PRAY HUMBLY
“Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted” (Matthew 23:12).
Luis loved God deeply and always pointed us to God’s Word. As we read through His Word, we know God is Love, but Scripture also tells us some of the things God hates and one of them is pride!
The opposite of pride is humility. Humility is defined as a modest or low view of one's own importance. Yet humility is not thinking less of oneself, but rather thinking of one’s self less often. It is not self-deprecating but living without arrogance or self-sufficiency. I love the acronym JOY: a priority of Jesus, Others, You! It’s serving the Lord first, as well as others. We are here for a greater purpose than just our own gain. Luis had JOY as one of the humblest men I’ve known and always pointed to Jesus. May I/we point to Thee, not me.
We all know the story from Luke 18:9-14 when Jesus shares the parable of the two men who prayed; the righteous Pharisee and the lowly tax collector. The Pharisee was there not to pray to God but to puff himself up before others within earshot, to allow others to hear how great he was and in doing so, was incapable of hearing/learning anything from God. Meanwhile, the tax collector with bowed head, begged God for mercy, which opened up his heart to forgiveness and justification from God.
It’s a heart check, isn’t it? Proverbs 16:5 says, “The Lord detests all the proud of heart.” And remember Isaiah 66:2, “This is the one I esteem; he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at My Word.” Luis used to ask, “Do we tremble at God’s Word?’
Praying in humility allows us to listen to God from our hearts, that soft whisper of His voice in gentle love. This can lead us to pray compassionately for others. In praying for others, we lose ourselves. We are expressing our complete dependence on God. A humble prayer can be as simple as a heart’s cry “Help me, Lord.” We are humbling ourselves; remembering who we are and who God is. We can then expand our prayer life to within our circle of influence as well as our community, our nation, and even our world and its endless needs. This allows our soul to expand and embrace them all into the presence of God, which is a wonderful gift God gives us. It may seem impossible as we can’t embrace the world, but God can, and He does so through our prayers, leading us into His presence.
It's ironic that when we put others first and bless others; we bless ourselves as we choose to live by the Holy Spirit and to follow His lead. Our Lord modeled that so beautifully for us and we can do that in our prayer life as we pray intimately for the world through LPA. Our Palau team is reaching the world for the Gospel of Christ, in person and digitally, into the remotest and darkest regions of the earth.
Please join us April 23rd as we humbly come together before our Lord to lift up the efforts of LPA for Christ and exalt our Lord and King for His glory and the good of His people.
In Humble Prayer,
Gail Stockamp
“By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches and honor and life” (Proverbs 22:4).