Should I Ask God to Use Me or to Make Me Usable?
I consider BOTH valid prayers, but there is an important theological issue with the second one that we will get to.
The devil wants you to be in a ditch, and he really doesn’t care which side of the road you veer off – as long as you end up in a ditch. You can get into a ditch either way on this one.
First Ditch: God, Make Me Usable
Let’s say that your only prayer is that God make you usable. One trap with this approach is that you will see yourself as unable to flow with the Holy Spirit until some day in the future when you’re usable. Of course, the devil will keep suggesting that you have not yet arrived at the point of usability. If you keep thinking that way, God can’t use you because you aren’t open to what He wants to do now, mistakenly thinking that His “grace gifts” are merit badges for good character developed over time. They aren’t. For example, the Bible is clear that you can have no love walk and yet be used powerfully. I don’t recommend that, but it is possible.
1 Corinthians 13:1-2:
Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.
You would think that someone without love would not be usable at all, but the verses above prove otherwise.
I knew a man who was the most argumentative, belligerent person in the church. Most of what he said served to interfere with what the Lord wanted to do rather than be a blessing. One day He said he had a word, which shocked me given his persistent carnality. I let him give it. What a jaw-dropping experience it was as he gave a word that was 100% God! At least that day, he was available for God to use him, and God used him even though he was the last person I would have considered usable. It served a reminder to all of us that the gifts of the Spirit are given by grace, not merit. If someone is available, God can use him.
I’ve known other men who were insufferable to be around but flowed prodigiously in signs and wonders. Their pride and arrogance made you want to be somewhere other than around them, but God did tremendous miracles through them and there was a time the Lord used them to get blessings to people on a fairly large scale. “Usable” was not be the first word that came to mind with them, but they really wanted God to use them. They made themselves available, and He used them powerfully, even though I wouldn’t want to eat dinner with either of them – because I DID eat dinner with both of them, to my regret.
I used to get angry that God would use certain carnal people more than he was using me when I didn’t have their bad attitudes. But He reminded me that the only reason He uses ANYONE is His grace coupled with their availability, so I should rejoice that if God uses them, He can use me, too.
One of the devil’s favorite lines when you sin is, “Now God can’t use you!” That is a lie. God only uses people who sin, because there aren’t any other people around for Him to use! God proved that He can even speak through an ass!
Numbers 22:28-30:
And the LORD opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times?
And Balaam said unto the ass, Because thou hast mocked me: I would there were a sword in mine hand, for now would I kill thee.
And the ass said unto Balaam, Am not I thine ass, upon which thou hast ridden ever since I was thine unto this day? was I ever wont to do so unto thee? And he said, Nay.
So even if you’ve been less than brilliant lately, you can still be usable. You don’t need to pray that God will make you usable before He can use you at all.
It is noteworthy that the instructions below command you to desire, even earnestly desire, to have God use you in spiritual gifts, which is more along the lines of “use me” than “make me usable:”
1 Corinthians 12:31:
But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way.
1 Corinthians 14:1:
Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy.
1 Corinthians 14:39:
Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues.
These passages do NOT read: “Covet earnestly to be usable in the best gifts. Desire to be usable in spiritual gifts, especially usable in prophecy. Covet to be usable in prophecy.”
So I think you can see the ditch you will get into if all you pray is that God will make you usable. You’ll put it into the future and/or let Satan convince you that you are not YET usable. You can miss the difference between just being usable and actually allowing God to use you right now.
Second Ditch: God, Use Me
Having said all this so far, how could you possibly get into the opposite ditch if your only cry is “God, use me?” Well, let’s see…remember the carnal signs and wonders guys? They both embarrassed themselves a long time ago with their behavior, and in one of their cases, he was a notorious “one and done” deal whom pastors didn’t want to invite back. Few people would even know his name today. Pastors had him in for the signs and wonders but were appalled by his personal conduct and lack of proper submission to the local church’s authority. So even though he was very open to having the Holy Spirit use him, he lost platforms where the Holy Spirit COULD use him. Word gets out, and a bad ministerial reputation is hard to live down. The other is now so completely off the radar that search engine submissions describing what he did “back in the day” don’t return a single hit! I would not want that to be my legacy. This is what can happen when you want to be used but you aren’t usable. Also, many ministries will never have the impact they would have had if the preachers had not failed morally. If “being used” is everything to you and character doesn’t matter to you, you could be the next to follow in their sad footsteps. That’s certainly a ditch.
1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 are both chock full of moral qualifications to hold certain ministry offices. Even if you want to be used, you can disqualify yourself for these offices by being immoral, a lover of money, a drunk, and so on. You could possibly see some signs and wonders, but you’ll never be a legitimate leader in the Lord’s church when you are unusable for such a position.
So here is a passage supporting usability:
2 Timothy 2:19-21:
Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.
But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour.
If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work.
Another problem is that God Himself will stand in the way of your ministry if you get into pride!
James 4:6:
But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
1 Peter 5:5:
Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.
Pride will make you a flash-in-the-pan minister regardless of your anointing. You might be able to wow people on TV, but you’ll never fool God.
That’s why you don’t put new believers into ministry leadership positions.
1 Timothy 3:6:
Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil.
This shows that it takes time to be “usable” in leadership positions. A new believer might “be used” to work miracles, and he should be encouraged to follow the Spirit’s leading in this. But being “usable” for ministry leadership clearly happens over a process of time.
God Himself will put the brakes on your ministry if you’re proud, and He will do it because He loves you. He doesn’t want you doing something your character can’t handle. He knows that pride goes before destruction, and He loves you too much to set you up to destroy yourself. If He sees that performing a miracle leaves you with an ego too big to fit through the door, He will back off from using you for your own good. You might want to be used, but pride makes you unusable. Remember what happened to Nebuchadnezzar! He got too big for his own britches and the Lord brought him low until he humbled himself.
A famous minister before my time had tremendous success healing arthritis. They said you could hear the bones snapping in his meetings. But even a seasoned minister can get puffed up in pride if he only focuses on being used and not being usable. He let Satan book him on a pride trip, and he ended up spending his waning years in a wheelchair, bound by arthritis!
Some people think in error that all a denominational pastor has to do to get revival in his church is to get baptized with the Holy Spirit, at which point the Holy Spirit will lead both him and his church into an awesome move of God. It doesn’t work that way. What you’d have would be an untrained pastor – a complete novice in the things of the Spirit, trying to guide a big move of the Spirit. Think for a minute about this “just get him baptized with the Holy Spirit and he’ll have revival” lie. If that were true, we should shut down every Christian training center, Bible school, college and university because they are all obsolete now since the pastor can just be “Spirit-led” with no training!
Training, often referred to as preparation time, is essential, though it can take on different forms. The whole point of training is to make you usable, where if you were completely untrained, you’d be unusable leading a move of the Spirit because you’d have no idea what you’re doing or how to do it!
Even Jesus referred to a preparation time:
Luke 12:47:
And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.
In Bible examples, Joshua trained a long time under Moses, Elisha trained a long time under Elijah, and the disciples trained a long time under Jesus! It takes training to be usable the way God wants to use you, not just a desire to be used. You have to be good with the process of becoming usable.
Who Makes You Usable?
There is a theological issue with the “make me usable” prayer.
I discussed the necessity of humility above, but it is absolutely unscriptural to ask God to make you humble. To that extent, you can’t ask God to make you usable. You have to make yourself usable. Scripture commands you to humble yourself, not ask God to make you humble.
1 Peter 5:6:
Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
Matthew 18:4:
Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 23:12:
And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.
Luke 18:14:
I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
Exodus 10:3:
And Moses and Aaron came in unto Pharaoh, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before me? let my people go, that they may serve me.
2 Chronicles 34:27:
Because thine heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God, when thou heardest his words against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, and humbledst thyself before me, and didst rend thy clothes, and weep before me; I have even heard thee also, saith the LORD.
The servant who was punished in Luke 12:47 above did not prepare himself.
2 Timothy 2:19-21 above referred to purging yourself of certain things, not asking God to purge you.
Do you see the pattern here? God will work with you to lead you to where you can be trained properly, but YOU are the one who has the ultimate say in whether or not you’re usable based on the choices YOU make. God doesn’t make those choices for you. Thus, a prayer that God will make you usable is at best incomplete, though you can certainly ask Him to show you areas where you need to change to become more usable. He has promised to do that:
Philippians 3:13-15:
Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.
Conclusion
I hope you see that you need to desire earnestly that God use you, but that you also have to pursue being usable if you intend to keep being used consistently for the long haul as a leader. Much of the responsibility for being usable rests with you.