Humility In Asking

Expecting God to answer our prayers is not necessarily prideful and expecting that God won't answer our prayers is necessarily prideful. The difference between pride and humility in seeking God's blessing is this. In pride, we expect God to answer our prayers because of what we have done. In humility, we expect God to answer our prayers solely on what he has done.

I believe we can take that even further. In Pride, we expect that God won't answer our prayers because of what we have done.

As followers of Christ, expecting God to deal with us according to our actions is prideful.
As followers of Christ, expecting God to deal with us according to his grace and mercy is humility.

What if #2

What if we obeyed God the first time, every time, whether we felt like it or not?

What if we took to heart the fact that God calls us to honor our mother and father and realized that our heavenly father God deserves that honor and obedience more than our earthly parents?

What if?
Why not?

Who is it for anyways?

Worship is for God. Not for me. Although I often act like it, worship is not for the sake of me receiving joy. It is not even to make me feel in love with God. When we as followers of Christ worship Him, it is for bringing Him glory. When we worship Him, we do it because He deserves our worship.

I will confess that often times on Sunday mornings when I am singing worship and praise songs, my mind is on myself. How good does this song make me feel? Do the verses in this song line up with how I experience God? Sometimes I am more happy when we sing certain songs. Sometimes other songs just don't cut it for me.

When did worship start being for the worshiper and not for the one being worshiped? It seems like musical worship to a large degree has stopped being an avenue for worshiping our creator and has started being a time for us to try and receive joy.

We need to get back to choosing humbling ourselves and worshiping our creator because he deserves it, whether we feel like it or not. We need to get back to serving our God, whether we feel like it or not. We need to stop doing these things for the sake of having more joy or happiness.

If I wake up in the morning and I am in love with God, then fantastic! In that moment I need to praise God because He made the sun rise and allowed me to live another day for Him. I need to thank Him for the joy that he has given me that morning.

If I wake up in the morning dreary and tired and loathing the thought of turning my heart towards God in praise, then I need to humble my heart and acknowledge that whether I like it or not, God is my God. I need to acknowledge the fact that God is my creator and my Lord and that He deserves my worship. And having humbled my heart, even if I still dread worshiping God, even if it feels like my worship and my prayers are not going above my ceiling, I need to worship God because he deserves it.

Whatever state my heart may be in, I must not worship God for the sake of my joy because the moment that I do that, I am now seeking my joy above God's glory. My feelings and my happiness are more important to me than God is. That is not okay and whatever I do is worthless when I do those things for those reasons. God will not be glorified and I will not receive the joy that I am seeking to steal from my God.

When you do what you do, who are you truly doing it for?

My recommendation is this: Take a few moments today and go to God. Humble your heart before God. Praise Him because he is worthy of it. Ask Him to show you the things inside of you that are hindering your ability to glorify Him. When He shows you those things, confess and repent of them. Finally, make it a habit to worship God throughout the day, no matter how much you may feel like doing it.

To be honest, Despite knowing that God deserves my all and me wanting to give it, I still struggle to wrestle my heart from seeking my joy before God's will. Don't be discouraged if you find yourself in the same struggle. You are not alone. Keep seeking your humility and God's glory.