He Will Lift You Up
As we commence our week of prayer, I encourage you to start with approaching the Lord in a humble spirit. As I shared yesterday in my message, when we seek to change in a way that is the will of the Lord, then He will supply His grace to enable that change to happen. Proverbs, James and First Peter all teach us this truth: “God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble.” James goes on to state it this way: “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” (NIV; see James 4:6-10)
You serve the living God, your heavenly Father, who desires to give you grace to change, to lift you up from whatever is pulling you down, and who is perfecting you to become more like Jesus your Lord. Humbling yourself is a very wise course of action!
Where should you start? First, by giving thanks for your redemption by grace through the blood of Jesus shed on the cross. We never outgrow the need to be thankful for the cross of Christ. We never outgrow approaching the Lord through the blood sacrifice of his Son.
Next I would suggest praying the prayer of Psalm 139:23-24 (NASB 1995):
Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts;
24 And see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way.
Ask the Holy Spirit if there is any way that you need to repent or that He wants you to focus on to change and become more like Jesus. Or as the New Living translates it, ask him to “point out anything in me that offends You.”
Reading God’s word is a good help in this effort. Read Galatians 5 where Paul describes the works of the flesh and how they contrast with the fruit of the Spirit. Read and pray over 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 where he defines what love is and allow it to speak to you:
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails.
I know reading this convicts me of all the times that I am not patient or kind, or that I am easily annoyed or frustrated. Focusing on a specific area of need in prayer and humility will result in a transformation that will start to take place. Lift that specific sin or habit to the Lord and ask for his grace to change.
I look forward to praying with all of you this week. Let’s believe that the Lord is for us, and that our Father in heaven wants to change us because He loves us and that He can do what we are unable to do.
Father, I confess that I am powerless to change the things in my life that are displeasing to you. But I do want to change. Please work in me a fresh desire to change, and a faith in You that change is possible. I lift myself before you and seek to confess the ways in which I need your grace. Please do what I cannot do and fulfill your word to lift me up. In Jesus’ name, amen.