“Lord, Make Me Usable”
“Lord, Make Me Usable”
Lord, please use me!”
It’s the cry of believers who want to salt their world with the words and life of Jesus. Their heart’s desire may not be unlike that old hymn:
Have Thine own way, Lord, have Thine own way!
Thou art the potter, I am the clay.
Mold me and make me, after Thy will,
while I am waiting, yielded and still.
Do you want to be used by the Lord? Good news! God wants to use you. In fact, He will use you. In John 15:8 Jesus says it is to His Father’s glory that we bear much fruit, showing ourselves to be disciples. In other words, it is His will to use us.
Frankly, I think we’re being redundant to ask God to use us. We’re requesting Him to do something He already desires to do.
So maybe we should amend that prayer. Instead of praying, “Lord, use me,” perhaps our prayer should be, “Lord, make me usable.”
Do you catch the difference?
If we feel like we’re sitting on the sidelines, watching the army of Christ go marching by, we mustn’t pray to be used; rather, we must plead with the Lord to make our lives usable and useful.
“Mold me and make me after Thy will,” says the hymn. “While I am waiting, yielded and still.”
That implies reflection, doesn’t it? And humility. And Spirit-guided self-examination.
Ponder Paul’s familiar words to his young colleague:
In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble. If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work (2 Timothy 2:20-21).
Seems to me as I read those words that the responsibility for usefulness doesn’t fall so much on the Master of the household who chooses instruments, as on the instrument itself. If a man or woman is clean and ready to be used, he or she will be “useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.”
And how does that instrument prepare itself for noble service? Paul immediately goes on to lay down some specifics:
Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful (vv. 22-24).
Perhaps we ought to spend a little less time chomping on the bit.
Sure, you may have a talent for singing … but God may be more concerned with getting your heart and character in tune.
Yes, you may be a gifted teacher … but perhaps God has a few inside lessons to teach you before you go out and lead others.
True, you may be anxious to plunge into full-time service for your Lord … but it might pay to see if your own house is in order first.
Instead of the old “Lord-use-me” prayer, you might try praying something different for a change.
Lord, I already know You want to use me. I don’t have to ask You to do that. You want my life to be a ready instrument for your purposes here on earth. Please show me those things that keep me from being that instrument. Show me those areas of my life that slow Your hand when You reach for a ready tool. I wait before You, Lord … yielded and still.