Oh Lord, I cry out to You amidst this season of pruning when my heart protests all that You seem to be cutting away. Truly, You have called Your beloved to bear much fruit for Your Kingdom. Why do I focus on quantity when You call me to quality? My inner being strives for the leafy abundance which catches the dew of heaven and sparkles in the resounding splendor of spiritual beauty. Yet, the beauty I seek is selfishly motivated and so much less valuable to others. Superficial beauty is a poor reflection of You compared to the fruitfulness which blesses others. Father, cut away the overcrowding growth in my life so that uselessness does not hinder the growing process You desire to accomplish. Lord, help me find the joy in the midst of this cutting away. Enable my trust to abide in You despite the pain which attempts to inflict me with emotions contrary to believing that every tearing away, every slice and cut is for the betterment of my soul’s destiny in Christ. Remind me when I forget, Lord, that vegetative growth, while attractive in its foliage that seemingly covers and protects, only competes for the vine’s resources, stripping it of its fruit-bearing potential. So, strip me bare with Your heavenly pruning, Father, until my exposed vulnerability, which looks dead to the human eye, bursts to life with much fruit in whatever season of life You deem ready for the harvest. Under the mighty Word given in John 15:8 and the authority of Christ, I pray.

I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with Me and I with you,
the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant.
Separated, you can’t produce a thing.
Anyone who separates from Me is deadwood,
gathered up and thrown on the bonfire.
John 15:8, MSG