1 Corinthians 9:24, NIV:  Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.

"Lord, make me a preacher of Your Word," Victor prayed to God. "With all my heart I so badly want to show others the way." Each day, Victor fell on his knees in his mountain home, and prayed the very same prayer. And each day, after his prayer, he would go about his daily work--wondering why the Lord had not responded as he expected. He seldom left his mountain home. He seldom saw anyone. He seldom read the Bible. It may seem a bit odd to think that someone would pray as Victor did; that someone would ask to be a preacher, and not seek out those to whom he would preach. It may seem strange that someone would want to proclaim God's Word who seldom reads it. Yet so many of us ask things of God and wait for Him as Victor did. Maybe we ask God to help us grow in the knowledge of His Word, yet we fill our time until there is no time to read and study. Perhaps we ask God to help us to overcome a sin, yet do not take action to avoid circumstances that tempt us. And so, we sit and we wish and we wonder why it's so hard to be what God wants us to be. God has great things in store for us that we will never know so long as we sit by waiting for the easy fix, or the wave of a magic wand.