Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not talking about the healthy sense of pride, like pride in workmanship, achievements, in our children, etc.
The pride I am talking about is the pride that chokes out humility and elevates self above all else.
The pride that says I know best, and I will determine how to live and direct my life.
This kind of pride tricks us into thinking that I am in control of my life, therefore I have no need for God.
Which when times are good is easy to do. If our bills are paid, our family is healthy, we have enough to eat and a roof over our head, why would we need God?
Seeing as everything is going well enough without him, why would we bother worshipping, praying or going to church for him?
Pride so often puts us on the fast track to living in the inner turmoil of discontent. Discontent with what is happening right now.
While we might not feel we need God when times are good, when times are hard, where do we turn?
When our circumstances are beyond our control, when our children are sick in such a way that baffles doctors, when our savings are depleted by unexpected events, or when our relationships fall apart out of nowhere; that is when we realise there are circumstances in our lives that are beyond our control.
Pride can land us in hot water with nowhere to turn.
If we want to overcome pride in our lives, perhaps the best thing we can do is turn from being self-sufficient to being God-dependent.
And that simply starts with prayer.
God encourages the Hebrew people (as well as us today) in the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel (2 Chronicles 7:14): “if my people will humble themselves and pray, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins”.
Prayer indicates a willingness to surrender ourselves to God.
Think about it this way: So many of us all call out to God in a crisis saying, “God, where are you?”
The thought is this: God was right where we allowed our pride to place him. Outside our lives with no place of influence over our decisions.
Dependence on God isn’t found in calling out to God in the middle of a crisis, it is found in relying on prayer as a consistent lifeline every day.
Perhaps the difficulty we have with this is, “Where do I start?” Great question.
And I believe the answer is: don’t complicate it. Simply start by sharing with God your struggles, thoughts and feelings.
In the end when it comes to developing a dependence on God through prayer, there’s no formula, it is simply developing a relationship, and that starts with one conversation at a time.
Start with this: “Dear Jesus...” and then let your heart begin to guide the rest.
Rob Wiltshire
Epicentre Church
22°C