He said to them,
“When you pray.”
Luke 11:2a
For God to be the greatest
in our lives, we’re going to need some help. Divine help. Because the natural
inclination of our hearts is to be self-centered rather than God-centered, it’s
critical that we humble ourselves in prayer.
When you pray, start with God. Jesus taught His disciples to begin their prayers
by saying, “Father, hallowed be your
name” (Luke 11:2). Start your prayers by telling God how great He is!
Declare who He is and all He’s done. Delight in His names, nature, promises,
and character. Beginning with God puts our prayers in perspective. We sense our
powerlessness and His omnipotence.
When you pray, humble yourself before God. In the parable of the two men who prayed, the
Pharisee prayed about himself. The tax collector beat his breast and begged for
God’s mercy. It’s interesting to note that Jesus’ parable is more about the
attitude of pride than the how-to of prayer. His intended audience was those who were confident of their own
righteousness and looked down on everyone else. His parable point was that those who exalt themselves will be humbled,
and those who humble themselves will be exalted (Luke 18:9, 14b).
When you pray, don’t put on a show. Within the Sermon on the Mount Jesus instructs us
to get alone with the Father. This is tender time between the Father and His
child, not stage performance for those listening in. As far as word count, use
less. There are no bonus points for babblers for our Father already knows what
we need (Matthew 6:5-8).
When you pray, focus on God’s glory. God expects His glory to be the primary petition of
our prayers. Jesus’ prayers for Himself, His disciples, and future believers
were passionate and preoccupied with the Father’s glory (John 17). Phil Moore
writes, “Jesus wants to teach us that His prayers are always Father-centered,
not self-centered or us-centered, so that we learn to keep our own prayers
focused on the glory of the Living God.”
When you pray, pray for humility. Pray that God would become greater and you would
become less. Pray that He would clothe you with the attitude of Christ so
people would see more of Him and less of you.
He>i: For
God to become greater and bigger in your life, what change is needed in your
prayers?
Father,
we confess that we are naturally self-centered and self-exalting. Any humility
we have is the gift of your Holy Spirit. Please, please touch us now with a
humble heart, and break our pride and self-dependence. Amen.
C.
John Miller
grace and peace,
Lenae
