Pray: Lord, Use Me!

Do you want to be used by God? Do you want to be His hands and feet, serving people in need–and for Him to use your lips to speak His Word to the world? If so, pray: “Lord, use me!”

I ask God all the time to use me.

I started doing this years ago, when I was a baby believer and He definitely wasn’t using me in visible ministry of any kind that I could see.

Looking back, I can see that He was, in fact, using me in the same ways He uses us all most easily–which is just encouraging people, offering a smile, being kind, or brightening someone’s day in small ways. That is one of the biggest and best ministries there is. But, I didn’t realize that at the time.

(I say that because I want to encourage you. No matter where you are, God is using you in some way. You just have to notice what He is doing, and give Him thanks for it!)

Nevertheless, I knew that I was called to preach and minister prophetically. My heart yearned with love over people–even people I didn’t know. I just wanted God to use me to serve them with His Word and His love.

So I began to kneel down, bent over my favorite armchair, and cry out to God:

“Lord, use me!”

The Lord can and will use anyone who wants to be used.

In fact, the Bible contains many stories about how He even used people who didn’t want to be used. For example, before the first destruction of Jerusalem, God repeatedly called enemy kings from their land to ravage the land of Israel. He used those pagan kings as discipline for His people Israel. Those pagan kings worshipped idols and didn’t know the One True God at all … but still, God used them.

Also, remember the story of Balaam and the donkey?

The Pre-Incarnate Christ visited Balaam in person as the Angel of the Lord when Balaam set out to go curse God’s people Israel. He came to correct Balaam and turn him back from his bad decision. But, Balaam didn’t know that the Lord was there.

Balaam’s donkey, however, could see the Lord. And the Lord opened the donkey’s mouth and made it talk. Yes, God used Balaam’s donkey to actually rebuke Balaam and save his life. (Read Numbers 22:21-35 for more about that story.)

Friend, if God can use a donkey, He can use you.

Related: Jesus, Let Me Be the Donkey You Ride In On

If He will honor the heart of an animal to protect its master, God will honor your heart to serve Him, your Master. And if He will use a pagan king to do His will, He will use you, His beloved child.

So, how do you want the Lord to use you?

Today and every day, do you want Him to speak through you? He can and will do that.

Yes: If you study and seek out how to hear God and how to prophesy, God will do for you what He did for Samuel and let none of your words fall to the ground. It will take time to be reliable and accurate prophetically, but we’re all on the same journey. God can use you like that, and He can use you in power!

Do you want God to use you to give and bless others? He will!

Do you want the anointing of the tribe of Zebulun, so you can be a Kingdom financier and have everything you touch turn to gold?

Most of the people I know, including myself, long and pray for God to use them at a higher level of giving. And if we keep on praying, stewarding what God has given us His own way (by managing money His way–that’s the most important part), believing Him for more, and sowing what we have where we are (without waiting until we have more to sow), He will continue to increase us.

Yes, He will give us more and more to give, and will use us more and more to bless others. It takes time, but again–we’re all on a journey.

Are you called to preach?

If you’re called to preach, then God wants you to preach more than you want to preach! It’s His Word you’ll be preaching, and the world is desperate to hear it.

It is not God’s will that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. So He wants you to preach. He isn’t holding back on you; He’s preparing you where you are. And the more diligently you prepare, the sooner you will find yourself preaching.

Are you called to sing and lead God’s people in worship?

Or, maybe you’re called to minister to people experiencing homelessness. Maybe you’re called to provide for and strengthen widows and orphans. Maybe you’re called to be a faithful witness for the Father in the business realm.

Whatever you are called to do, friend, God wants to use you.

But “being used by God” requires several things:

• Obey where you’re at (because you can walk in some part of your ministry RIGHT NOW, no matter where you are);
• Study and prepare to do even more, aiming yourself toward whatever the Lord has called you to (which is usually what your heart desires anyway); and
• Take purposeful steps to walk in the MORE that He has for you.

But the whole time, friend, your journey must be saturated with prayer.

I cry out to God day and night for Him to use me–and I recommend that you do the same. Big things never happen without much prayer.

If you only want to be used a little, maybe you can pray a little. But if you desire to be used a lot, you must PRAY a lot.

One of my favorite inspirations on this topic is the song Use Me by the Motor City Mass Choir. I embedded the video below from YouTube; this song is powerful. Please give it a listen. I start speaking in tongues and crying out to God from the first notes of the song. It’s just so powerful.

With all that being said, are you ready to pray?

If you are desperate to be used by God today, pray this prayer: “Lord, use me!”

Let’s pray briefly together:

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“Dear Heavenly Father, I come before You in Jesus’ name.

Father, thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Thank You for saving me, for giving me gifts, and for putting Your call on my life.

Thank You for loving me and taking care of me, and for making me the apple of Your eye. I praise You and bless You, for You are good, and Your mercy endures forever.

Abba Father, You know the cry of my heart today.

Today and every day, Lord, I want You to use me. I desire to operate fully in the gifts and ministry that You have for me. I want to fully fulfill the call You have placed on my life.

But I can’t do it alone, Abba. I need wisdom.

Therefore, Father God, I ask today in Jesus name:

• Please fill me with wisdom, and with the fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom.
• Instruct me and teach me in the way I should go. Guide me with Your eye upon me.
• Show me what to do and when to do it. Fill me with the anointing of the tribe of Issachar, that I may discern the times and the seasons, to know what ought to be done at any given time.

Father, take my hands and my feet. Use me to be Your hands and feet to the world, carrying Your love and hope to people in need. Take my lips and use me to speak Your words, and only Your words. Take every part of me–body, soul, and spirit–and use me for Your great name’s sake.

Father God, in Jesus’ name, I ask You to use me.

Give me eyes to see You, ears to hear You, and a nose to smell Your fragrance. Take away my old, stony heart, and give me a heart of flesh–Your heart. Take away my old spirit, and give me a new spirit–Your Spirit.

Thank You, Abba Father. Please help me to pay attention today to Your instruction, and to obey whatever You put on my heart to be a blessing to others.

In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.”

Friend, if you want God to use you, He will.

He even uses people who don’t know Him, and who don’t want to be used. How much more will He use you, when your heart is turned toward Him and your ears are tuned to Him?

The key is to believe and obey:

• Believe that He will use you, since you asked; and
• Obey whatever He puts on your heart to do, even if it takes you out of your comfort zone or stretches you (stretching you a lot or a little).

Did you cry out to God to use you today? What is the cry of your heart on this matter? Leave a comment below!