“Use Me” - One of the 7 Prayers Jesus Loves to Answer
Wednesday’s Verse:
From Matthew 9:37-38 ESV
Then (Jesus) said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
Perhaps the sweetest, boldest prayer a Christian can pray is this simple sentence: “Lord Jesus, use me.”
It is the prayer of faith that wells up out of the Gospel—because only a Christian who knows they are already forgiven, already loved, already claimed by Christ can ask, “Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee.” And here is the staggering Lutheran comfort: Jesus loves to answer that prayer.
He who loved us while we were yet sinners does not now, because we are His redeemed children, turn a deaf ear when we cry, “Send me! Use even me!” The harvest is still plentiful, and the same Lord of the harvest who looked on the crowds with compassion (Matt 9: 36) still looks on our world, our neighborhoods, our families—and still says, “Pray… and I will send.”
Martin Luther himself prayed daily, “Ah, dear Lord, make me a faithful minister of Thy Word.” God answered that prayer in ways that shook the world. He is still answering it today—sometimes in cathedrals and mission fields, but far more often in kitchens, classrooms, cancer centers, and ordinary conversations where a forgiven sinner lets Christ’s love flow through cracked, everyday vessels.
When you pray, “Use me,” you are not twisting God’s arm. You are stepping into the very thing Jesus already died and rose to make possible: a life spent for others in His name. He delights to take our weak, stumbling, “Here-am-I” prayers and turn them into eternal fruit.
So cry out again today. He who loved you unto the cross will not refuse the prayer, “Lord, here am I—use even me.”
✝️ A Prayer for Today:
Lord Jesus Christ, You are the Lord of the harvest and the Lover of my soul. Thank You for loving me when I was unlovable and for washing me clean in Your blood, and for promising never to leave me. Take my life—my time, my words, my hands, my ordinary days—and use them for Your glory and for the good of my neighbor. When I am afraid or feel too small for the task, remind me that the power is Yours, not mine. Please send me, and go with me. Amen.
Apostles’ Creed:
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Luther’s Morning Prayer:
I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have kept me this night from all harm and danger; and I pray that You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You. For into Your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.
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