Change in Prayer

Over the last few weeks, I've been reading through a backlog of blog-posts I follow. One of them (regrettably I forget which), mentioned that the writer changed their prayer from "help me" to "use me."

I request that God help me and help others. Help me to overcome this struggle. Help me to understand this situation. Help me to heal. Help others to do the same... But what if I changed that to "use me?"

So Friday morning, while I prayed for guidance, I added a simple, "please use me - in whatever way you want." For I understand that if I had SOME foreknowledge of what God wants me to do, I am stubborn enough to try to do it MY way (not God's Way) and often screw it up or even make things worse. So I keep my own ideas and thoughts in check, to see what God has in mind...

When I got into the office, I noticed that someone had made a last-minute donation in the building's collection box to help Colorado (http://helpcoloradonow.org/). The practical side in me made the phone call to a donation center, having already forgotten the prayer addition.

The call that started as a simple confirmation of the shipping address, lasted well over an hour. The site manager and I bounced ideas between us and generated a long list of other possible resources that could help both those in Colorado as well as any location that may find itself facing large-scale disasters (fire, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, blizzards, nor'easters, extended power outages, etc.) in the future.

The moment I hung up, I remembered the morning prayer, and thanked God for using me - even in a way I would never have imagined.

God does work in our lives, sometimes it is through each other. What if we all changed our prayers from "help me" to "use me," what would our world be?

Hand-in-hand we face what comes
Hand-in-hand we can do what must be done
One thing I know is very true
God weaves through our hands when we do

~ ESA