Lord, I need your help. I am feeling the strain of stress. My body is agitated by worry and fear. I confess to you my inability to handle it alone. I surrender my mind to you.
Take charge of the control center of my brain. Think your thoughts through me and send into my nervous system the pure signals of your peace, power and patients.
I don't want to have a divided mind fragmented from your control. Forgive my angers rooted in petulant self-will. Make me a channel, a riverbed, of Your love to others suffering as much stress as I.
Help me act on the inspiration You gave me rather than stifling Your guidance. Take charge of my tongue so that it becomes an instrument of healing. Make me a communicator of love and forgiveness as I cheer others on to their best.
I commit my schedule to you, Lord: help me to know and do your will. Guide me in doing your will on your timing so that I don't burn out doing the things I don't really want to do, or fearing to do what is your best for me.
Set me free from the tyranny of acquisitiveness and the lust of seeking my security in things rather than in my relationship with you. I long to be the person you created me to be and not anyone else.
Forgive me when I take my signals of success from others and not you. Most of all, Lord, help me to catch the drumbeat of your guidance and live by your timing.
Here is my life - invade it, fill it, transform it. And I thank you in advance for the healing of my life and for giving me strength to conquer the stress of daily life.
Amen.
Discover your spiritual gifts by serving
by Rick Warren
Since we find ourselves fashioned into all these excellently formed and marvelously functioning parts in Christ's body, let's just go ahead and be what we were made to be. Romans 12:5.
The best way to discover your spiritual gifts and abilities is to experiment with different areas of service.
For instance, when I was younger, I could have taken a hundred tests to determine my gifts and abilities; yet, they would have never told me was gifted at teaching. It was only after I began accepting opportunities to speak that I saw the results, received confirmation from others, and realized, "God has gifted me to do this!"
Many people get the discovery process backwards. They think, "Once I discover my spiritual gifts, then I'll know my ministry." It actually works the exact opposite way. Until you're actually involved in serving, you're not going to know what you're good at. The thing to do is just start serving and experimenting with different ministries; only then will you discover your gifts.
You have dozens of hidden abilities and gifts you don't know about because you've never tried them out. So I encourage you to try doing some things you've never done before. No matter how old you are, I urge you to never stop experimenting.
Over the years, I have met many people who discovered hidden talents when they were in their seventies and eighties. In fact, I know a woman in her nineties who runs and wins 10K races; she didn't discover that she enjoyed running until she was seventy-eight!
Don't try to figure out your gifts before volunteering to serve somewhere. Just start serving. Try teaching, leading, organizing, playing an instrument, or working with teenagers. You will never know what you're good at until you try. When it doesn't work out, call it an "experiment," not a failure, because it will help you eventually learn what you're good at.[/color]
