The Call

Sabra said:

My question is to pastors, I assume you all felt the Call before persuing that job as a career. What did it feel like? How did you know that you were being called by God for ministry in His church?

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From High School I knew what my Spiritual gifts were and that the Lord was calling me into full time ministry as a youth pastor. I never really paid much attention to that fact. It was always there in my mind and heart, even though I paid no attention to it. I was active in Church. or thirteen years I served as the High School Sunday School teacher. I was a leader in the youth group under the youth pastor there. Every function that involved serving and teaching students, I was a part of. Still I knew there was something as yet missing in my life and my ministry.

One day after a particular stressful day at work, I was sitting at the dinningroom table talking to my beautiful and complaining about work and how unfulfilling it was. She smiled, I said this often, and encouraged me to find another job. "what kind of job should I get?" I don't know why I asked her, but I did.
"You should become a youth pastor" At first I thought that was an absurd idea. I explained that I was to old and we could not afford three years of schooling.

Within one or two weeks I had five different people come up to me and encourage me to become a Youth pastor. The unsettling thing was that neither my wife or I had mentioned our conversation to anyone else. People would simply come up to me after church or youth group meetings and say, "hey, you should be a youth pastor." I started to think more seriously about the career change.

I prayed that if the Lord was indeed calling me into full time service of Him and His people he had to set up a few ducks in a row. I basically said I would do it if that was indeed His calling on my life, but first he had to provide a way for me to go to college. That meant he had to give me the time resources for class and study, and he had to provide the money to make it happen. We had some, but not enough to buy a semester's worth of books let alone tuition, travel expenses, books, etc.

He did! He provided everything!

With no increase in our salaries, and no college loans, the Lord provided for every bill that came due both for school and for our home. Time became overabundant when my boss informed me that he was allowing me to spend a quarter of my work day on homework. Through community college and on to Bible college the Lord directed every step and through in a ton of extras as well.

I said okay Lord. If you call I will go.


I don't know if I just wasted a ton of your time with my rattling on here, but I never felt the call. It had always been there, it just took me awhile to hear it. I heard it, and I answered His call. Looking back over my life, It had always been there. There were a ton of clues and hints that i missed, but the call had always been there.

Jericho

Have you heard and answered a similar call?

Hey everyone!
My name is Alex(please...call me Al), and I have been a Christian for only 4 months.
I cannot explain it, but I feel a calling to ministry. I want to be a Pastor. But the problem, perhaps, lies in that statement.
It is in my heart, and I don't see it any other way....but is this from God? Or is it my own desires? Is it too early to be wanting to do this?
I'm praying about it, and it's just things some members of the youth group i go to are saying...
I've been discussing this with many people...and my friend told me...that it may not only be my own thoughts, He said God has revealed it to him as well... He says we were meant to meet, and have a ministry.

I don't know what to think....I want to and I pray that God wants me to do this.
I am ready whenever God is.

Any thoughts?

Hello Al,

First of all, Welcome into the family of God, my dear brother!!

I am so excited that you even feel the possibility that God is calling you into fulltime ministry as a pastor. That is some exciting stuff to contemplate.

here is my advice:
1. pray for God to clearly show if this is His Call
2. Talk to your pastor about this
3. Serve in your church in as many different areas as possible (Not all at the same time)
4. pray for God to show you your spiritual gifts.
5. Exercise your gifts frequently
6. Pray
7. Pray
8. Be still and wait for Him to answer

Al, I would also ike to encourage you not to jump immediately into a pastorate yet. God needs to mature you in the faith, and mold you into the image of His son. That may take a bit of time, it may take a ton of time, or it may only be a year or two.

Don't immediately jump into ministry until you are convinced of a few things:
1, God has indeed called you to ministry
2. A number of Christian witnesses confirming God's call
(Not just peers and friends but from the church leadership, etc.

My pastor asked me this question when I first heeded the call of God into the ministry: If you can find anything to do and work at that will make you happier than ministry do that instead. If the possibility of being happier remains than you need to search harder, because ministry is not it.

I will be praying for you my friend and brother in Christ. Let me know what happens, and if I can serve you in any way through this process.

Jeriko

jeriko said:

Hello Al,

First of all, Welcome into the family of God, my dear brother!!

I am so excited that you even feel the possibility that God is calling you into fulltime ministry as a pastor. That is some exciting stuff to contemplate.

here is my advice:
1. pray for God to clearly show if this is His Call
2. Talk to your pastor about this
3. Serve in your church in as many different areas as possible (Not all at the same time)
4. pray for God to show you your spiritual gifts.
5. Exercise your gifts frequently
6. Pray
7. Pray
8. Be still and wait for Him to answer

Al, I would also ike to encourage you not to jump immediately into a pastorate yet. God needs to mature you in the faith, and mold you into the image of His son. That may take a bit of time, it may take a ton of time, or it may only be a year or two.

Don't immediately jump into ministry until you are convinced of a few things:
1, God has indeed called you to ministry
2. A number of Christian witnesses confirming God's call
(Not just peers and friends but from the church leadership, etc.

My pastor asked me this question when I first heeded the call of God into the ministry: If you can find anything to do and work at that will make you happier than ministry do that instead. If the possibility of being happier remains than you need to search harder, because ministry is not it.

I will be praying for you my friend and brother in Christ. Let me know what happens, and if I can serve you in any way through this process.

Jeriko

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Wow! Thank you very much brother! That was very nice, informative, and thorough(i might add lol).

Yeah, I wasn't planning anytime soon...unless God says otherwise lol....I would like to do some kind of apprenticeship or schooling beforehand...I want to learn as much as I could for me as well, not only for reasons of ministry(i'm in the sponge state) lol...

I'm gonna take your advice and pursue some ministries...discuss with my Pastor, and oh yeah! PRAY!

THanks and God Bless!
Al

Sabra said:

My question is to pastors, I assume you all felt the Call before persuing that job as a career. What did it feel like? How did you know that you were being called by God for ministry in His church?

Click to expand...

i was at a youth retreat, the youth pastor speaking asked all those called into the ministry to please stand up and i clearly felt the Lord saying in my heart to stand up. but it was 3 yrs before i knew where he wanted me.

Jeriko

I have a similar question for you. As far back as I can remember I have always heard people say something to me about being a pastor. I recall some woman at church praying for me about being a pastor. I went on through school and stuff, always going to church with my parents. I'm still in church now over this summer I've decided to pursue this pronouncement on my life.
For the ten years ince high school, I've one dead end job after another. The only things that have remained consistent in my life is my involvment with my church and God, of course.
Now, I'm secretly doubting whether I've been called or not. I want to pastor. I see a need for a committed, effective pastor in my community that cares for the people of the church and surrounding area. I have visions/daydreams of doing a wide variety of things for 'my' congregation/community... but... I've had no success getting into this very good Christian college in VA, nor my local community college; I'm frustrated with church in general and I feel like I'm on an uncharted island.

My question: how can I find out once and for all if I have really been called? I dont want to waste God's time trying to be in a posistion I'm not designed for.

wayoutsidethebox said:

Jeriko

I have a similar question for you. As far back as I can remember I have always heard people say something to me about being a pastor. I recall some woman at church praying for me about being a pastor. I went on through school and stuff, always going to church with my parents. I'm still in church now over this summer I've decided to pursue this pronouncement on my life.
For the ten years ince high school, I've one dead end job after another. The only things that have remained consistent in my life is my involvment with my church and God, of course.
Now, I'm secretly doubting whether I've been called or not. I want to pastor. I see a need for a committed, effective pastor in my community that cares for the people of the church and surrounding area. I have visions/daydreams of doing a wide variety of things for 'my' congregation/community... but... I've had no success getting into this very good Christian college in VA, nor my local community college; I'm frustrated with church in general and I feel like I'm on an uncharted island.

My question: how can I find out once and for all if I have really been called? I dont want to waste God's time trying to be in a posistion I'm not designed for.

Click to expand...

I know that you asked another member about this...but I have some thoughts....

first: was the person praying over you the only time you had a confirmation?

second: have you tried other avenues: working at a church as an intern, going to another school?

ministry is hard, and if you can do anything else, do it...but, if you feel that God really has called you this way, don't let anything stop you from pursuing that call...God always works it out!

No problem, your response if welcomed. If anyone else would like to respond, please do.

I guess I'd have to say that I've had more confirmations. Random people ask me am I a minister, what few high school friends I still see always ask me to pray for/with them and ask when am I going to start my church. This has been going on for years.

As for school, my hands are somewhat tied. My school district doesnt have a GPA for me and I cant find any 4 year school that will accept me. But, to get around that, I'm trying to get into my local community college with so I can transfer in. Once I get some funding issues straight, I pray this plan works.
Also, I dont know of any churches in my area that will allow interns that arent actually attending classes.

Although I may sound defeated about school, I am surprisingly upbeat and eager. Plus, I knew I would run into some problems getting started.

WOTB,

Sorry about the delay in getting back to you but have been very busy.

That is a very good question about knowing for sure if you are called or not. Unfortuneately there are a lot of pastors out there in the world today who haven't been called and they are slowly leading their churches away from Christ and toward the cultural guagmire of our world today.

I don't know if I can help you know difinitively whether God is calling you into His service or not. I can give a couple of helpful tidbits of advice though.

For myself, I never actually had a Moses type call to the ministry. No burning bush or loud voice telling me to lead His people out of the promised land.

You have probably already read my mini testimony on my call to the ministry, so i wont redundantly bore you to tears again needlessly.

Things you can do to try to ascertain God's will and calling on your life.
1. Pray for God to show you His will for your life.
2. Be humble enough to acknowledge and pursue whatever He shows you whther it is in full time ministry as a pastor, youth pastor, elder, deacon, teacher, janitor, student, or in a holding pattern.
3. Seek the testimony of others. Look for spiritual leaders within and without of the church who know you. Ask them if they think God is calling you into the ministry and be specific. Ask them If they believe you are equipped for that ministry.

(Don't look for yes men/women. Look for people who will be brutally hinest with you. I had two people tell me that I would never be a good minister, and they told me why they felt that way. It helped me to identify areas in my life where I needed to make drastic changes before I could go into the ministry.)

4. Talk to your pastor or pastors about this. They will probably offer great advice as well as prayer partner with you in this.
5. Pray that the Lord will lead you to the job of your dreams.

6. This bit of advice I got from my pastor when I considered following God into the ministry. He said if you could imagine yourself being happy doing any job in the world or being fulfilled by any other employment than ministry than to the other thing.
(Ministry is often thought of by people and at one time myself included as an easy job. You really only work one day a week and only a couple of hours on that day at that. Let me tell you, it is not an easy job. There are parts that make it ideal. A flexible work schedule, etc. The truth is that it is not a job it is a life. There is heartache and misunderstandings aplenty. You must give God and the people you serve everything. keep in mind that when you have a wife and kids there is a huge burden placed on them as well.) I don't want to scare you away from ministry, but if this does scare you then good, because it should scare you to the core of your being.

7. One school rejection does not mean a no to ministry. God could be calling you to a different school, He could be telling you to wait a bit. Apply to a few schools, and allow God to speak through the process.
8. Money, don't worry about that. If He wants you he will provide for you, but keep your eyes open. He will provide and you need to be aware of His provision.
8. Pray, pray, pray, pray
9. Listen, listen, listen, listen

Know this WOTB,
I will be praying for you on this endeavor, this leap of faith. God will provide if He has called you. Be willing to accept where He wants you wherever that may be. The best place to be is in His Will doing what He wants for His good pleasure. Anywhere else is just getting by.

Your friend and brother in Christ

Jeriko