Bringing our requests, needs, desires and supplications before the throne of God Almighty is a right as sons and daughters of the king. It is also a privilege because he loves us so much that he actually cares about our stuff. But if we consider who we are, in our core, and what God did to make this relationship possible, we will be driven to our knees in awe and wonder, full of thanksgiving and gratitude.
People are evil. Theologians say that people are totally depraved. There is nothing good in anyone. Our default position is to be at war with God, hating everything he is and does. People spit at God and despise him. And God sent his Son to die on a cross and shed his blood to save us. If that does not cause everybody to praise God, then there is a misunderstanding of the facts.
The healthy prayer life is one where our prayers are full of praise and gratitude and thanksgiving. There may be times when a Christian just praises God for what he has done and spends a great deal of time thanking God and expressing gratitude. Such prayers are biblical and honest and part of our relationship with God. A person who prays for things they need and only asks God to give and give and give has a one sided relationship with God and it is not right. One reason this is a sinful and selfish relationship is because after Christ and the atonement, eternal life, forgiveness, redemption and adapting act of love, God owes us nothing else. He did not owe us Christ in the first place, either. God’s righteous response to our disobedience is wrath so violent it would rip us out of history. We would be gone, gone, gone and totally forgotten. That is what we deserve, but because God loves us, he sent his son. It is the height of sinful hubris to say to God, “what have you done for me lately.”
Our mindset must be one of gratitude, thanksgiving and praise, all the time. Since God has told us to ask him, we also ask him for what we need, with an attitude of thanksgiving, gratitude and praise and not an attitude of deserving it.
Throughout the Bible, God makes the clear distinction between the proud and the humble. God opposes the proud. He actually works against and pushes against the proud. The proud do not have a saving relationship with God. Yet, God lifts up the humble. He exalts the humble. When we come to God demanding what we deserve, God will knock us down. When we come to God, grateful and humble for all he has done, he lifts us up.
C.S. Lewis was once asked to define humility. He said that humility was not thinking less of yourself but thinking of yourself less. This is a good definition. Try to think of yourself less this month. Think of others and think of God more than you think of yourself.
People are evil. Theologians say that people are totally depraved. There is nothing good in anyone. Our default position is to be at war with God, hating everything he is and does. People spit at God and despise him. And God sent his Son to die on a cross and shed his blood to save us. If that does not cause everybody to praise God, then there is a misunderstanding of the facts.
The healthy prayer life is one where our prayers are full of praise and gratitude and thanksgiving. There may be times when a Christian just praises God for what he has done and spends a great deal of time thanking God and expressing gratitude. Such prayers are biblical and honest and part of our relationship with God. A person who prays for things they need and only asks God to give and give and give has a one sided relationship with God and it is not right. One reason this is a sinful and selfish relationship is because after Christ and the atonement, eternal life, forgiveness, redemption and adapting act of love, God owes us nothing else. He did not owe us Christ in the first place, either. God’s righteous response to our disobedience is wrath so violent it would rip us out of history. We would be gone, gone, gone and totally forgotten. That is what we deserve, but because God loves us, he sent his son. It is the height of sinful hubris to say to God, “what have you done for me lately.”
Our mindset must be one of gratitude, thanksgiving and praise, all the time. Since God has told us to ask him, we also ask him for what we need, with an attitude of thanksgiving, gratitude and praise and not an attitude of deserving it. Throughout the Bible, God makes the clear distinction between the proud and the humble. God opposes the proud. He actually works against and pushes against the proud. The proud do not have a saving relationship with God. Yet, God lifts up the humble. He exalts the humble. When we come to God demanding what we deserve, God will knock us down. When we come to God, grateful and humble for all he has done, he lifts us up.
C.S. Lewis was once asked to define humility. He said that humility was not thinking less of yourself but thinking of yourself less. This is a good definition. Try to think of yourself less this month. Think of others and think of God more than you think of yourself.
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