HOW TO ANSWER WHEN GOD CALLS
That moment when you finally have some much needed clarity around what God is calling for your life. You have prayed for direction, lifted your voice to Him, surrendered your will to fully trust His plan and you feel Him leading you as your Holy Counselor but now the overwhlem of the how is starting to create fear and doubt. Make no mistake that as you go deeper with God, as you trust Him more, letting go of the need to have all the answers to faithfully listen to His voice, the enemy will be right there, ruthlessly in your face trying to stop you with fear, doubt and lies. He will use your past to make you feel inadequate and try to limit your worth but the good news is that God will always have the final say. There is no mistaking that God has created you for a purpose. As you walk this path of how to answer when God calls, it’s important to cling to His voice that says you are chosen and highly favored as a child of God. The enemy can not steal that from you unless you allow him to. When God has placed something on my heart, I want to share with you how I work through that process.
1. Prayer There are about 650 prayers in the Bible so that is a pretty good indication that prayer is important to not only our spiritual life but in our spiritual guidance. Prayer is how we communicate with our Maker. Prayer allows us to worship and praise the Lord. It also allows us to offer confession of our sins, which should lead to our genuine repentance. Moreover, prayer grants us the opportunity to present our requests to God. All of these aspects of prayer involve communication with our Creator. He is personal, cares for us, and wants to commune with us through prayer. When you find yourself struggling and searching for answers, be reminded what is says in Psalm 55:22 “Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.” You aren’t meant to figure all this out on your own. God has brought you this far, continue to trust in Him to keep revealing the how by spending daily and quality time in His presence through prayer, rejoicing in Him through the process and to not only keep praying but to pray without ceasing. “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
2. receiving This is the cornerstone of Live Into Your Calling. We can pray all day but if we rush off to the next thing in our busy lives then we miss the fullness of God, what God has for us, what He wants us to do and making time to experience a deeper connection with Him. If we can learn to celebrate stillness and open our hearts and minds to receive His Word through prayer it is much more fruitful. God has much to share with us and to make the most of this time with Him, I write it all down in a prayer journal. I thank Him for His word, tell Him that I love Him and then ask "is there anything else?" so He knows that I am fully prepared to receive what He has for me. I keep this daily prayer journal so I can not only reflect and revisit what I received from God but as a reminder of how far I have come.
3. take action In my prayer time with my Father, I ensure I apply what I have received to my daily to-do list trusting in Him to guide me . Without action we can’t pursue what God has for our lives nor can we glorify His kingdom without taking action. Had Moses not taken action when God called upon Him God’s people would have remained enslaved and not been led to freedom. Moses didn’t always understand God’s plan but he fully obeyed and trusted God to fulfill His promises. That is the same God we have and can relay on today.
4. willingness over qualification Many times we allow ourselves to believe that we must be equipped with all the right tools, have all the right answers and list of qualifications in order for God to use us and the truth is those limiting beliefs are the work of the enemy. The Bible shows us through numerous stories like Moses, Noah, David and Esther that God doesn’t call the qualified, He equips the called. God is not looking for perfect people, He is looking for those are willing to be used for His purpose and who trust in Him and His promises.
5. progress over perfection Through this journey it’s important to keep your eyes on Jesus and strive for how you can make progress for His kingdom over being perfect. In Christ you are made whole and during times of weakness through Him you will be enough and have the courage and strength to keep working through how to answer when God is calling you. Perfectionism is another lie of the enemy so don’t buy into it, instead cling to God’s unfailing truth in who He created you to be. I hope this has encouraged you in working through how to answer when God calls you. If you find yourself ready to dive deeper into the how of God’s calling for your life and my processes you can learn more about the Live Into Your Calling study course. Have a praise report of how God is working in your life? Leave me a comment I would love to hear from you and celebrate His glory with you.