Finding Those Called to Go
“Go, for Saul is my chosen instrument to take my message to the Gentiles and to kings, as well as to the people of Israel” (Acts 9:15).
This message came from the Lord in a vision to Ananias. What faith this disciple had! Of course, he did explain to God what a terrifying person Saul was and the terrible things he had done to believers before he went. But he went. He laid hands on him and said: “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road, has sent me so that you might regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 9:17). Saul was immediately healed, gaining sight, not only for here, but new sight given by the Holy Spirit into the Kingdom of God.
So God told another believer about Saul’s calling and it was through his laying on of hands that God gave Saul new vision, a new calling and eventually, a new name. While Paul did ministry in the years leading up to Acts 13, it is following the commissioning of he and Barnabas by their church in Antioch that his missionary journeys began. Here is what happened:
The congregation in Antioch was blessed with a number of prophet-preachers and teachers: Barnabas, Simon, Lucius the Cyrenian, Manaen, an advisor to Herod, and Saul.
One day as they were worshiping God—they were also fasting as they waited for guidance—the Holy Spirit spoke: “‘Take Barnabas and Saul and commission them for the work I have called them to do.’ So they commissioned them. In that circle of intensity and obedience, of fasting and praying, they laid hands on their heads and sent them off” (Acts 13:2-3).
In Paul’s life we see how God spoke to an individual believer to affirm Paul’s calling, then we see how God called an entire church to commission him and send him out. John Piper claims, “This moment of prayer and fasting resulted in a missions movement that would make Christianity the dominant religion of the Roman Empire within two-and-a-half centuries…”[1]
Today we need both individuals and churches praying and fasting, asking God to show them who he is calling and then bravely stepping up to commission and send them. According to Joshua Project, there are still 7,402 unreached people groups who need to hear the hope of Jesus. We need field partners that are willing to be pioneers, frontline workers for these people groups that will not be easy to reach. Has God already been speaking to you about someone? If so, in the words of Ananias, “What are you waiting for?” (Acts 22:16). If not, start with the prayer that Jesus gave us:
“The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields” (Matthew 9:37-38).
With you, as we begin to send from the entire body of Christ, believers from all the nations to those who have never heard, we will finally reach every people, tribe and tongue!
[1] Piper, John. A Hunger for God: Desiring God Through Fasting and Prayer, Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 1997, p.107.
Sheryl Shaw: At 9 years old, God spoke to me and said only two things, “I am God” and “I am real.” He did this every night for months. This experience was the beginning of my faith journey. As I hear very similar stories from pre-believers around the world, I know exactly what they are talking about and join with them as they begin their discovery of who this God is and how to follow him. It has been my privilege to share the truth of Jesus Christ not only here in the US but around the world. I do that currently as the North America Director for Global Teams and as the Mission & Outreach Pastor at my local church, New Covenant.