It's Not All up to You

I discovered a surprising phenomenon many years ago when our family traveled and sang in churches: the amount of benefit a person derives from a song is not entirely up to the performers.


Some audiences were so openhearted, they pulled the music from us. Ministering to them was as easy as eating raspberry truffles. Other crowds sat stony-faced, daring us to help them grow. Singing to them was slow torture.

So I began praying that the Lord would send exactly whom He wanted to our concerts-not one person more or less than those who needed to hear our message of grace, and would receive it. It worked.

I’ve employed the same method in my speaking. If I pray for exactly the right audience, the crowd is eager to learn and grow, and the message flows from my heart like warm honey.

Now, I believe the Lord is calling me apply this principle to my writing. I will ask that He lead the ones He wants to hear my words, to my columns, articles, blog, and eventually my books. I will pray that their hearts be open to the message I present to them, and that God will use my words to enrich, even change their lives.

What a privilege to work for the Master! How humbling that He would use me to speak His grace to hope-starved hearts. But I must do more than write His messages. I must pray for my audiences to receive them.

If you are a writer, an artist, a speaker, a dancer, or a singer, do you pray for your audiences?