Therefore, with your minds ready for action, be serious and set your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 1:13

“’Not called!’ did you say? ‘Not heard the call,’ I think you should say. Put your ear down to the Bible, and hear Him bid you go and pull sinners out of the fire of hell.” – William Booth

“To me the question was not ‘Why go?’ but ‘Why not go?’ Even on the low ground of common sense I seemed called to be a missionary. For is the kingdom not a harvest field? Then I thought it only reasonable to seek the work where the work was most abundant and the workers were fewest.” – James Gilmour, pioneer among the nomads of Mongolia

Christians have mishandled the term “called” in recent years. This has led some people to the misunderstanding that some are asked to make disciples of all nations, while the rest are exempt.

Whether the 12 Apostles, 120 believers or 5,000+ members of the Jerusalem church, we can clearly see in the New Testament that each group of Christians were actively obeying The Great Commission of Christ. Maybe a blinding light and booming voice have not assigned us a geo-political region yet. Until such a time of specification, let us confidently obey the original, standing orders. Notice Paul received his details once he was already on the move (Acts 16:6-10)! Abraham was told to go to the country the Lord would show him on the way (Genesis 12:1). Donʼt delay obedience. Get going into the world. Use the information available to help you find a corner of the field which is void of harvesters and get to work. The Holy Spirit will direct you as you go.

Start showing your obedience to the Lord by doing what you can to go into the world. While you are actively obeying, continually ask the Lord to show you if and how you will be personally specified to carry out The Command. Continue obeying until you receive an answer. We can assume Paul was asking the Lord which group of Gentiles he would serve. He did not receive an answer immediately, but he continued traveling and preaching. Perhaps the Lord is waiting for different factors to come into alignment before you receive specification. Perhaps you may never receive specification, but are intended to pursue a variety of methods of obedience.

We know the details of only a few specified Christians in the New Testament. Many more were obeying the command who were not written about. Whether we ever receive a specific assignment, we must go in the strength and knowledge we have, actively obeying The Command we have.

Here are a few journaling suggestion to help get your mind ready for action:

1. List three things that had the greatest impact on you over the last few days.
2. What did you learn that you’d like the opportunity to process more?
3. Do you sense that God might be asking you to do something with what you’ve learned?
4. What steps, however small, is God directing you to take?

Tonight, we conclude our 7 Days of Prayer and Fasting with an evening of Prayer & Praise, and the focus of our time of prayer will be from 1 Peter 1:13:

Therefore, with your minds ready for action, be serious and set your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Please join us from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. in classroom #312 at GSIS to pray and process together as a church all that God has stirred in our hearts in this week of prayer and fasting.

Prayer Points

1. Pray for God’s will to be done here on earth as it is in Heaven and that every nation, every people group, comes into the presence of our maker through Christ.
2. Continue to ask for the Lord to reveal His calling for your life, for Him to use you in ways that must make you rely completely upon Him and Him alone, and for you to be bold in obedience and abide.