Saying yes to God can be hard. It can mean giving up a lot of things, and turning away from things that we view as key to our happiness but there's a joy greater than anything that we could ever experience on hand if we do. If we've declared our availability to God but then in reality don't feel like we can go down the path opening up before us, it might be because we've still got a way to go after we say, "Yes, Lord, use me".
Say no As you might have guessed, this isn't about saying no to God but saying no to everything else that stops you saying yes to him. It's impossible to say yes to every opportunity that comes your way and devote the necessary time and attention to each one. Making yourself available to God is inevitably going to mean making at least one sacrifice, even if it's just your time.
Free up your schedule If you want God to use you, you need to ask yourself: "Have I made space in my life for God?". Identify which activities are continuously getting in the way of enabling you to devote yourself to pursuing his will and reduce the amount of time you spend doing them or eliminate them completely.
Be prepared to step outside your comfort zone Sometimes when we express our availability to God we can already have in mind something that we want to do which will have the added benefit of serving God. Praying that you become president because you really want to become president with the caveat of doing God's will isn't the same as declaring honest and unconditional availability. Being genuinely available means accepting challenges even if they're not quite what you had in mind or something that you don't feel prepared for. Ephesians 2:10 says: "For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."
Pray It doesn't have to be elaborate, just talk to God and tell him that you're willing to do his work. Once you made yourself available, communicating with God throughout to make sure you're on the right track is key, and it will give you the encouragement to help you as you do as he instructs.
Say yes, and mean it It's all well and good vocalising that you want to do what ever God's calling you to do but do you really mean it? If you can't bear saying no, cutting out distractions and going to God for guidance, then you're not really available. God knows what in your heart so when you say yes, you need to mean it.
