Send Me
Dangerous Prayers • Sermon • Submitted
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· 33 viewsGod has a calling on your life and our response to Him should be, here I am, send me.
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Dangerous Prayers
Send Me
We are in our third and final week of our series, “Dangerous Prayers”.
I hope these first two weeks have challenged you and caused you to really think about how you pray.
Week one we talked about the prayer Search Me and know my heart.
Week two we talked about the difficult prayer of Break My Heart.
Today’s message is a message that could potentially be what we would call an “anchor message”.
An anchor message is a message that you look back on your life and say, that was a message that changed my life.
That message caused me to make a decision that changed the trajectory of my life.
And this message has the potential to do that for you.
Today we are going to talk about a prayer of availability.
Because when you read the Bible it’s clear that God has a plan for your life.
Look at verses like…
Jeremiah 29:11 NIV “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”
God has a plan for each and every one of us.
However, not every believer is walking in those plans.
You see we can be a Christian but not live the life God CALLED us to live.
We can just coast through life and live that comfortable life.
But in doing that, we are going to miss out on a whole lot of amazing things God wants to do through us!
But all throughout the Bible God calls people to DO something, or go somewhere.
And we learn from the Bible that there are three different ways to respond to God’s calling for your life.
The first example is Jonah.
Jonah’s response to God was, “Here I am, I’m not going!”
Jonah 1:1-3 “The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: 2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.” 3 But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.”
Some of you can maybe relate to this story.
Some of you can think of moments in your life that God called you to do something and you said NO!
HERE I AM LORD, I’M NOT GOING
The second response we see from Moses.
HERE I AM, SEND SOMEONE ELSE!
Exodus 3:10-11 NIV “So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.” 11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”
Moses talks about how he is slow of speech and that basically God’s got the wrong guy.
Moses is all for this idea of freeing his people but the idea that HE is the one to do it is crazy to him.
A few weeks ago I shared my story with you about how I was asked to speak at a conference but I let fear stop me so I said no.
That decision still haunts me today because I think about, what did I miss out on?
Who was I supposed to speak to that day and I blew it.
It’s easy for us to feel this way when God calls us to do something that we don’t think we’re qualified to do.
We think we don’t have the skills to do it.
I know this is probably the response I struggle with the most when God has called me in the past.
So often I’ve felt unqualified to do what God has asked me to.
But when you read the Bible you see that God called A LOT of people to do things they weren’t qualified to do.
It’s because God loves to show us what we are capable of doing when we put our TRUST and our STRENGTH in HIM!
But instead of living in the confidence of God’s calling, we get buried in our own insecurities.
HERE I AM, SEND SOMEONE ELSE!
Then there is the third response found from Isaiah in Isaiah chapter 6, which is going to lead us into the actual dangerous prayer for this morning.
Isaiah 6:8a NIV “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”
Notice what you are NOT going to hear from Isaiah.
He’s not going to ask, where are we going?
What’s the climate?
How much money will I get?
Are there benefits?
How much vacation do I get?
He simply responds with…
Isaiah 6:8b NIV “And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”
This is a very dangerous prayer.
Because Isaiah had the mindset of, I’m willing to do whatever God wants me too!
It doesn’t matter the circumstance, I just want to be used by God!
And unfortunately a lot of people don’t live that way.
Because even after we give our heart to Christ we still should be praying a prayer of availability.
Giving your heart to Jesus isn’t the end, it’s just the beginning!
In my experience I feel like there is ONE main reason why people are afraid to pray this prayer.
They are afraid that if they tell God they are available to do what He wants them to do that He is going to send them to a third world country to be missionaries.
That God is going to take them away from technology, away from electricity and have to go to the jungles in Africa to live.
First of all that is HIGHLY unlikely.
Chances are he is going to call you to do something where you’re already at.
Second, and this is what people don’t understand.
If God called you to move to Africa, you would want to!
You would have a desire to and would be excited about it.
Psalm 37:4 “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”
Some people read that and think that God will give me everything I want because I desire it.
But what he is saying is that God is going to place HIS desires IN YOU!
But we can’t let fear stop us from listening to what God has for us.
If you want a life of excitement and adventure you’ll listen to God when He calls.
The only way you’re going to have true peace and feel fulfilled is by listening to His voice.
And when you look at Isaiah it’s interesting to see why he was so willing to say, “Send me”?
Isaiah 6:1-3 NIV “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory,”
Isaiah has a vision where he sees the glory of God and how incredible He is.
He feels what it’s like to be in the presence of God.
Being in the presence of God transformed and motivated Isaiah to say, “Here I am Lord, send me.”
Why is it that you may be hesitant to make yourself available to God?
Maybe it’s because you haven’t recently been in the presence of God!?
When’s the last time you REALLY sat down and read your Bible?
When was the last time you just sat in your room for a period of time and had worship music playing and prayed and sought after God.
When was the last time you came to church and truly opened up your heart and worshiped God with everyone else?
These are the moments that give you an opportunity to experience the presence of God!
And the more you experience God, the more you want to follow His will for your life.
Following Jesus isn’t just about getting something from Him.
So many times when we pray we just ask for things that we want.
But if you truly want to be used by God
If you truly want to live the life God has called you to live
Then you need to make yourself available and be willing to DO what He calls you to.
John F. Kennedy said a very famous quote.
“Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”
I love that quote and I think we could actually apply that to our relationship with God.
“Ask not what God can do for you, but ask God what you can do for Him.”
It’s in this attitude toward God that will help you do what God created you to do!
Some of you may be thinking about your future.
Put all your selfish desires aside and just seek God for His wisdom.
Trust that God is going to give you the skills you need to fulfill the calling He has for you.
Seek God, trust God, obey God!
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