What will you do to make a difference in the world? Today we celebrate a hero, Martin Luther King, Jr., who is one of the best examples of a difference maker—a problem solver. He saw a problem and went after it like his heart depended on it.

What about you? Like MLK, Jr., I’m sure there’s “that thing” in your life that finds you saying, “Someone’s got to do something about that!” It’s not an accident when a problem has captured your heart! God wired you that way and wants YOU to be that “someone” who does something about it! I read once that good problem solvers use a combination of intuition and logic to come up with their solutions. The key word that stuck with me was intuition. As Christians we know intuition is from the Holy Spirit. And, to really hear God, we need to be close to God.

So how did Martin Luther King, Jr. make such a difference? I read an incredible letter he wrote to His barber (yes, his barber, and it was 40 pages long!) and found the answer. He explained, “It often happens that I lose myself in such rich thoughts [literally, "that my thoughts go for a walk"] in one petition of the Lord's Prayer and then I let all other six petitions go. When such rich good thoughts come, one should let the other prayers go and give room to these thoughts, listen to them in silence and by no means suppress them. For here the Holy Spirit himself is preaching and one word of His sermon is better than thousands of our own prayers. Therefore I have often learned more in one prayer than I could have obtained from much reading and thinking.”

So the answer to how He made such a difference? He was close to God. He listened. He disciplined Himself to spend time with God, and God gave him answers.

He couldn’t have done it without God, and you can’t do it without God either. Your intense closeness and intune ear to all that the Holy Spirit is telling you will help you. The beauty is, thanks to Jesus dying on the cross for us, we forever have a “helper” as Jesus explains in John 14:26: “But the Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor—Counselor, Strengthener, Standby), the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name [in My place, to represent Me and act on My behalf], He will teach you all things. And He will help you remember everything that I have told you.” Every time I read this in the Amplified Version, the capitalized word “Standby” gives me chills. Is that not the most loving thing God does for us? He is on Standby for us, ready to speak life into our hearts and help us make a difference.