Your Prayer Life
“And it came to pass, when he was in a certain city, behold a man full of leprosy: who seeing Jesus fell on his face, and besought [pray, beg, per concordance] him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And he put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will: be thou clean. And immediately the leprosy departed from him.” Luke 5:12-13 underlining added
Ever thought about how you pray? Ever thought about your attitude, your posture, your tone, and your heart when you pray? The more I study God’s Word, which I eat up voraciously in my ever hunger for more of the Lord, His Spirit takes me deeper – and deeper. His Spirit, my teacher (John 14:26), shows me things I have never seen before – no matter how many times I have studied particular verses. Ever deeper, He and I go.
Consider the man with leprosy who sought healing from Jesus. What did he do when he saw Jesus? He FELL ON HIS FACE. This is a posture of humility, reverence, and worship, of knowing who is Lord and who is nothing without Him. What did he do? He BESOUGHT him. The original Greek word also means to BEG. People who beg are desperate, and they know their need and desperation. They are not haughty. Next, look at his attitude. He KNEW Jesus could heal him. But he did not arrogantly assume Jesus would. He yielded himself to the will of the Lord. If thou wilt. He didn’t presume Jesus would give him what he wanted. He knew he didn’t deserve healing; he knew healing would come by the Lord’s grace and mercy alone. What about his heart? His heart is reflected in how he addressed Jesus. He called Him LORD!
I don’t know about anyone else, but for YEARS, I arrogantly, haughtily, pride-fully, lifted myself up rather than lowered myself and just about demanded that God give me what I felt I wanted and needed. Even when I knelt on my knees, or uttered “the right words”, my heart was wrong. I treated God like my butler who was supposed to answer my prayers just like I wanted. I thought I was someone deserving when I am nobody at all. I deserve nothing as a sinner but hell forever apart from God. But God through Christ has given me forgiveness in response to my repentance and a relationship with Him forever. And He has humbled me and taught me how to pray. With the right attitude, posture, tone, and heart – one of love, adoration, humility, and thanksgiving. For everything in my life that is good is by His grace alone – the very best being that I have been invited and entered into an eternal relationship with Him.
Does your prayer life need some renovations? Humble yourself and make the change.