This week, I answered the call to become a "prayer warrior" for Seth Hale, the son of a friend of mine from church who is battling with leukemia. A request went out on Facebook "calling all prayer warriors" and asking for 48 people who would commit to pray for Seth and the entire Hale family for a specific 30-minute time slot each day. In this way, we would cover the Hales in prayer continually, 24/7, as Seth undergoes treatments, including an upcoming bone marrow transplant (to be provided by his younger brother). When I first saw the Facebook request, I thought to myself,
surely this can't be for me...I mean, how do I pray for 30 minutes, how do I commit daily to do this, I don't know enough, I am not spiritual enough, how do I do this with 3 kids in tow....you get the idea. Within about 5 minutes, however, I knew I should sign up and I went ahead and gave everyone my time preference. About 40 hours later, all 48 prayer warriors were in place, with about a dozen to spare for filling in as necessary! It was encouraging to me to see the list of people who had stepped forward in obedience to lift this precious family up the Lord. For example, I hadn't considered those who would need to sign up in the wee hours of the night! But I saw that a friend of mine had signed up for the 3 am time slot, and she is a nursing mother of a new baby boy. Wow! So amazing to see how God uses His entire Church Body to minister, from nursing mothers awake with their newborns, to older retirees, to everyone in between to serve HIS needs!
So, now we as "prayer warriors" (still not sure how I feel about that title!) are in a closed group on Facebook where specific prayer requests and updates can be made by the leader as often as needed. This is the most recent situation in my life where I have been called by the Lord to do something, but I did not feel qualified to do it! You see, at first pass, I thought it was about ME. I was afraid to sign up and FAIL. I was afraid I would not perform well or do this "prayer warrior" thing perfectly. But God gave me peace today as He reassured me that
He doesn't call the equipped...He equips the called! YES! So very thankful for that! HE will guide me as I pray through His Word and through His Spirit...and I am just to be available and used of HIM to do HIS will for HIS glory. You see, as I am so apt to forget...
it is not about me. It never was. It never will be. Perhaps, you too, need to hear this today, dear friend, in whatever endeavor the Lord is calling you to do. Step out. It is OK. God will equip you in His perfect time, in His perfect way. As 1 Thessalonians 5:24 so aptly puts it, "He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it." I don't see the pronoun "I" in this verse...God calls and HE does...not me...and not you!
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