Called To Pray

My mentor gave me a copy of a sermon that Max Lucado delivered entitled “Esther: Called to Pray.” Using stories from the biblical book of Esther, it focuses on how God brings people into our lives and places us in situations so that we will take the opportunity to pray. Lucado states,

You thought you got that new job because you deserved a promotion. I’m telling you, you got that new job because God wants you to stay there and pray for those people. You thought you were moved into that neighborhood because it was the best house you could find. I’m telling you that you are an assigned missionary to that neighborhood to pray for those people. You thought you were given that fourth grade class to teach just because the other teacher got sick and you got to be the substitute. Wrong! You were sent to that class because those 26 children need somebody to pray over them. You thought you were given this nation because you just happened to follow a certain lineage of a certain generation. Wrong! God has assigned you and He has assigned me to be prayer warriors for this nation, to intercede.

And I would go as far as to say this, church, that a day that passes that you don’t invite God’s kingdom to come into your world is a day wasted. . . . What God is doing is He is offering us the privilege of being a part of His strategy. When we come before Him and we say, “I don’t know how You’re going to do it, but please do it. Your ways are not my ways and I’m not going to complain at Your timing, though I would like to have it real soon. But I want Your will in this matter.”

Lucado’s words spoke to me because, as I've written before, I’ve struggled with understanding why God brings people into my path.

For instance, today was our clerk’s last day. Our clerks always work for just a year, and then they go out to spread their wings. It is a difficult transition for me because I have enjoyed working with each of the five clerks we’ve had thus far. Each one has brought a different vibe to our pod. And at the end of each year, I’m sad to see the clerk go. It takes me a while to adjust to the new clerks who arrive each September.

But through this sermon, I have been reminded that God keeps me in my job, in my house, and in my church and brings new people to my path for me to pray for them. That’s something that is so do-able. I just need to be obedient and do it.

Think about where you are and who you can pray for. After all, we are ALL called to pray. And when God’s people pray, anything is possible.