Undoubtedly, God knows far better than we do and we can find several examples in the Bible where He waited a long time to answer prayers. We cannot argue with His timing. And along with that we see where the Bible tells us about the persistence of the woman in Luke 18:5. So, I am not saying that God never says, “not right now” or “wait” but that we too quickly dismiss unanswered prayers to God’s refusal or better timing than ours, rather than honestly look at ourselves first. There is a serious disease going around the Christian community these days – many have succumbed to the false teaching that we have little or no obligation, responsibility, or duty and God is going to shower us with undeserved blessings unceasingly. They claim Mark 11:24 as their birthright for being born again without a thought of what else God tells us about prayer…and there are plenty of things! (Purity of heart, believing, in Christ’s name, according to God’s will, forgiving spirit, to mention just a few) God’s timing is perfect and crucial.
Of the several things mentioned in the Bible that are required for prayer, ‘humility’ is only one of them…but I dare say, the most elusive.
We, as Christians, are aware that whatever knowledge we have, or wisdom, or anything else, comes from God. It is a gift to us, whom He loves so dearly. We realize this and we know all the right words to say giving God the glory for His gifts. The problem is our sincerity. Paul wrote in Romans 12:3 that we have a tendency to lack humility and said, “For I am telling every single one of you, through the grace that has been given to me, not to have exaggerated ideas about your own importance...”
I take that to mean amongst other people as well as before God in prayer. We all too often speak the right things to other people, saying we give God the glory for whatever blessing we might be discussing, while inwardly gloating at our own supposed knowledge, godliness, wisdom, talent, etc. It is pretty easy to pick it out in others, but ourselves – that’s another story. It happens a lot when we want to “share” some particular knowledge we have acquired concerning some topic or scripture or some song we can sing or play. We say we “just want to share this” with someone but we are actually wanting them to see how ‘sanctified’ we are because of all our knowledge or talent, and hear them say how much they admire us.
Sadly, we sometimes approach God in prayer with an attitude of something like, “I do so much for you” even though we say the right words…”in Jesus’ name” and “thank you for…” and various praise phrases. There is even an old song that says, “I oft complained to Jesus how folks were treating me” and “’I work so hard for Jesus’ I often boast and say.” This is human nature in action, by the way.
Here is a scripture to meditate on and I will get more of what I have learned as I’ve studied this posted as soon as possible because this is getting too long …again.
“I exhort you, therefore, brothers, in view of God's mercies, to offer yourselves as a sacrifice, living and set apart for God. This will please him; it is the logical "Temple worship" for you.” Romans 12:1 (CJB)
Of the several things mentioned in the Bible that are required for prayer, ‘humility’ is only one of them…but I dare say, the most elusive.
We, as Christians, are aware that whatever knowledge we have, or wisdom, or anything else, comes from God. It is a gift to us, whom He loves so dearly. We realize this and we know all the right words to say giving God the glory for His gifts. The problem is our sincerity. Paul wrote in Romans 12:3 that we have a tendency to lack humility and said, “For I am telling every single one of you, through the grace that has been given to me, not to have exaggerated ideas about your own importance...”
I take that to mean amongst other people as well as before God in prayer. We all too often speak the right things to other people, saying we give God the glory for whatever blessing we might be discussing, while inwardly gloating at our own supposed knowledge, godliness, wisdom, talent, etc. It is pretty easy to pick it out in others, but ourselves – that’s another story. It happens a lot when we want to “share” some particular knowledge we have acquired concerning some topic or scripture or some song we can sing or play. We say we “just want to share this” with someone but we are actually wanting them to see how ‘sanctified’ we are because of all our knowledge or talent, and hear them say how much they admire us.
Sadly, we sometimes approach God in prayer with an attitude of something like, “I do so much for you” even though we say the right words…”in Jesus’ name” and “thank you for…” and various praise phrases. There is even an old song that says, “I oft complained to Jesus how folks were treating me” and “’I work so hard for Jesus’ I often boast and say.” This is human nature in action, by the way.
Here is a scripture to meditate on and I will get more of what I have learned as I’ve studied this posted as soon as possible because this is getting too long …again.
“I exhort you, therefore, brothers, in view of God's mercies, to offer yourselves as a sacrifice, living and set apart for God. This will please him; it is the logical "Temple worship" for you.” Romans 12:1 (CJB)