God Magnet

About seven or eight years ago I remember one of my high school classmates singing a song by one of his favorite bands, MxPx. The song was called "Chick Magnet" and the line he always sang was, "Well he's a chick magnet, if ya know what I mean. The way the girlies just go to him, well ya should've seen."

People often ask me how I get words of knowledge. Do I go around and constantly ask God to show me things? That’s a good idea, but I have only done that a few times. Do I seek the Lord for a few hours every morning to get a list of things to look for? Nope, but that isn’t a bad idea either. Most of the time I just feel something in my body that isn’t what my body would normally do. Then I ask people who around me if they have a problem with that part of their body. I really can’t take credit for getting the words of knowledge because frankly I didn’t do anything to get them. Well, maybe I did actually do something to get them.

This morning I spent a few minutes reflecting on the goodness of God. I remembered the day almost a year ago when God gave me a huge download of things He wanted to heal and I saw each one of them healed. I remember being at work and getting words of knowledge for my co-workers who weren’t Christians. Since I knew that it was God speaking to me, I was only slightly hesitant to ask them if they had that problem. For what seemed like weeks I was getting dozens of words for people every day. Actually it was only three or four days, but I could literally be writing an email and would get words of knowledge for the person. However, I then began to become afraid to give the words because of how people were reacting. Whereas I had been very accurate at first, I started to be much less accurate. Before I knew it, I wasn’t getting words of knowledge any more.

Now fast forward to June of this year. I was going on some ministry trips and was stepping out with what God was showing me. Then I went on more trips in July and even if I wasn’t sure about whether it was God or not, I would try it out. By the time August rolled around, it felt as though I had antennas sticking out from my body in every direction. I would pick up words of knowledge for people about problems they had forgotten they had because they had become accustomed to them. I started to realize what was happening just before going on a trip to Petoskey, Michigan at the beginning of September. I was no longer afraid of whether I was wrong or not; I was just going to give the word of knowledge regardless.

There are things that we can do to attract God. Some are obvious while others are less obvious. Some of those obvious things are reading our bibles, praying, spending time in worship and things like that. The things that are less obvious have to do with God’s character. God is good, so if we aren’t ready to obey what He is going to tell us, He isn’t going to tell us. In His goodness, He spares us the heartache of repeated failures that come simply because we aren’t ready for the responsibility that He gave us. No guy would ever be a chick magnet if he never talked to girls. In the same way, no person is going to be a God magnet if they never talk to God. Ask God questions, and make sure to answer the phone when He calls. He looks at our faithfulness and will give you the responsibility when He sees you are ready to handle it.

There is one more great way to become a God Magnet. How do you respond to a friend who asks, "Can you to do me a favor?" Do you immediately say yes or do you hesitantly say maybe? I had someone ask me two days ago if I could do a favor for them and I told them frankly, "it depends on what it is," because I knew that his priorities were not my priorities. When he told me what it was that he wanted me to do, I told him that I couldn’t do it because it conflicted with a higher priority. We have to know what our priorities are, and if you want to be a God Magnet, then God must be number one on your priority list. Regardless of my desire to help them, if I constantly turn down people who ask me to do favors for them, it won’t be long before they stop asking me for help. They will find someone who is not only wanting to help, but is also willing to make any sacrifice necessary to help. God loves that we desire for Him to use us, but He is attracted to the people who say yes before He even asks.