02/22/2024
This morning I would like to stress further the importance of humility in respect to our ability to pray. I especially enjoyed an observation I read that was written by Pastor E.M. Bounds when he said that "To be clothed with humility is to be clothed with a prayer garment." I have often toyed with the idea of using a prayer shawl to prepare myself, and set the mood of prayer, before I enter into my place of prayer each morning, but I never really felt it necessary. Perhaps we are already being clothed, not by cloth, but in a meek and humble spirit, and by reading scripture or a devotional message. It is so important that we prepare ourselves for prayer, but do we do so?
“Prepare thy work without, and make it fit for thyself in the field; and afterwards build thine house.”
Proverbs 24:27 KJV
How are we preparing to build our house of prayer? How could we possibly pray to the creator of ourselves, and everything we will ever know, without coming to Him in profound awe and humility? In our daily lives there is the realization that no matter how far we are able to look... there He is also, and no matter how deep inside ourselves we dive... there He is also, and in every discovery, there He is too. God is without end and we are so finite. So how can we be anything but humble before Him, and shouldn’t we prepare ourselves to come into His presence?
“Praise the Lord! For it is good to sing praises to our God; for it is pleasant, and a song of praise is fitting.
He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names. Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure.”
Psalm 147:1, 3-5 ESV
When I was a child I used to enjoy taking a magnifying glass and looking at the minute details of common things around me. It was amazing to realize that even those things that appeared so ordinary to my naked eye took on incredible complexity when examined closely. This piece of specially shaped glass allowed me to see God's creation in a way that amazed and humbled me.
Then one day I discovered that if I focused the sunlight with my lens, I could create a pinpoint of light on the surface of a leaf and burn a hole through it. The power within that light became real and purposeful to me at that moment. Jesus is the magnifying glass that focuses God's enormity into a point of light that boils away our soul's impurities. He could use this lens to destroy, but instead he cauterizes our wounds and creates a more perfect and acceptable person. Just the thought of the incredible power in such a small portion of God's light brings me to my knees... And yet His light abounds throughout creation.
I have met many people in my lifetime who find little if anything that humbles them. They see themselves as holding every magnifying glass and the world as their leaf. If you ask them they will describe how brilliant they are and how others pale in comparison. Yet, to those of us who know God and His son Jesus, we smile at the ignorance of their self-centeredness.
I pray for such people. I pray that their eyes be opened and that God use them mightily in the fullness of a new found humility; in a way that increases His kingdom. I pray that the humbling comes gently and that their eyes are not seared by His brilliance as he perfects them. I pray that once enlightened that they are as humble as they were once proud... Because in that garment of humility their prayers will find true power and God's will is best served. None of us can pray to God from a position of power because all we have comes from Him, and as Jesus said, He can do nothing of His own account, and that we can do nothing apart from Him… Jesus.
“So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father[a] does, that the Son does likewise.””
John 5:19 ESV
“”I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.””
John 15:5 ESV
So we should prepare ourselves in Christ, before coming into the presence of God in prayer, we should humble ourselves as Jesus did, and we can do so by clothing ourselves in a meek and humble spirit. Jesus often separated Himself to pray, and we should do this as well. In this way we remove all distractions, and can hear the faintest hint of God’s soft whispers.
“And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.”
Mark 1:35 ESV
So, we should find a quiet place, and often a secret pace, to meet with Him. Then, once we have separated ourselves from the world and all its distractions, we can prepare the ground around us to be holy, circumcise our spirit by reading or reciting God’s Word, and enter into prayer. If, after all of this our mind is still troubled, and we are having difficulty focusing or expressing ourselves in prayer, we can begin by praying God’s Word, and if we are still having difficulty… we can ask the Holy Spirit will help us by praying for us.
“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because[a] the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”
Romans 8:26-27 ESV
Prayer:
Father, thank you for giving us a meek and humble spirit so that we can come before you as we should in prayer. Thank you Father for your Son Jesus Christ who taught us to pray, and without whom we cannot bear fruit, or enter into your will as we should. Help us Lord to find that special place in our worlds, our homes, and in our hearts, where we can meet with you without distraction, and confide our most intimate secrets to you. Help us to seek you fervently, and to yield ourselves completely to your Holy Spirit when we need understanding, remembrance, or a prayer that we haven’t been able to give voice to on our own. Teach us how to honor you in every way, and to remove our sandals as we step onto the ground made holy by your presence there. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who was, and is, and is to come. Holy are you who hears our prayers, and holds our hearts in warm embrace. Praised be your name Father, and praised be the name of Jesus in whom our prayers are sealed, and the promise of our hope in you is realized. Hear us in our worship, praise, thanksgiving, and contrition, as we pray all through the day and night without ceasing. Abba, this is the day that you have made, and we will rejoice, and be glad in it. This is the day of your loving kindness, mercy and grace. Smell the sweet scents of our humble prayers, and hear our voices as they rise up like incense from within the golden bowl held before you. These are our hopes, and our offerings to you.
Amen
Rich Forbes