Glad to see your post. Have you been in agreement with this prayer? I have determined to read the prayer in a prayerful way every day since the first. I also make it a point to pray for everyone who was also in unison with this. I appreciate the reminders from Mad Dawg each day and his encouragements.
I have withheld making any day-to-day comments so that I would see how God was working in me and in each of us. I have been encouraged by the change somewhat in tone but the jury is still out on if it is because articles that provoke have been fewer or people have really taken to heart what humility truly encompasses. I will continue to defend the faith as I fully expect anyone to do who believes in truth.
I also hope to see a more respectful, loving and understanding spirit in our exchanges because true humility, to me, means I am not the focus in anything. It should always be about the Lord. My prayers from now on will include words to this effect:
From the desire of being esteemed, Deliver me, Jesus. From the desire of being loved, Deliver me, Jesus. From the desire of being extolled, Deliver me, Jesus. From the desire of being honored, Deliver me, Jesus. From the desire of being praised, Deliver me, Jesus. From the desire of being preferred to others, Deliver me, Jesus. From the desire of being consulted, Deliver me, Jesus. From the desire of being approved, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being humiliated, Deliver me, Jesus. From the fear of being despised, Deliver me, Jesus. From the fear of suffering rebukes, Deliver me, Jesus. From the fear of being calumniated, Deliver me, Jesus. From the fear of being forgotten, Deliver me, Jesus. From the fear of being ridiculed, Deliver me, Jesus. From the fear of being wronged, Deliver me, Jesus. From the fear of being suspected, Deliver me, Jesus. That others may be loved more than I, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it. That others may be esteemed more than I, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it. That, in the opinion of the world, others may increase and I may decrease,Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it. That others may be chosen and I set aside, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it. That others may be praised and I unnoticed, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it. That others may be preferred to me in everything, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it. That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
I see in this prayer someone who places all at the feet of Christ and always seeks the benefit of others above themselves. I want to be this person!
I was a late-comer to this thread. And I would not pray this prayer, because I’d keep adding caveats.
“From the desire of being esteemed, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being loved, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being extolled, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being honored, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being praised, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being preferred to others, Deliver me, Jesus.”
You might as well pray to be delivered from being the human God created. It isn’t wrong to desire to be esteemed. It is only wrong if you desire the esteem of wicked men, and gain it by doing wrong. However, a deacon or elder who performs his role faithfully under God SHOULD be esteemed and honored. A man who cares for his family faithfully, loves them and provides for them and protects them SHOULD be esteemed and honored.
” 17Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching...24The sins of some men are conspicuous, going before them to judgment, but the sins of others appear later. 25So also good works are conspicuous, and even those that are not cannot remain hidden.” - 1 Tim 5
Paul boasted of his service to the Lord, and Peter wasn’t exactly a wall flower. We should want to be found faithful servants.
“14I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. 15For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. 16I urge you, then, be imitators of me. 17That is why I sent you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach them everywhere in every church.” - 1 Cor 4
God desires our praise and enjoys it, and we were made in the image of God. We SHOULD take pleasure in praise, if it is praise for the correct thing. God loves us and desires our love, and we likewise SHOULD desire to be loved - not to the point of forgetting God or doing evil to get it, but wanting to be loved is not wrong.
All the things listed in the prayer can become traps, but most seem appropriate if in the right place with respect to God.
“10 According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. 11For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— 13 each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. 14If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. 15If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.” - 1 Cor 3
On that day, I want to hear “Well done, my good and faithful servant!” I want my work to survive and to receive the reward from God.
I understand the prayer is about not letting our natural and appropriate desires to turn us away from God. The pastor of our small Baptist church recently told us how as a young Christian, he once spent 2 hours lying face down in prayer, and as he got up...yep, he thought ‘God should be impressed!’ Of course, he then realized how wrong that was.
There is a fine line, hard to draw. I suspect this prayer bends the bar overmuch in one direction so that, when released, it will spring to a better position. It is kind of like when I ride horses sometimes. I tend to lean forward when trotting - too far forward, putting the horse off balance. But to correct it and break my old habits, I have to make a conscious decision to lean ‘back’...lean back far enough that I am actually just straight.
So I’m not criticizing the prayer. I just couldn’t pray it without being lawyer-like in my exceptions. Maybe I should pray, “Lord, make me less analytical!”
Amen.
Me too, Lord!