Send Me

Often when I pray I'll include something like "And Lord, let your will be done," or "please bring peace to our nation."  But I got to thinking, what do I actually mean by that?  What am I expecting God to do when I pray like that?  I'm praying for some desired outcome and just leaving it up to the "mysteries of God" to work out.  Then I thought about the prophet Isaiah when he had a vision of heaven and the Lord asked "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?" and Isaiah answered "Here am I!  Send me!" [Is 6:8]  Isaiah was willing to work for the Lord to bring about His will for His people.  That's how God works, and it wasn't an isolated example in Isaiah.  For example:

• When God wanted the people of Nineveh to repent, he sent the prophet Jonah.  When Jonah tried to flee God sent a giant fish to swallow him for 3 days before spitting him back out onto dry land where God once again told him to go to Nineveh to try to get them to repent on their sins (Jon 1-3)
• When the Messiah came into the world, He didn't descend from heaven like the Holy Spirit or the angels.  He was born to a woman, and not just any woman, but a woman in the lineage of king David and Abraham [Luke 3:23-38].
• When Jesus' work on Earth was done he left His kingdom in the care of humans.  He also charged his disciples to spread the kingdom throughout all the world [Matt 28:18-20] rather than simply appearing in a vision to everyone on Earth and telling them to repent.

The point is that God has always used us, His people, to do His will on Earth.  He wants all men to be saved [I Tim 2:4] but relies on us to spread the gospel of Christ and to bring lost souls to salvation.  So from now on I think I'm going to be more specific in my prayers.  Rather than asking that God's will be done, I will ask that God use me to bring about His will.  Rather than asking for peace in our nation, I will ask that God use me as an instrument of peace.  If I want God to work in this world, I must be willing to be the instrument that He uses.  I must be willing to say "Here am I!  Send me!"