The person God will use must be faithful to a purpose, a calling, and a destiny. It is the desire of every Christian to serve God. But those who want to dedicate themselves entirely to this ministry and be victorious need personal preparation. In the Bible, we find many precious words of advice and rebuke for the person who knows they have been called.

“Man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.” Proverbs 16:1

Here, the words “Man’s heart plans his way” speak to the need to prepare our hearts. If you are called to ministry, then you must prepare for it. Do everything you can to become a successful minister. Your success in any work depends on your preparation. If you want to pilot an airplane, it will be easy if you have taken flying lessons beforehand. But if you are just an amateur, your flight could end in tragedy.

Preparation is necessary in every area of life.

I only understood this when I became a pastor, not before. I saw that the reason many ministers and pastors of small churches failed was due to their laziness. Success doesn’t come by chance.

Today, there are churches where people don’t know what prayer nights are. There are churches where people don’t know what 24-hour prayer chains are. There are churches where people don’t know what leadership training is. There are churches where people don’t know what home cells are. We cannot deny that churches like these are still churches, but they should not expect significant growth or success. The reason is the low preparation of their leaders for ministry. It is only during preparation that you truly understand what you must do to transform your call into a successful ministry.

But if you don’t have a clear and proper understanding of the direction you are supposed to take, you will grasp at anything that comes your way.

This concerns people who are aware of their call, who know they have been called to ministry. If you know that God might soon entrust you with a particular ministry, then it is important to consider in advance what might await you in the future and see how to prepare for it. Above all, how you would like to see your ministry develop must be clear to you.

When I became a pastor, I already knew what I wanted to see in the church. For example, I knew what kind of worship choir I wanted to have and knew what I needed to create such a choir. Even two to three years before becoming a pastor, I had it in mind and worked tirelessly to form that choir. I knew I wanted growth in the church, but I had no fanciful illusions about it.

Some pastors think, “Oh yes, I will do evangelism and have thousands of people all at once.” I was very aware that this was a huge task! To “win” a person, it’s not enough to just bring them to church; you also have to do everything to keep them in the church. I understood very well that even at best, only ten percent of those who give their lives to Christ ultimately stay in the church. But I believed I would have results because I had already planned how I would reach and maintain my goals.

So you see, you will succeed in your ministry if you have adequately prepared.

In addition to that, you must know that what God expects from you is what He has entrusted to you. Your call by God to ministry can be compared to someone employing you to work for them. It is very important to know what your employer expects from you. You may know your job well, but the most important thing is to meet your boss’s expectations by performing the task entrusted to you. Similarly, it is important for you to know what is required of you in the ministry to which God calls you and what kind of person God wants to see in you.

Our verse speaks of “Man’s heart plans his way,” it is about the preparation of man’s heart. You can and must prepare in advance. This will help you. But the final result, growth, fruit, and success that you obtain, comes from the Lord: “But the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.” The results you get depend on the Lord. But before God gives you fruits, you should be well-prepared. When God sees that you have prepared enough, when He sees that you are working on yourself, when He sees that you are putting in maximum effort to achieve the goals you have set, then it will be much easier for Him to bless your work, answer your prayers, give you fruit, and grant you results.

You see, on the one hand, you must do everything as if the results depend entirely on you, as if only you and no one else can do everything possible for success. On the other hand, you must understand and believe that only God can make what you have planned and done come true. In the natural world, you do everything as if success depends entirely on you. But in the spiritual world, you totally rely on God because the result you get depends on Him alone. Without Him, you can do nothing. You must realize that you are powerless without Him and that He is the one working through you.

In the natural world, God cannot do anything because He is spirit. He cannot place one brick on another; that’s your job, and you are the one with flesh and blood. In the spiritual world, you must entirely rely on Him and believe that for Him, everything is possible, and He will do everything for you. It is only faith that gives us this ability to commune with God in the spiritual world.

You must also know what God expects from you in the ministry He has entrusted to you. God does not call you to the ministry to make you unhappy, miserable, or discouraged. I do not believe that God would waste His precious time doing that. I believe that if God has called you, He is convinced that you can succeed. So if something goes wrong, it’s your fault, not God’s. I do not believe that God simply calls a person and abandons them. I believe that God has called you not only to succeed but also to have tremendous success. He wants you to have maximum success! He does not want you to start bearing fruit only; He even wants your fruits to start multiplying.

Anyone whom God has called has the potential to succeed. If you are in Jesus Christ, if you are pleasing to God and do not seek your own interest, if you do His will, then you will certainly be successful in your ministry. Do not stay in stagnation, do not remain in one place, do not be satisfied with just 20 people in your church, and do not be content with having only the minimum. Aspire to reach the maximum because God is a God of fulfillment. He is not a God of defeat; He is a God of success. He is not a God of stagnation and depression; He is a God of progress, a God who always moves forward. So focus your thoughts on success. You are His child.

Every creature reproduces according to its kind. Monkeys reproduce monkeys, and strong men reproduce strong men. God is the source of success. You are His child. This means that success is already innate in you. So you will be successful. Therefore, do not be part of mediocrity!

When I see that our church is stagnant and not moving forward, I turn to God, I cry and pray, I examine myself and try to discover what I might have done wrong. I study my Bible, read books, get up and train people. I try to do everything I can because I know that God is not at fault. There is something that I have not been able to do well.

The great wisdom of God is hidden in the book of Proverbs:

“There are four things on earth that are small, yet they are extremely wise.” Proverbs 30:24

No matter that you are not charismatic or experienced, no matter that you have been unlucky in your life, and even, no matter that you think you are needy. These things matter little! It is written that there are four small animals on the earth, but their wisdom makes them great. What matters is what is in you, the fact that you are born of the spirit and that the spirit dwells in you. Jesus living in you sets you apart from everyone else. Do not look at your insignificant appearance; do not look at your own negative characteristics! Begin to look at yourself differently, have the vision of success, and believe that not only will you have great success but very great success.

Jesus living in you makes you different from everyone else.

This text is an extract from the book “The Man God Will Use ” written by Sunday Adelaja.