Today we are continuing in our overall theme of dangerous prayers and our focus this week is “Send me.” Why is it a dangerous prayer to ask to be sent? Well, God’s call can require us to lay down our own plans and preferences. To properly and honestly respond to God’s call is to go where He says, when He says, in the way that He says, etc…
I myself am very much a planner. I am an analytical and logical thinker. I like it when things make sense, when calculations add up. The further I’ve gotten in my walk with God, the less I begin to truly plan out major portions of my life. It just makes it easier for everyone involved, and less of a fight for me to let go of the plans and the timings that I had in mind. Proverbs 16:9 “A man’s heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps.”
God’s call prompts us to live beyond ourselves. It calls us to look beyond our own comforts and timing and agenda and be completely surrendered to His bidding. He simply wants willing vessels; people who are available.
When God calls, how do you respond? It can be scary. It can be uncomfortable. You may even correctly think that you are underqualified, inadequate, and unprepared for what you feel God calling you to.
We could respond like Jonah. We receive the call, but for whatever variety of reasons, we aren’t quite sure we actually favor the results of God’s call. “Here I am Lord, but I’m not going.”
We could respond like Moses, who when presented with his call, came up with excuse after excuse as to why he really shouldn’t be the one to do this. There are better people for the job. “Here I am Lord, but send someone else.”
Or we could respond like Isaiah; when we feel the Lord saying “Whom shall I send? And who will go for Us?” We can say “Here I am. Send me.”
Challenge: Let’s pray for the discernment and clarity to hear God’s calling in our daily lives, and for the courage to act on those promptings, even when it’s uncomfortable, even when it doesn’t quite add up in our calculations. Let’s pray a dangerous prayer. “Here I am. Send me.”