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PREVAILING IN PRAYER BY THE WORD (6)

Date: 
Monday, March 6, 2023
Bible Meditation: 
James 4: 1-10

HUMBLE yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up”  James 4:10

HUMILITY is an indispensable prerequisite to PREVAILING IN PRAYER BY the WORD: Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. HUMBLE yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up” (Jam.4: 7-10). Humility – the ability to be without pride or arrogance – a principal character that should be seen in followers of Jesus Christ. It takes humility to submit to God, to resist the devil and have him flee, to draw near to God and have Him draw near to us, and to be cleansed and purified in hands and heart. God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.

Peter underlined this same truth: God resists the proud, but give grace to the humble.” Therefore HUMBLE yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time” (1Pet.5: 5-6). Proverbs does same: “Surely He scorns the scornful, but GIVES GRACE to the HUMBLE” (Pro.3:34);When pride comes, then comes shame; but with the HUMBLE is wisdom(Pro.11:2). Humility is the one virtue that once you think you have it, you’ve lost it. Only the proud would brag: “Oh, I’m so humble!” The root of quarrels, strife, contention, and dissension among brethren is pride, driven by an army of evil desires at war within! This is a key cause of unanswered prayers: Yet you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures” (vv.2b-4).

The pride of the human nature is such that we all want our own ways, and feign that God is leading us. Rather than think about the good of the whole Body, we focus on self! That’s the basis of most disagreements. When we can’t have our way or someone refuses to agree with us, conflicts arise. We not only insist on our own way, we don’t even think about praying, asking God to show us what to do about the situation. And when we don’t pray or we pray amiss – with impure motive – and answers do not follow, we get angrier and more upset! God is not a vending machine. He is a real Living Person. He desires us to relate with Him and commune in Worship and Prayer. What gets His ear is hearts and motives that are pure in prayer and that genuinely want His Will and Way to be done.

God is drawn toward those who admit their selfish desires and need for Him. Do we want to know God? Do we want to get close to Him? Do we want to overcome being tormented by our own will, wanting our own way, conflicts, unanswered prayer, and frustration in our Christian walk? Humility is the answer! God resists the proud but is attracted to the humble. God is drawn to those who have humility and a humble spirit. In Like 18, Jesus tells the story of a poor man and the Pharisees that were praying. The Pharisee, a religious leader, stood on the platform and raved, raised his hands and uttered an arrogant, self-righteous prayer (Lk.18:11). In contrast, a poor sinner, who was on his knees, bowing toward God, simply and humbly asked for Mercy: “God be merciful to me a sinner”! (Lk.18:13b).

The sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God: “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Lk.18:14). The Bible connects Prayer to Humility not only with individuals, but also groups of God’s people: If My people, who are called by My name, will HUMBLE themselves and PRAY and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and heal their land” (2Chr.7:14). It takes humility to prevail in prayer by God’s Word.

Adetokunbo O. Ilesanmi (Meditations)

Prayer: 
Lord, grant us the Spirit of Humility and teach us to be humble, to draw near to You and PREVAIL IN PRAYER BY YOUR WORD, in Jesus’ name.
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