Galatians 1:1-2: This letter is from Paul, an apostle. I was not appointed by any group of people or any human authority, but by Jesus Christ himself and by God the Father, who raised Jesus from the dead. All the brothers and sisters here join me in sending this letter to the churches of Galatia.

As a child of God and a minister of the Gospel, there’s nothing that is as fulfilling as when the Lord flows through me to touch a person’s heart and life. Paul tells us, in Corinthians, that we have this treasure in earthen vessels. He goes on to explain why the Lord has chosen to perform His will in this manner; it is so that the people will know that it is the power of God flowing through us.

So it’s not according to our will or man’s will, but God will perform His mighty work through people who allow Him to flow. Paul was quick to let the Galatians know where his power to be an apostle of the faith came from.

According to 2 Corinthians 5:18, we all have been given the ministry of reconciliation (that includes you). You might be thinking, “God could never use me.” He will use you, but you must allow Him to work through your heart. If you will remember, before Paul became a mighty man of God, he was Saul, a murderer. And like he wrote in 2 Corinthians 5, he, too was a new creature in Christ. Saul humbled himself and sought the Lord’s will over his own desires in life, and God was able to use him. The Lord will do the same work through you, but you must be willing to submit to His voice.

“Work through me, Lord” is more than just you and me hearing the voice of the Lord. He can do far more than we could ever ask or think, if we will simply pray before we start our day or set out to accomplish His will; this is what I have discovered in my times of prayer. I no longer just seek to hear instructions from the Lord, but I press on in my prayer time to allow Him to fill my heart with His will. It’s obvious that Paul had come to that truth in his own prayer life with the Holy Spirit. He had learned how to become and to accept the call of God that was on his life to become an apostle through his time in prayer with the Lord.

None of us has the power within our humanity to perform the wonders of the Lord, so we must take the time needed to prepare our hearts for Him to work through us. Prayer will determine if a minister is ordinary or extraordinary. Jesus always sought the Father in prayer and moved according to the leading of the Holy Spirit afterwards. At the end of His ministry on earth, He told the Jews one day. “The Father is always with me, because I always do those things that please Him.” The result of a life of prayer and supplication is a life that pleases the Father in all that we say and do.  —submitted by Pastor Asa Dockery, US