1398) I learned how to drive in a car that had standard transmission. I began this journey by learning the fine dance of using the clutch and shifting the gears at precisely the right time (or not). I was nervous the first time I was stopped at a traffic light at the top of a hill. I could see the car behind me in the rearview mirror, and I was terrified I wouldn’t get it right and roll right back into them. Fortunately, it didn’t happen.

Several years later, when I had a standard transmission car of my own, it wouldn’t start. When I asked for help, someone asked me, “Are you out of gas?” Duh. Of course I wasn’t, but the question is good to ask in many circumstances.  

John 15:5 tells us clearly we are the vehicle and God is the fuel except the author, living in a farming environment used grapes. He said God is the vine and we are the branches and we cannot produce fruit without him; the car cannot be driven without fuel.

When John tells us we can do nothing without God, this word, nothing, means without exception. God fuels us, and doing things on our own will deplete the supply.

Wouldn’t it be prudent to ask God for the fuel we need? He longs to supply it.