Last time we laid a foundation showing that:

• Being used of God is His is prerogative – Hebrews 5:4
• There is a preparation, something that is commonly evident in all the examples of those God used for His purposes. Of the many examples in the scriptures, we chose to use David and Paul, we demonstrated that there is
  • A preparation
  • A promotion after tests that show
    • Integrity
    • Purity of heart
    • Anointing from God
    • Zeal for the things of God and a passion/availability to search out the doctrines of Christ and a performance of the same.

Yet there is a thread that ultimately holds these things together according to the pattern that God demands must be a living attitude in whosoever God will use. This is what we will explore today using the lives of two key messengers in the word.

This living attitude God showed right from the book of beginning in Genesis. Any man who will be used of God must understand this and weave it as a fabric of his life. 

Genesis 1:2 to Genesis 2:4 lays out God’s thought and plan, the creation of the world in His mind before putting it out in reality and action.

This is the history of the heavens and of the earth when they were created. In the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens—When no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb of the field had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not [yet] caused it to rain upon the earth and there was no man to till the ground, But there went up a mist (fog, vapor) from the land and watered the whole surface of the ground—Then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath or spirit of life, and man became a living being. And the Lord God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden [delight]; and there He put the man whom He had formed (framed, constituted). Genesis 2:4-8 (AMPC)

A pattern was established that became the standard for messengers of God. The Lord Jesus aptly put it in John 5:19, 30 (AMPC).

So Jesus answered them by saying, I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, the Son is able to do nothing of Himself (of His own accord); but He is able to do only what He sees the Father doing, for whatever the Father does is what the Son does in the same way [in His turn] …I am able to do nothing from Myself [independently, of My own accord—but only as I am taught by God and as I get His orders]. Even as I hear, I judge [I decide as I am bidden to decide. As the voice comes to Me, so I give a decision], and My judgment is right (just, righteous), because I do not seek or consult My own will [I have no desire to do what is pleasing to Myself, My own aim, My own purpose] but only the will and pleasure of the Father Who sent Me.

Please note, see, taught, hear and ultimate purpose of being used of God, and I must turn you to Isaiah 50:4-10 (AMPC) so you fully understand all that formed the attitude of Christ on this earth in the exercise of ministry or service to God.

[The Servant of God says] The Lord God has given Me the tongue of a disciple and of one who is taught, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him who is weary. He wakens Me morning by morning, He wakens My ear to hear as a disciple [as one who is taught]. The Lord God has opened My ear, and I have not been rebellious or turned backward. I gave My back to the smiters and My cheeks to those who plucked off the hair; I hid not My face from shame and spitting. For the Lord God helps Me; therefore have I not been ashamed or confounded. Therefore have I set My face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame. He is near Who declares Me in the right. Who will contend with Me? Let us stand forth together! Who is My adversary? Let him come near to Me. Behold, the Lord God will help Me; who is he who will condemn Me? Behold, they all will wax old and be worn out as a garment; the moth will eat them up. Who is among you who [reverently] fears the Lord, who obeys the voice of His Servant, yet who walks in darkness and deep trouble and has no shining splendor [in his heart]? Let him rely on, trust in, and be confident in the name of the Lord, and let him lean upon and be supported by his God.

You must see the connection, why you must exercise the discipline of being in the presence of God, to hear, to see, and to learn what He wants you to do; as well as understand the connection between this and prayer. Prayer for the man God uses is vain, ignorant and empty of purpose if it is devoid of knowing and wanting to do what He told you to do. Prayer is all about empowerment to execute accurately and to His pleasure what He wants you to do! You can then make a meaning of Psalms 65:2-9 (AMPC)

O You Who hear prayer, to You shall all flesh come. Iniquities and much varied guilt prevail against me; [yet] as for our transgressions, You forgive and purge them away [make atonement for them and cover them out of Your sight]! Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is the man whom You choose and cause to come near, that he may dwell in Your courts! We shall be satisfied with the goodness of Your house, Your holy temple. By fearful and glorious things [that terrify the wicked but make the godly sing praises] do You answer us in righteousness (rightness and justice), O God of our salvation, You Who are the confidence and hope of all the ends of the earth and of those far off on the seas; Who by [Your] might have founded the mountains, being girded with power, Who still the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, and the tumult of the peoples, So that those who dwell in earth’s farthest parts are afraid of [nature’s] signs of Your presence. You make the places where morning and evening have birth to shout for joy. You visit the earth and saturate it with water; You greatly enrich it; the river of God is full of water; You provide them with grain when You have so prepared the earth.

Prayer is key, but prayer founded on knowing the intent and purpose of my Lord and Master, is empowerment to do what He wants to His satisfaction. One more underlying example with Paul the messenger to the Gentiles as was spoken in Acts 26:16-18 (TPT)

Get up and stand to your feet, for I have appeared to you to reveal your destiny and to commission you as my assistant. You will be a witness to what you have seen and to the things I will reveal whenever I appear to you. I will rescue you from the persecution of your own people and from the hostility of the other nations that I will send you to. And you will open their eyes to their true condition, so that they may turn from darkness to the Light and from the power of Satan to the power of God. By placing their faith in me they will receive the total forgiveness of sins and be made holy, taking hold of the inheritance that I give to my children!

A pattern was established that became the standard for messenger of God. The Lord Jesus aptly put it in John 5:5:19, 30 (AMPC)

It is the same pattern, but in execution we see these examples:

1. Matthew 5:1-2 (TPT) – One day Jesus saw a vast crowd of people gathering to hear him, so he went up the slope of a hill and sat down. With his followers and disciples spread over the hillside, Jesus began to teach them:
2. Matthew 14:22-23 (TP) – As soon as the people were fed, Jesus told his disciples to get into their boat and to go to the other side of the lake while he stayed behind to dismiss the people. After the crowds dispersed, Jesus went up into the hills to pray. And as night fell he was there praying alone.
3. Mark 1:33-38 (TPT) – until the whole village was crowded around the house. Jesus healed many who were sick with various diseases and cast out many demons. But he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew who he really was. The next morning, Jesus got up long before daylight, left the house while it was dark, and made his way to a secluded place to give himself to prayer. Later, Simon and his friends searched for him, and when they finally tracked him down, they told him, “Everyone is looking for you—they want you!” Jesus replied, “We have to go on to the surrounding villages so that I can share my message with the people there, for that is my mission.”
4. Luke 6:12-13 (TPT) – After leaving the synagogue, Jesus went into the high hills to spend the whole night in prayer to God. At daybreak, he called together all of his followers and selected twelve from among them, and he appointed them to be his apostles.

Replete with Paul’s testimony in the different epistles was the constant request centred around prayer. But about what? Take time to study these scriptures for the answer:

1. Romans 15:30-32
2. 2 Corinthians 1:9-11
3. Ephesians 6:18-20
4. Philippians 1:19-20
5. Colossians 4:3-4
6. 1 Thessalonians 5:25
7. 2 Thessalonians 3:1-2
8. Philemon 22

Paul was an example of a man that God uses who understood the place, purpose and importance of prayer; and the constant theme of Paul’s prayers is centred on fulfilment of the calling given to him in Acts 26.

As you look at fulfilling the master’s call for more labourers for the harvest and being mindful of the great opportunity open to each of us as Paul wrote in his admonition to Timothy –

In a palace you find many kinds of containers and tableware for many different uses. Some are beautifully inlaid with gold or silver, but some are made of wood or earthenware; some of them are used for banquets and special occasions, and some for everyday use. But you, Timothy, must not see your life and ministry this way. Your life and ministry must not be disgraced, for you are to be a pure container of Christ and dedicated to the honorable purposes of your Master, prepared for every good work that he gives you to do. 2 Timothy 2:20-21 (TPT).

– prepare yourself. God needs every hand possible for this last push delivering the gospel of grace.

Shalom.