“God, use me in spite of me” –what I pray before preaching or teaching.
I am a sinner. I have pride, lust, envy, anger, impatience, fear, selfishness, idols, and struggles. I am a saved sinner, yet still a sinner. Despite all this, for some reason beyond what I can comprehend, God is choosing to use me to start this youth group. Despite the fact that I could lead this group out of fear or out of pride, out of selfishness or during struggles. God still seems to want this to happen. So pray. Pray that I would absolutely depend on Him. Pray that I would not lean on innovative ideas or entertaining programs, but lean solely on God to work in the hearts of these youth. The opportunity to impact kid’s lives is often overwhelming. He must be my hope, my strength, my everything…and I need your prayers.
As I read Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis, I found relevance to this feeling of humility and unworthiness to do the work of Christ. Who am I to teach others? “The Christ Himself, the Son of God who is man (just like you) and God (just like His Father) is actually at your side and is already at that moment beginning to turn your pretence into a reality.” This does mean more in context, but the thought is that if you remember you are representing Christ, you are relying on him as your conscience tells you what to do. I am praying for this ministry and the chance to support such a wonderful opportunity for the youth it will serve.
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