When you Pray

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