Pray the Word with David Platt is a resource from Radical.net.

Matthew chapter 3, verse 8, bear fruit in keeping with repentance. These words from John the Baptist,

religious leaders and teachers were asting indictment. Really, you read the whole passage surrounding

this. He's just called them a brood of vipers. And basically, he's saying that for all their words

and all their traditions, there's no fruit of repentance. There's no fruit of a change of heart

and a change of mind and a change of life. And I love the picture here, bear fruit in keeping

with repentance. When you turn, when you repent, when you turn from sin and you turn from yourself

by God's grace, there is fruit that flows from your life. And then you think about what the

rest of the Bible teaches about fruit that Jesus bears in and through His people. You think about

the fruit of the spirit of love and joy and peace and patience and kindness and goodness and

faithfulness and gentleness and self-control. Don't we all want that kind of fruit in our lives

today and not just fruit in our lives, but fruit in others lives. Don't we want people to know

Jesus more and love Jesus more and be following Jesus and enjoying Jesus as a result of the fruit of

our lives. I think about the beginning of a new year and the opportunity that it is for all of us to

fresh start a new beginning and how appropriate is it for us to pray based on Matthew 3 verse 8 that

God would bear fruit through our lives and keeping with repentance that there would be fruit in our

lives of a changed heart and a changed mind and fruit in others lives as a result of the way we

are turning from our sound ourselves and we are following Jesus. So can we just pray for that?

Today, God, we want to bear fruit in keeping with repentance. We want the fruit of your spirit,

your life and us to flow through us. We pray for love and joy and peace and patience and

kindness and goodness and faithfulness and gentleness and self-control. God, we pray for all of that fruit

in our lives today. In the coming year, God, we pray that you would bear your fruit through us in

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