A Sense of Humility
“Then Abraham spoke up again: ‘Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes, what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five people?’” - Genesis 18:27-28
Over the last couple of days, we have talked about the ingredients of Abraham’s prayer in Genesis 18. This was a prayer that moved the heart of God. And if we want to have that same ability, we must understand Abraham’s state during that prayer. As he called out to God, Abraham had a sense of burden. He also had a sense of boldness.
Now, do not misinterpret Abraham’s boldness with brazenness. Do not confuse praying with confidence for praying with conceit. While Abraham has a desire that he isn’t ashamed to place before God, he is not demanding or telling God what to do. Asking God to save the cities if 50, 45, 40, 30, 20, or even 10 righteous people could be found was merely a reflection of Abraham’s conviction that God would not let him down, but he is not telling God what to do.
Multiple times in Genesis 18, we see Abraham begging for God’s indulgence and asking God to be patient with him and not to become angry. That is humility. Boldness in prayer should never be confused with brazenness in prayer. Prayers that move God are not prayers that offend Him, but instead, they are prayers that honor God, and that come when we punctuate our prayers with an air of humility.
We cannot tell God what to do. We cannot demand that God give us our desire. We are to make our requests known to God, but we must realize that how our prayers are answered is totally up to Him. That is why we sing, “Take your burdens to the Lord and leave them there.”
What about you? When you pray, are you praying with boldness or brazenness? Go to God with a sense of humility and you will be praying in the right spirit.
Over the last couple of days, we have talked about the ingredients of Abraham’s prayer in Genesis 18. This was a prayer that moved the heart of God. And if we want to have that same ability, we must understand Abraham’s state during that prayer. As he called out to God, Abraham had a sense of burden. He also had a sense of boldness.
Now, do not misinterpret Abraham’s boldness with brazenness. Do not confuse praying with confidence for praying with conceit. While Abraham has a desire that he isn’t ashamed to place before God, he is not demanding or telling God what to do. Asking God to save the cities if 50, 45, 40, 30, 20, or even 10 righteous people could be found was merely a reflection of Abraham’s conviction that God would not let him down, but he is not telling God what to do.
Multiple times in Genesis 18, we see Abraham begging for God’s indulgence and asking God to be patient with him and not to become angry. That is humility. Boldness in prayer should never be confused with brazenness in prayer. Prayers that move God are not prayers that offend Him, but instead, they are prayers that honor God, and that come when we punctuate our prayers with an air of humility.
We cannot tell God what to do. We cannot demand that God give us our desire. We are to make our requests known to God, but we must realize that how our prayers are answered is totally up to Him. That is why we sing, “Take your burdens to the Lord and leave them there.”
What about you? When you pray, are you praying with boldness or brazenness? Go to God with a sense of humility and you will be praying in the right spirit.
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