Humility and Prayer

If you have been reading my blog, you will by now, understand what prayer is all about but to avoid assumptions, it might be your first time so I’ll track back a little bit on our explanations.

Prayer is simply a communication between two people. This further means that one person making a request or petition from the other. The key word in prayer is communication. So you talk to God and He talks back to you in response to what you have asked of Him.

Humility on the other hand is the opposite of pride. It also means love as I learnt from scriptures some time ago. Furthermore, it talks about making yourself of no reputation and putting the desires of others before yours.

Luke 18:9-14
And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

The cry of mercy in prayer will always secure the full attention of God for speedy intervention in prayers

Daniel 9:18
O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies.

Humility in prayer talks about making yourself small in the eyes of the one you are asking a thing from. A proud man need no help so be careful your disposition and attitude when making a petition.

Complaining to God about your problems is not prayer but it is called murmuring and complaining. This is a unique skill of the devil to cut you off your relationship with God.
1 Corinthians 10:10
Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.

Anytime you complain, the devil report you to God and because God is a man of his word, He will cause destruction to be your portion. My friend, be conscious of what you think and say in times of difficulty. Remember that the devil is constantly seeking for who he can devour. 1 Peter 5:8.

Some few years ago I met a lady that cried and requested that I pray for forgiveness for her. She reminded me of what happened almost ten years earlier. She met me and requested that I pray for her to get married. She knelt down on that particular day and requested that I lay my hands on her head and pray that she gets married. I refused but she also refused to stand up and we were in public plus I was about ten years old and didn’t have a clue about marriage. I prayed from my heart for her and she left.

According to what she was telling me years later, after that day, several men came to marry her but she had a particular spec of what she wanted in a man and kept turning all others down. After sometime, men stopped coming to her so she wept sore and travelled down to Abuja from Kaduna to look for me. My eyes welled up with tears because I was scared and didn’t know what to pray for her. This is one of the few experiences that I had but it not just limited to women or relationship but it can be related to various areas of your life.

What is the lesson from this story, pride can stop the flow of Gods blessings no matter who you are. Trust me once Gods blessing stops, struggle will start.
Proverbs 10:22
The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich,
and he addeth no sorrow with it.

James 4:6
But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
Remember, God hates pride. The Holy Spirit gave me an illustration of what this scripture means. What that word resist means is no matter what you do, God will never allow you excel. In my view, pride says to God “I can do it all by myself and I don’t need you”. Once God notices this, it’s game over because He will then expose your inadequacies. I have heard Bishop Abioye say on few occasions that favour means God covering your errors and colouring your efforts. Don’t try to boss God or challenge His authority and call it Prayer. When a fly is making noise in your ears, all you do is swat it away. That is what God does when you have pride in your prayers.
1 Peter 5:6
Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:

Finally, I urge you to remain humble and let God know that you are loyal to His government at all times. Also be careful of pride because once it starts eating it and you don’t work on it, it will always lead to a devastating fall which God doesn’t desire for you.