"You Do It!"

Another Diamond Column...

“It is not so much that prayer changes things as that prayer changes us and then we change things. We can’t ask God to do Himself what He created us to do ourselves.” -- Oswald Chambers.

      Isn’t it so easy to just ask God to help the poor? to heal the broken? to feed the hungry? We think that by interceding on behalf of those in need, we have done our part and can move on with our day. But God has different ideas—they might not be as easy, but they bring a whole lot more satisfaction. The kind that goes way down deep and can only come from doing the work of our Lord. He has given us the amazing privilege of taking part in His work, and yet we so easily pass up the opportunities and opt for a simple prayer instead. Don’t get me wrong—I don’t want it to undermine the power of prayer, but God has empowered us to do so much more than pray. That’s why I think Chambers hit it right on target by saying that prayer changes us so that we can go change things.

    Take an example from the Bible. In Mark 6:30-44 we read the story of Jesus feeding the five thousand. We’ve all heard the story…Jesus had been teaching the crowd for a while and the disciples suggested that they were probably getting hungry. They asked Jesus to send them away so that they can get something to eat. In some sense, they were interceding for the crowd to be fed. But Jesus wants to give the disciples an opportunity to take part in His work. So He says, “You feed them.”

    Not surprisingly, the disciples don’t get it. Thinking practically, they ask, “With what? We’d have to work for months in order to earn enough money to buy food for all these people.” But Jesus tells them to gather all they have and give it to Him. By asking about the need to be changed, they were instead changed by God to be able to go out and do the work themselves. Once they gave all they had to Jesus, He stepped in and performed the miracle.

    I believe the same is true today. When we recognize a need and ask God to fix it, I believe He is still telling us, “You do it.” Because of His incomprehensible love, God refuses to do what we are capable of doing ourselves. We are so fortunate to have a God that lets us take part in this stuff.

     So my challenge for you is to be open to recognizing the needs in our world. Once you ask God about them, be prepared for God to transform you so that you can go out and do it yourself. Then take a step back and marvel at the satisfaction you receive from being able to take part in God’s work.