I’ve always known not to pray for patience. If you pray for patience, everyone knows that God just gives you all kinds of difficult opportunities to be patient. No one ever warned me against praying about public speaking though. After this month I can definitely (if not begrudgingly) say that God answers my prayers. He also has a dry sense of humor.
One of our first days in Chisenau, my team split into 2 groups to go visit some small groups. We had a great time talking to the youth in each one and towards the end, they asked us if we had any prayer requests. Steve & Amiee shared theirs and when it got to me, for some reason I got awkward and all I could think of to say was that I wanted to be more comfortable speaking in public. We prayed, said our goodbyes and I forgot all about it.
Yup. Pretty much all voluntarily too. I’m still extremely nervous about speaking going into it, but when I am actually up on stage I am a lot more comfortable than I used to be. Anyone who knows me from back home knows that this is totally a God thing. I definitely couldn’t get comfortable speaking on my own strength. You see, I’ve had this thing with God that if I know that I’ve heard from Him about something, I can’t say no. That’s what brought me on this World Race and that’s why I spoke 6 times in 7 days. Because I felt a nudge or heard a word from Him.
If you know, deep within your heart, that the Creator of the entire universe said something to puny, little you, what else but “yes� can suffice as a response? Aren’t you the least bit curious to see what happens if you do it? If God says something to you, He obviously has something planned out that He specifically wants you to do. In that moment, you are the only person that can carry out His plan exactly as He wants it to happen right then. Rather than being afraid or intimidated, that should make you feel incredibly special! God doesn’t need us to do anything, He is all powerful. But the fact that He wants to use us and has a special plan laid out for us when He speaks to us should help us see how much He values us.
So, if right now you are feeling that there is more to this life than the day to day and you want more of God, choose your next words carefully. If you voice that prayer to God, make sure you put your money where your mouth is because He just might answer.
