God knows why we pray for the things we pray for—purpose matters. Why we desire what we desire plays a role in whether or not God acquiesces to our supplication. We may not be honest enough with ourselves to acknowledge or admit it, but oftentimes the prayers we pray are selfish, self-centered, and venal, having the man or woman staring back in the mirror as the primary focus and benefactor.
Even seemingly selfless prayers, especially when prayed in
public settings within earshot of others, turn out to be nothing more than
self-serving, self-aggrandizing declaratives meant to impress those who happen
to be listening and elevate our importance or relevance in their eyes.
The widow wanted justice, not so she could prove her
neighbor, who said she had no case, wrong, or to show her adversary that she
couldn’t be messed with, but because an injustice had been done against her,
and she wanted justice for justice’s sake.
When we come before God and ask Him to use us, and the next
thirty minutes are used to deliver instructions as to the manner in which we
would like to be used, the office to which we would like to be called, the size
of the ministry we’re willing to helm, and the prestige we expect once we sign
on the dotted line, it’s no longer a desire to be used as a servant, it’s an entitled
self-promoting dictate to the God of the universe insisting that we deserve
nothing less than everything we’re asking for. I know my worth, and I’ll not
take a penny less! That has become the war cry of an entire delusional and
self-aggrandizing generation.
Lord, use me. Send me to Fiji that I may deliver your gospel
to the natives and bask in the wonders of your creation. If not Fiji, the least
I would consider is Hawaii, one of the least populated islands, because the Big
Island is just too congested.
If the genuine desire of one’s heart is to be of service to
God, the extent of their prayer should be, “Lord, use me!” The how, when, and
where are solely His discretion, and as servants, we have neither input nor
preference when it comes to being called and sent.
We do not choose the office; God assigns it to us. We do not
walk in our own strength, but God grants us the strength to walk in the office
to which we’ve been assigned, and if we deviate or aspire to something other
than what God has called us to, we cease walking in His strength and resume
walking in ours.
Some men are called to be teachers but aspire to be prophets.
While walking in the calling to which they have been called and teaching the
Word of God, the presence of the Holy Spirit is real and tangible; their
teaching connects even if spoken in simple words, because it is the power and
anointing of God that causes the message to pierce the heart. If, at some
point, their pride gets the better of them, and they venture into an arena to which
they were never called, and attempt to manufacture prophecy, or cloak
themselves in the aura of the prophetic, that power and anointing are no longer
there because they are no longer walking in the calling God called them to but
in their own flesh.
We each have a place in the kingdom. The harvest is
plentiful, and the laborers remain few, but to be of use, we must know what our
calling is and remain within its borders, joyful and content in whatever He has
called us to.
But Lord, I can do so much more in some different region in a
different calling with a larger digital footprint. Perhaps the day may come
when He will call you to do more, but until such a time, be faithful and
diligent in what you’ve already been called to, rather than wasting time on what
could have been, or what you think should have been.
Some men never gain traction because they refuse to walk in
the calling to which they have been called. They’ve already made up their minds
as to what office they should occupy, what ministry they should be called to,
and although opportunities arise for them to use their gifting and walk in
their callings, they ignore them outright because they think it is beneath
them.
But Lord, I’m just trying to help! God doesn’t need your
help. He requires your obedience.
The other day, my wife asked me to take a bunch of empty
gallon jugs and other plastic bits out to the recycle bin. By the time I’d
stacked them in my arms like some sort of real-life Tetris game, I realized I
couldn’t open the door, so I called out to my youngest to come and open the
door for me. She then proceeded to come and try to take a few of the jugs out
of my arms, and wouldn’t you know it, more than half tumbled to the ground.
“Boog, I asked you to open the door,” I said, as I bent to retrieve
the jugs off the floor, to which she replied, “I was just trying to help.” I
didn’t get angry or raise my voice, but I did explain to her that when someone
asks for a specific thing, doing something else instead of what they asked you
to do isn’t helping, even if it was meant with the best of intentions.
If someone is dying of thirst and you offer them a box of Saltine
crackers, the gesture itself may be considered kind and generous outside of its
context, but it could hardly be considered helpful.
Some of us are so full of ourselves that we leave no room for
God’s guidance, direction, or even common sense at times. It’s akin to your
next-door neighbor falling and breaking their ankle, and rather than offer to
take their trash cans to the end of their drive, you bring them a brand
spanking new pair of ice skates. Thanks, I guess, but I could have done without
them.
Do the thing God called you to do, even if your flesh whispers that you were meant for greater things. At the risk of sounding repetitive, it’s the obedience God rewards, not the magnitude of the labor.
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea, Jr.
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