Over the past several years we have had opportunity to share with a number of people about our work and how it started. Upon hearing our testimony many have concluded that we are extraordinary Christians; a special breed; that we are somehow among God’s chosen few.
That, if it were true, would invalidate most everything I have to say—namely, that God has a special call on every life that is every bit as unusual as ours. Some might infer from that statement that I am suggesting everyone should quit their job, sell their home and move to the foreign mission field. Absolutely I am not. I know that hasty decision has brought great suffering to many.
What I am suggesting, urging, challenging every Believer to do is to begin praying more seriously; to praying with purpose….the kind of prayer that is measured in seasons, not moments. I’m challenging you to pray with an open mind and a willing heart; one that says to God, “I’ll do anything You ask, whenever You might ask, wherever You might send me, at any cost You might exact.” Most Christians would fear this prayer. Perhaps that’s why so many Christians don’t really pray.
The Bible says that God has for every Christian a purpose, a calling that is “exceedingly abundant more than you could ever ask or think.” He says, “…eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for them that love Him.” Do you really believe that? If a skeptic were to follow you around for a day, a month, a year, hearing everything you say and watching everything you do, would he or she be forced to conclude that what the Bible says, at least about that vital subject, is true?
Prayer is the key. We are not asking God to help us achieve our goals; prayer is waiting to hear His goals. Oswald Chambers said it best when he wrote: “Prayer does not fit us for the greater work; prayer is the greater work.” I pray more will begin to act as if that were really true.
That, if it were true, would invalidate most everything I have to say—namely, that God has a special call on every life that is every bit as unusual as ours. Some might infer from that statement that I am suggesting everyone should quit their job, sell their home and move to the foreign mission field. Absolutely I am not. I know that hasty decision has brought great suffering to many.
What I am suggesting, urging, challenging every Believer to do is to begin praying more seriously; to praying with purpose….the kind of prayer that is measured in seasons, not moments. I’m challenging you to pray with an open mind and a willing heart; one that says to God, “I’ll do anything You ask, whenever You might ask, wherever You might send me, at any cost You might exact.” Most Christians would fear this prayer. Perhaps that’s why so many Christians don’t really pray.
The Bible says that God has for every Christian a purpose, a calling that is “exceedingly abundant more than you could ever ask or think.” He says, “…eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for them that love Him.” Do you really believe that? If a skeptic were to follow you around for a day, a month, a year, hearing everything you say and watching everything you do, would he or she be forced to conclude that what the Bible says, at least about that vital subject, is true?
Prayer is the key. We are not asking God to help us achieve our goals; prayer is waiting to hear His goals. Oswald Chambers said it best when he wrote: “Prayer does not fit us for the greater work; prayer is the greater work.” I pray more will begin to act as if that were really true.