Women's Prayer Team - Week #19
Have you ever left a conversation obsessing if the other person thinks less of you because of what you said? Has a certain situation left your knuckles white from trying to control every little detail? Have you ever made a completely irrelevant situation about yourself? I hope I'm not alone in saying that all of these have happened to me. What do they all have in common? Me. This week I want to talk about one of my biggest struggles: Pride.
To hopefully combat my pride issue, I read an entire book in a day. Before you become impressed with me, I should add that this book is only forty-six pages. The book is called, " The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness" by Timothy Keller. It is forty-six pages of pure conviction based off of Paul's letter to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 3:21- 4:7. The general theme of this book is that a Gospel-humble person is not a self-hating person or a self-loving person, but is a self-forgetful person. What does it mean to be self-forgetful? C.S. Lewis defines a self-forgetful person as one with humility (the opposite of pride). He states, "Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking of yourself less."
Prayer Tip # 19 – Pray to be a Woman marked by Humility
“In the same way, you who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, 'God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.'"
1 Peter 5:5
“If we define greatness as anything other than humble service to the humblest man to ever live, we've made the same mistake as the devil.”
Jonathan Pokluda
Pride is one of those sins that if you don't pay attention to what you're paying attention to, it will unknowingly strangle us like a straitjacket. Like JP's quote above, this sin is the same sin that sent the devil to hell. It must be taken seriously, and the only way we combat this is through complete dependence on God with humility. Humility is always appropriate, in every situation.
There are two practical applications that I want to implement in my everyday life to fight pride. The first is that I want to make conversations about the other person. Don't get me wrong, there is a time and place for conversations about your life, your struggles, and your dreams but for the majority of my conversations I want to make the other person feel valued. Not to make myself feel better, but to be more like Jesus. The second is to pray that God would humble me. I know that sounds like a scary prayer, but it's only with humility that we can live the Christian life as it was intended. JP puts it this way, "So, as we try to grow in the virtue of humility, our search starts and ends with Jesus." Jesus is the only answer. He was the perfect picture of humility. My hope for us is that we seek Jesus' face in all things, but especially in our fight against pride.
Prayer Points: Please pray over these requests:
Thank You Lord for being the perfect example of a humble servant.
Help us to recognize the pride in our own lives.
Lord, I ask that You would humble me in Your merciful ways.
Help us to receive Your guidance through the Holy Spirit and Your word.
Dear Lord, thank You for sending Your only son to die for us so that we may find life in You. For the joy set before Him, He endured the cross, and that is truly an example of a perfect humble servant. Help me to never forget that Truth. Would You show me the areas in my life where I'm being prideful? Jesus, I ask that You would humble me to the point of compete dependence on You.
In Jesus Name, Amen.
Best,
Emma Staubs