The word of the Lord came to me, saying, ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.’
‘Ah, Sovereign Lord,’ I said, ‘I do not know how to speak; I am only a child.’
But the Lord said to me, ‘Do not say, ‘I am only a child.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,’ declares the Lord.
Jeremiah 1:4-8
Prayer Points
Pray for faith and courage today to take the initiative in: a conversation, a project, a deed of kindness, praying for someone, sharing your faith.
Pray that those within the church who disguise unbelief as ‘caution’ would be
helped to trust God and that wisdom would lead to godly activities.
Pray that the church would become characterised by faith-filled adventures that glorify God.
DAY 27 : INITIATIVE
The greatest mistake we can make in life is to be continually fearing we will make one.
Many of us want to step forward and serve God. But perhaps we have tried things in the past which didn’t work out so we. We don’t want to make ourselves vulnerable again. There are real challenges in making ourselves available to God: dealing with fears and facing up to responsibilities. However the great gain is that we get close to God himself and live a life of enterprise and purpose.
The Bible is packed full of ordinary people who took simple steps of obedience to God. Jeremiah responded to God’s call by saying that he didn’t have what was needed. Nevertheless God encouraged him and Jeremiah made his life available to God. His faith and courage had the edge over his doubt and fear. To recover our initiative we need to look honestly at our doubts and fears and ask God to strengthen our faith and courage. If we take one step, we may find that other steps come more easily. Faith can be nurtured and cultivated.
Sydney Smith, an old saint, wrote: ‘A great deal of talent is lost to the world for want of a little courage. Every day sends to their graves obscure men whose timidity prevented them from making a first effort.’ When we recover our availability and initiative we share in the excitement of being part of a movement spanning culture, history and continents. We will have the fulfillment of getting to the end of our life having done what we were put here to do.
Pray
* Pray for your ‘big issue’
* Pray for your ‘three friends’
* Pray for a new wave of revival.