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Transcript:
Hello, welcome to Walking in Step with God. I am Steve McDonald. Today we explore the topic “Give Yourself as a Vessel” as we continue our series simply titled, “Give”. In this series, we have explored a variety of ways that we can give. We have discussed opportunities to give from our resources. We have discussed ways we can give our time. Today, I would like to explore the steps to give yourself as a vessel to God for Him to use as He sees fit!
What do I mean by vessel? I would like to provide steps to make yourself available to God to help someone in need of support. Many of the methods of giving we have discussed so far have involved giving from a distance. In other words, giving to a cause or organization where we will never actually meet the recipient of our giving.
Today, let’s discuss 3 steps that will posture ourselves to be used by God to help or support an individual directly.
Before we get started, let’s take a quick break. I will be right back.
Welcome back. Let’s continue in our discussion of 3 steps to give yourself as a vessel.
#1 Ask God for direction
My first piece of advice on giving yourself as a vessel is to ask God for direction. God knows the gifts He has planted within you. He knows your resources, your schedule, and your personality traits. In fact, He knows every single thing about you, even more than you know.
God knows the capacity you have to help someone in need, so I invite you to ask Him to direct you to the individual who could use your support. When we offer ourselves as a vessel for God, He can and will use us in ways that help others in need but also enrich our growth.
For example, God knows I have been incredibly shy and introverted for most of my life. When I asked Him to use me to help others, He started placing me in situations where I could overcome my shyness and grow the courage to engage with a stranger. How did He do this? He orchestrated my path to intersect with someone in need. When the moment came, he spoke to my spirit to engage that individual.
Here is an example. Last week, I was walking to my car past a homeless individual living in a tent. It is very difficult to explain but God put on my heart to approach that individual, so much so that it stopped me in my tracks and caused me to turn around and approach them. When all was said and done in that encounter, they had groceries for the rest of the month and we prayed together. I believe God sent me to provide for that individual in need to answer the person’s prayers for assistance.
I invite you to ask God to direct you to the opportunities to help someone in need. Be ready for interactions where He uses you to give hope to someone when they need it most!
#2 Engage
When you ask God to direct you to someone in need, expect the opportunity to arrive to engage. This individual that God directs you to maybe someone you know very well or a complete stranger.
Early in my walk with God, I was experiencing many opportunities to assist others in need. I admit that I did sense when God was putting on my heart to engage someone but then chose not to engage. Typically it was an opportunity to help someone homeless or just offer assistance to a stranger when it was clear they needed help.
I admit, that my shyness got in the way of approaching strangers to offer a helping hand. Well, God even knows that practice makes perfect, so I believe He made sure I had plenty of opportunities to grow courage. Today, I do still have that hesitation but it is nowhere near what it was earlier in my walk with God.
My advice to you is this. When you sense the opportunity has come for you to help someone in need, ask God in that moment how you can help that individual. He can provide you with direction in that moment on how to proceed, including, not proceeding at all.
Every situation is different. Engaging an individual in need may not necessarily mean direct interaction, but engaging in offering assistance in a way that directly affects an individual you know. For example, you may observe an opportunity to coach someone who is struggling at your workplace. God knows best if offering your assistance directly to the individual is best versus approaching a manager to discuss the best way to support the individual behind the scenes.
Of course, when deciding to engage with someone you don’t know, always use wisdom and discernment. Be safe. When you observe an opportunity to help someone in need, ask God for instructions as to how to best engage and then expect direction.
#3 Pray
This step is potentially the most time-consuming step in offering yourself as a vessel but allows you to provide support over a long period of time.
So far we have discussed asking God for direction and then engaging the opportunity to help someone in need when it arrives.
Once you have provided support or assistance, I invite you to continue that assistance through prayer from that point forward. That’s right, I said from that point forward.
Praying for others is one of the most powerful ways you can provide ongoing support. The individual you met for just a moment and the individual you have known for decades both deserve prayer and will experience the benefit of your prayer whenever it is spoken.
Offering ourselves as a vessel is not about benefiting us, it is to benefit others. Praying for others just takes a few moments of your time, but your prayers are heard every time.
Praying for the individuals I have encountered in my life has been one of the most rewarding aspects of my faith. I know that God hears every word of the prayers for each individual I pray for – be it someone I saw a few minutes ago or a few years ago.
I invite you to start praying for individuals that God directs to your path and make time regularly, from now on, to pray for each, one by one. Even if just a few words for a few moments for each individual, know that God hears your prayer for everyone.
Wrap Up
In today’s message, we explored the steps we can follow to give ourselves as a vessel. We learned the first step is to ask God for direction. Asking God for direction and guidance opens the door for Him to use us in ways we never dreamed were possible. We discussed the idea that it is important to be ready to engage when the opportunity comes. If we ask God to use us, He will indeed direct our steps to cross paths with the individuals who could use our help. When the time comes, God can touch our hearts and minds to know that the opportunity has come. Lastly, we learned that we can continue to provide support for others in need by praying for those individuals. Ongoing and lasting prayer is one of the most powerful ways we can continue to serve long after our initial interaction. In a few words and a few moments, we can continue to bring the power of prayer into an individual’s life.
Offering yourself as a vessel for God is one of the most powerful ways to serve God and to serve your community. Ask God to use you as He sees fit today.
Are you interested in discovering more about the guidance offered in this message? Learn more in the companion article Going Deeper with the Word: Give Yourself as a Vessel
