Humility in Prayer
“For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 18:14)
Brothers and Sisters in Christ: Since early days Christians have observed with great devotion the time of our Lord's passion and Resurrection and prepared for this by a season of penitence and fasting. By carefully keeping these days, Christians take to heart the call to repentance and the assurance of forgiveness proclaimed in the gospel, and so grow in faith and in devotion to our Lord. I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God's holy Word.
Lent season began on Ash Wednesday 06 March and ends on Saturday 20th April 2019. There are 40 days of fasting – all days except Sundays. The season may be observed with a partial fast (skipping one or two meals a day) for all the 40 days or selecting some days every week when one fasts; on the day of fasting, one may take only water if it is not a dry fast. Feel free to ask and read more details about types of fasting as you require. In his teachings, Jesus Christ said, ‘And when you pray… when you pray… And when you fast… when you fast….’ (Matt 6:5-6, 16-17); this clearly implies that prayer and fasting are part of a believer’s lifestyle. Fasting is not for a selected few – perhaps the pastors, intercessors, or leaders; The discipline of prayer and fasting is important for every Christian to cultivate. Lent provides the opportunity for you to try if you have never fasted, and to grow from one level to another. Make it a point to fast every week during this season.
While fasting gives this season a physical feel, remember deeper devotion that must accompany the fasting for there to be meaning: self-examination and repentance, and reading and meditating on God’s holy Word. By these actions, bodily desires that lead to sin are put to death more and more, while one is drawn closer to God.
In Luke 18, Jesus Christ delivers two powerful teachings about prayer: Prayer needs persistence, and prayer needs humility. In using familiar illustrations – of the persistent widow and of the two who went to pray in the temple – the Lord brought home lessons that we ignore at our own peril! It is not a time to show off who is stronger and can fast more, nor is it a time to show who is more ‘spiritual’ than the other(s). It is not a time to look down on the other as weaker or more inferior in faith. It is before God that we humble ourselves, and it is only by grace that we can enter His holy presence. No one can stand and walk with the Lord if it is not by God’s grace. ‘For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.’ And it is in that humility that we trust God even for things for which we are still waiting until He answers. Prayer needs persistence, and prayer needs humility. God bless you.