, oh my goodness, why does that kid gotta be in my second period class? They've been in my second period class for the last three years and I don't even like that kid. Or why is it that every single time I'm already running three minutes late, that light turns red on me every single time? Or why is it that my spouse is so aggravating this week? You ever ask those questions? The answer to the questions. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. If you're on a receiving campus, you missed it

because somebody, I said, do you ever ask those questions? Somebody said, no. That's because their spouse is sitting beside them right now. But for the rest of us who are honest in church, I will tell you, I will tell you that the reason a lot of those things are happening in your life is God's forming something in you. You get on a ride home today and you and your spouse start to bicker a little bit, you just smile and say, thank you, God, for another opportunity to be more loving. Thank you, God, for an opportunity to develop more patience and thank you, God, for another opportunity to be more self-controlled. How many of you got a spouse that helps you learn those qualities? Not you, I know, because you married to Jesus, all right? All right. You wanna know why for some of us, day 14, man, we're here, it's so hard, 21 days of prayer and fasting, so daunting, because most of us don't realize this, but during these 21 days, the Spirit is trying to develop something in you, it's fruit, and at the same time, the flesh doesn't want the Spirit to develop the fruit of the Spirit inside of you, and the reason is because the flesh has its own fruit, it's bad fruit.

The flesh wants to develop rotten fruit on the inside of you. That's why the Apostle Paul said this, he said, for the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. If you ever feel this internal battle happening, it's the flesh versus the Spirit, God's Spirit on the inside of you trying to develop something great in you, God's trying to grow in you some fruit, and the flesh, your flesh, your natural self, trying to grow some fruit too, which is different than the Spirit's fruit, they're in conflict, the Bible says, with each other, so that you are not to do what you want to do. In other words, you don't do what the flesh wants you to do, because if you do, you'll never ever have the fruit of the Spirit developed in your life. During these days of prayer and fasting, we've been trying to disconnect from the flesh, we've been trying to starve the Spirit, excuse me, starve the flesh, so that we might feed the Spirit, because there's a fruit being developed in us, and you'll know it, it's your best year by looking at the fruit in you. In fact, I just want to make sure you know that all of us who have said yes to Jesus, and have the Holy Spirit in our lives,

as a result of that, all of us can get to the end of this year and be blessed, all of us can. We can all be more loving, more joyful, more at peace, more patient, more kind, we can all have more goodness, more kindness, we can all be more gentle, we can have more self-control, if we let the Holy Spirit produce the fruit of the Spirit in our lives, and your life would be better. Your life would be better. Pastor, how in the world can you say this is your best year? We ain't even got through the first month of this year. I can say this is your best year, because if you'll allow it. allow the spirit to put its fruit on the inside of you, grow it on the inside of you, produce it on the inside of you, you'll get to the end of the year. And despite the circumstances and despite the problems and despite the frustrations, you'll be better because of it, because you'll have a fruit in you. More of the fruit, it's awesome. It's awesome, that's the fruit in me. The second way the Bible describes this fruit is though there's a fruit that comes through your life. So fruit in my life and fruit through your life. And God wants to produce right now fruit in your life that will touch others' lives and benefit them. That's the purpose of fruit. The purpose of fruit is to be a benefit.

I think that's why they put the fruit at the front of the grocery store. Y'all notice that? The fruit's at the front. I think the fruit's at the front to guilt trip all of us into buying some fruit. Before you go through the rest of the store, before you get to aisle number five with all the candy and all the carbs and all the potato chips, before you get over to aisle number four, before you get over to number seven, where the little Debbie's are, come on somebody. Zebra cake roll, let's go. You're gonna go through the produce. And when you go through the produce, you're gonna think thoughts like this. Oh, I should be eating healthy. That's what I think. Oh, I really should eat healthy. Fruit's healthy. So let me get some apples, few bananas. Get a little crazy up in Kroger, get yourself a Kiwi if you want to, all right? Now, let me tell you, when I go through the grocery store and I buy some fruit, I take it home, I sit it on the counter. A week later, I realized something. That if you don't eat the fruit,

if you don't share the fruit, if you don't consume the fruit, the fruit is wasted. It's wasted. Because fruit's meant to be consumed. Fruit's meant to be beneficial. If you don't take it in, it's wasted fruit. Now, let me teach you something. God wastes nothing. That's a word for somebody today. In some circumstance of your life, when I say God wastes nothing, I'm not just talking about fruit. I'm talking about everything in your life. God wastes nothing. He wastes nothing. And that means he's not gonna waste any fruit. He's not gonna waste any fruit. So God's only gonna produce fruit in your life if he knows that that fruit's gonna come through your life to touch somebody else. Because that's the purpose of fruit, is to be consumed, is to be beneficial. God's only gonna produce the fruit in your life if he knows that you're gonna allow God to produce fruit through your life to touch somebody else's life. In the Bible, the apostle Paul, he's praying for a church that he loves. And this is what he writes as a prayer for them.

He prays, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way. Now, how do you do that? How do you live a life worthy of the Lord, pleasing him in every way? Paul tells us in the prayer, he says, bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God. Paul says there's a fruit that God wants to produce through your life that'll make your life worthy of the Lord. It'll make your life pleasing to him in every way. It's a fruit of good works. Fruit through your life. This is what Jesus was talking about. When he said, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your father in heaven. This is the fruit that God produces through your life. It's a fruit that serves others and loves others, helps others and encourages others and supports others and give generously to others. If 2026 is gonna be your best year, it's gotta be a year that's not just about you. It's gotta be a year where God works through you to touch somebody else's life. God wants to produce fruit through your life. Now, I'm just gonna tell you, I think this is why joining one of our amazing, incredible volunteer teams is such a great opportunity.

If you'll come next week to GrowthTrack, or you'll do GrowthTrack online on demand, we'll help you discover your purpose, understand your spiritual gifts, and see how God can work through your life to bear some fruit in every good work. I love this verse. It says, the fruit of the righteous is a tree of life. What comes from a righteous person, life comes from them. And the one who is wise saves lives. So you're saving others' lives. You're bearing fruit through the life that God wants you to live. Jesus said this, I chose you and appointed you so that you may go and bear fruit. That's pretty clear, y'all. You should wake up every day thinking, I'm on a fruit-bearing assignment. I'm on a fruit-producing assignment today. I'm gonna bear fruit to benefit somebody else today. And this is the way of blessing. I'm gonna be kind to somebody today. This is the way of blessing. I'm gonna be generous to someone. I'm gonna pay for somebody's drink at Starbucks today. This is the way of blessing. I'm gonna encourage somebody today. I'm gonna make a meal for a friend who's sick and take it to them today. I'm gonna show up early at church and jump in to help today.

This is the way of blessing. God's producing a fruit through you that benefits others. It was a couple of weeks ago, I was in our lobby after services and things were winding down. Most people were gone from the lobby. And I noticed out of the corner of my eye, one of our amazing Water's Edge volunteers, and she had one of those tubes of Clorox wipes. And she was wiping down the hospitality counter where we serve our donuts and where your kids with their little grimy hands reach up there to get to go to donuts. Y'all know what I'm talking about? And so it was flu season. You know, it's flu, flu's going around. So she's wiping this thing down. She's wiping down the counter. I thought, that's awesome. She's wiping down the counter. It's amazing. And I'm standing there, I'm talking and wrapping up a few things. And I noticed as I'm getting ready to leave the lobby to come back through, I noticed that she'd now moved from the countertop. And now she's got that tube of Clorox wipes and she's wiping down the trash cans in our lobby. The trash cans, I bet you never even thought after hundreds or thousands of people

come through our building on a Sunday, the trash cans need to be wiped down. I never thought about that. She's wiping down the trash cans. That's awesome. And I came on back and had a few things to wrap up before I went out to my car and some time passed. And then finally, finally, now I'm walking out to my car. And by this point, parking lot is almost completely empty. I mean, almost everybody now has gone from church. Y'all been long gone. Y'all already at the IHOP by this point in the Sunday. And I noticed this same volunteer who was wiping down the countertop and wiping down the trash cans. I noticed this same volunteer after all this time has passed is just now, is just now getting in her car. And I thought, oh, only God knows what else she's been wiping down. I mean, what else has she cleaned in this period of time? And I noticed when she sat down in her car, she was grinning from ear to ear, biggest smile on her face. And y'all, I don't think, I don't think she was so happy because she loves cleaning. Maybe, maybe she does. If I find out today she does, I'm gonna give her my address, all right? Just so y'all know. But when I got in my car and I thought about

why is she smiling like that? I thought she's smiling like that because God has just produced a fruit through her life and it made her so happy. It made her so happy. Thank you. Can I teach you today that a fruitful tree is a fulfilled tree? A fruitful tree is fulfilled. That apple tree I showed you, it was such a happy tree. That plum tree, did you see all those plums on the tree? That orange tree with all those oranges, oh, those trees were so happy. Because they were producing fruit through their life. I would love it if you get to the end. of 2026, and you'd look back over the year and not have to talk about what went wrong, not be consumed by the challenges you faced, and not try to brag about all the accomplishments or successes you had, or maybe be sad about all the ones you didn't. But I would love it if every single one of us could get to the end of 2026 and look back and say, through my life, somebody else's life was impacted. Through my life, somebody else said yes to Jesus. Through my life, somebody else grew closer to him. Through my life, somebody else learned some scripture. Through my life, somebody else felt love and acceptance from God. Because of my life, the fruit through my life

made a difference in their life. That's how you have your best year. As you look back at the year and you're like, oh my goodness, I might not be where I wanna be, but I'm not where I used to be. God has done some work in me. He has grown some fruit in me, and he has done some things through me. He has produced some fruit through my life that has benefited somebody else. And I'm telling you, I'm telling you, I'm telling you, if you can get to that point in your life at the end of this year where God has worked in you and God has worked through you, you will be so satisfied. You will be so content. You will be so blessed. I'll use the word. You will be so happy, because there's fruit in your life and fruit through your life. I'm trying to teach you how to have your best year. Now, here's what I wanna do. I wanna take those two ways that fruit is produced, and I wanna make this message practical as we end our time together by offering you three prayers that you can start praying today to make this your best year, three prayers that you can start praying today.

And none of them, none of them are, Lord, bless me, give me. None of them are that. None of them are, you know, three wishes and a genie in a bottle. No, no, no, no, no, no. That's not what we're talking about. Your best year comes when God answers these three prayers, and I'm offering them to you today in honor of our final seven days. You can pray these prayers all week long, and we can pray these prayers as we step into prayer and worship weekend, this weekend, Friday night, Saturday morning, next Sunday, three prayers that you can pray. Here's the first one. It's so simple. God, work in my life. God, work in my life. In fact, why don't we do this together? Can we just start all together by praying that prayer out loud today? Every voice, would you pray that prayer with me? God, work in my life. I'm asking you today to invite God to work. I'm asking you today to take a posture of submission where you invite the work of God, where you aren't resistant to his work. Now, I'm gonna, I'm gonna pastor you for just a moment. I need you to lean in,

and this is coming from a place of love for you. I love you so much. And I don't want you to miss what God's doing in your life. But there's some of you who are very resistant to the work of God. And if it doesn't, listen, if it doesn't meet your schedule, if it doesn't line up with what you want, if it looks or feels or sounds different than maybe what you think it should, if it pushes you outside your comfort zone, if it means you gotta say no to things that you wish you could say yes to, or say yes to things that you don't really wanna say yes to, you resist it. You resist it. You resist it in this moment. Some of you, a few moments ago, I talked about volunteering. You immediately put up a wall. I can't do that, I'm too busy. For some of you, there are topics that get brought up, sermons that get preached, scriptures that you read, things that we say in worship, and you immediately get defensive. You put up walls.

You're resistant. and the spirit won't grow the fruit in those who are resistant. So I'm asking you, would you take a posture of submission? And would you say, God work in my life, every area of my life, nothing's off limits to the work of God in my life. You wanna point out something that I need to stop doing? Okay, speak to me about it, Holy Spirit. You wanna show me something I need to start doing? Okay, speak to me about it, Holy Spirit. Work in my life. You wanna convict me? I'm ready. You wanna tell me to slow down and be still? I'll listen. John chapter 15 is a chapter in the Bible that's all about fruit. You might write down that reference so you can read the whole chapter later. Jesus gives us this word picture that I need you to receive today. Jesus says this, he says, I am the true vine and my father is the gardener. God's a gardener. Now what do you call God? Now what does the gardener do? Here's what he does. The gardener, God, cuts off every branch in me

that bears no fruit. And every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes so that it'll be more fruitful. Now I wanna ask you a question, look at me. In 2026, will you trust the gardener? When God comes, because he's the gardener, when he comes with those scissors to cut some things out of your life, will you trust him? When he comes with those pruning shears, are you gonna put up resistance? Oh, I'm scared of those pruning shears. Or will you say, God work in my life? When he comes with that big old chainsaw, because some of y'all got some things that God needs to cut out and they go deep in your life. The roots run deep in your life. The stump is big in your life. It's a big deal. God's coming with a chainsaw to cut it out. Will you resist or will you welcome the work of the spirit? God's a gardener, will you trust him to work in your life? Here's the second prayer I wanna teach you to pray. God, will you work through my life? God, work through my life. Come on, will you pray that one out loud with me, everybody? God, work through my life. When you pray, God work through my life to start your day, you're inviting God to give you eyes to see every opportunity around you that previously you've been missing.

Every opportunity to love, every opportunity to give, every opportunity to serve, every opportunity to smile, every opportunity to encourage. This is the year, God, so work through me, give me opportunities to serve, give me opportunities to share my faith, give me opportunities to pray for someone else. God, open my eyes, make me aware to the opportunities that he's already providing you just aren't seeing because he's trying to produce fruit through your life to benefit somebody else's life. I'm telling you, if you would start praying, God, work through my life and you'd pray it every day, you'd be amazed at what God can do with you. Let me say it again, you would be amazed at what God could do through you. And I know some of you are like, not me. Oh yeah, you, oh yeah, you. And I know some of you are like, not me. Oh yeah, you, oh yeah, you, oh yeah, you. You are perfectly positioned to impact somebody else's life if you just allow God to work through you. God, work in my life, God, work through my life. Here's a third prayer, and I believe it's the prayer that ties it all together now. This is the prayer that puts all the pieces together. or the prayer that I hope you'll pray with me this week. It goes like this, God, help me to remain in you. I'm gonna give you a moment to write that one down before we pray it together.

It's such a powerful prayer to pray. You ready? Why don't you pray it with me? God, help me to remain in you. Well, L-I-B, the lights went out. There they go. I thought that might be God. Y'all gotta give me a minute, my heart is palpitating right now. John chapter 15, that same chapter I told you where it's all about fruit. The Bible says this, and Jesus is speaking. I'm the vine, you're the branches. Ooh, this is so good. If you remain in me and I in you, here's what'll happen this year, you will bear much fruit. Because apart from me, you can do nothing. Nothing. Implication, nothing good, nothing fruit-bearing, not apart from God. And so this year, you gotta remain in him. What does that mean? That means stay connected to the source. That means rely on him. That means think about him. That means talk to him. That means listen to him. That means meditate on his word day and night like Psalm 1 says.

This is why fasting is so powerful. Do you know why I've encouraged you to fast? If you're fasting from food, every time your stomach growls you're reminded to remain in Jesus. If you're fasting from social media, every time you've been tempted to go back and scroll on that app that you locked yourself out of 14 days ago, you're reminding yourself to rely on Jesus. You're teaching yourself to remain in him. Because on my own, I can't have more love, more joy, more peace, more patience, more kindness, more goodness, more faithfulness, more gentleness, or self-control, not on my own. And on my own, I can't make a difference in the world, and share my faith, and serve others. I need to remain in Jesus. And the Bible promises, this is so good y'all, this is it, this is it, we're ending with this. The Bible promises that when the spirit of God puts fruit on the inside of you and works through you, it's so good, when you remain in him, you'll bear fruit. And I'm telling you today, that'll make it your best year. Your best year. Here's how I wanna end our time together. If you would say, pastor, that's me, and I wanna bear fruit in 2026, I want my life to be fruitful in 2026, I wanna pray for you. And I wanna ask you to mark this moment as a reminder to yourself

that God's gonna work in me and through me, and I'm gonna remain in him. So would you mark it just by lifting your hands toward heaven as I pray for you? If that's you, I wanna bear fruit. I wanna bear fruit. God, I pray for every hand raised. And this isn't just a hand raised, see me and pray for me. This is a hand raised to you. This is a hand raised in submission. This is a hand raised in worship. This is a hand raised saying, God, work in me, God, work through me, God, help me to remain in you. I pray a blessing over every hand raised to you. Represented in this room and online right now. And I pray, God, that you would make this our best year by bearing fruit. So do a work in us, we give you permission. Do a work through us, we're aware and observant. And we remain in you. And you can put your hands down because I wanna pray. for one other group of people today, and that'd be those who've never begun a relationship with Jesus Christ. God loves you so much. He wants a relationship with you. And if you're ready to give your heart and life to him today, I'm gonna lead you in a simple prayer. And if that's you, would you just lift your hand now?

If you wanna give your life to Jesus, and you can pray this prayer with me, silently from your heart, you just say, Jesus, I wanna know you. I want my sin forgiven by you. And I wanna live my life for you. So come into my life, be my Lord and Savior. You can put your hands down, and I pray today for every person. With hands lifted, may our lives be changed because of you. We love you, Jesus. It's in your holy, awesome, amazing, matchless name we pray. Amen. Amen. Come on, let's thank God for his word today, everybody. ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪