A Prayer to Help You Discover Your Gifts and Abilities
Dr. Neil Anderson
"As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another." - 1 Peter 4:10
For the Christian, true fulfillment in life can be summarized by the popular bumper sticker slogan, "Bloom where you're planted." Peter said it this way: "As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another" (1 Peter 4:10). Your greatest fulfillment in life will come when you discover your unique gifts and abilities and use them to edify others and glorify the Lord.
God allowed me to understand this vital principle before entering the ministry while I was still employed as an aerospace engineer. I knew God wanted me to be an ambassador for Him where I worked, so I started a breakfast Bible study in the bowling alley next door. My announcement about the Bible study had only been posted in our office about an hour before a Jewish fellow pulled it off the wall and brought it to me. "You can't bring Jesus in here," he objected.
"I can't do otherwise," I said. "Every day I walk in here Jesus comes in with me." He was not impressed with my response!
One of the men who found Christ in the Bible study took over when I left Honeywell to enter seminary. A few months later I went back to visit my friends in the Bible study. "Do you remember the Jewish fellow?" the leader asked.
"Sure, I remember him," I said, recalling his brash opposition to our Bible study.
"Well, he got sick and almost died. I went to the hospital and visited him every night. Finally, I led him to Christ."
I was ecstatic at the realization that I had become a spiritual grandparent. The sense of fulfillment was exhilarating. And it all happened because I started a simple little Bible study where I worked in order to do what Paul said: "Do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry" (2 Timothy 4:5).
Prayer: Father, I want to bloom where I am planted and resist the temptation to compare myself to others. Help me see the ways you have uniquely gifted me to serve you and your Kingdom. Thank you for making me just as I am. Forgive me for the ways I have compared myself and coveted the abilities of others. I pray that, starting today, I would see the opportunities if front of me to use my gifts and abilities. In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.
Editor’s Note: Content taken from the Daily in Christ devotional, Using Your Unique Gifts and Abilities, written by Dr. Neil T. Anderson. You can read that piece in full here. All rights reserved.
Related Resource: What If God’s Heart Toward You Is Kinder Than You Think?
In this episode of Talk About That, you will laugh along with stories about children’s books, volleyball mornings, St. Patrick’s Day, and even the questionable legacy of the Power Team, but underneath the humor is a thoughtful conversation about one of the deepest questions of faith: how God truly sees us. John and Jonnie reflect on weakness, mercy, and the struggle many believers feel in accepting that God is not only patient with them, but genuinely pleased to call them His own. It’s an honest, encouraging reminder that our relationship with God is not built on performance, perfection, or “having it all together,” but on His love, grace, and fatherly delight in His children. You'll come away challenged to see yourself less through the lens of self-criticism and more through the steady, compassionate eyes of a God who knows you fully, loves you deeply, and may just be rooting for you more than you realize. If you laughed out loud listening to this episode, be sure to follow Talk About That on Apple and Spotify!
Originally published Sunday, 21 March 2021.
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