Good morning!
Welcome to your morning coffee! May our Heavenly Father gently remind us to seek his will over our own. Father forgive us for how easily and how often we, in our pride, grab at the foot of your throne. As if we could ever take your place. Thank you for your grace over our prayers. Sometimes we honor you and your will with our prayers and sometimes we demand that you honor us and our will. We are so weak, Father. We need your help to be humble, to be of right heart and mind, to be faithful. In Jesus's precious name and by the guiding power of the Spirit, please help us to see ourselves rightly, that we might more thoroughly deny ourselves and more faithfully please you.
Your Morning Song: "What If I Stumble?" by DC Talk
Your Morning Scripture: Philippians 2:13
for it is God who works in you
to will and to act
in order to fulfill his good purpose.
...
A fellow pastor friend of mine named Tyler recently posted this thought and it struck me pretty hard. Sometimes there's little difference between a slap in the face and biblical conviction. A harsh image, to be sure, but read it for yourself and see if doesn't sting a little bit. If so, welcome to the club.
"Does your prayer life resemble a person who wants God to work for you or through you? Do we use God to try to get what we want, or do we let God work in and through us to, 'fulfill his good purpose?'"
There's something that happens to us and in us, daily. And, ironically enough, we are quick to forget this reality that we all experience. When we wake up, we do not have to choose who we are going to live for before we can get the day started.
We are, even saved, stuck in the default mode of "me before thee, God." But because we are saved, because we have been claimed, because we have been purchased by Christ's blood on the cross, we have been given the gift of being able to say, "thee before me, God." But the former is our subconscious default. The latter must be consciously chosen. This reality of our flesh pushing us to say, "me!" and our inner being by the Spirit saying, "thee!" is also in our prayers.
So, when you pray, how do you pray? Is it according to the way of "me!" or of "thee!"? If you're anything like me, there is a daily struggle there. And I'll tell you what I've learned from our Heavenly Father that helps me to choose his purposes and desires over my own. Just a few simple truths and tips that keep me honest and in the right heart/mind-set.
God works in me for his purposes, not my own (verse above - Phil 2:13).
I pray the Lord's Prayer at the beginning of my prayer time to help me structure my thoughts and emotions that I am about to express into his format, not my own.
I ask God to help me re-dedicate my whole life as a living sacrifice offered to him on his terms, not my own. That he would use me as he sees fit. This is a new one to me and still scares a little when I pray it.
I try to finish my requests with some form of the line, "but Father above all may your will be done" or you could say something like, "God I ask this, but more than this I want you to do what you want to do."
What helps you pray for God to work through and in you instead of merely for you? After we ask ourselves this question, it might be an interesting question to ask someone else.
May we be
a people known
for praying
to "thee" for "thee"
and not for "me."
