In the practices or “disciplines” of the Christian life there is much for pride to do if the soul is not humbled first. Pride (self-exaltation) will seek itself in whatever it does. As noted in previous BLOGS, pride can be very much at home in orthodox theology. It is also true that pride may do what appears to be longer and harder prayers than the humble soul. The Pharisees prayed long and loud, but they did so in order to be honored by men. We must not forget that our own proud hearts come from the same source (Adam) that the proud hearts of the Pharisees did. We may have the proud heart of the Pharisee and from that same pride not want to be seen as a Pharisee. It can be nothing but pride that we don’t want to be like the Pharisees.
“There is no single aspect of religion which may not bear the marks of egocentricity or theocentricity, according as the one or the other of these constitutes the fundamental character of the religious relationship. Prayer, for instance, may be simply the means by which I seek to obtain for myself benefits that are otherwise beyond my reach; or it may express-not least in its petitionary form-my utter dependence for all that I have and am on God alone.” (Let God Be God! An Interpretation of the Theology of Martin Luther)
The quote above is simply numbing in its ramifications. There is no aspect of religion that cannot be either egocentric or theocentric. It is not the orthodoxy of a theology that in and of itself that determines whether it is according to God or not, it is also not whether it is theocentric in words or not. It is not whether a person is uttering words toward God in a posture of prayer or not that determines if it is true prayer. It is not even the words that a person says that determines if it is true prayer or not. It is the utter dependence of the heart for all things that determines if something is prayer or not. Prayer can be nothing more than a means to get things I cannot get in my own power. It may be nothing more than an attempt to use God to get things for me.
In light of the pride of each heart by nature and then one of the real distinctions between egocentricity and theocentricity being that of the utter dependence of the heart, we can see how much of modern Christianity (in name) is far from being biblical. In our day we are teaching people that they are worthy for Christ to die for them. We teach them of ways to manipulate God (though called other things) in prayer and behavior. We teach methods of prayer and methods of how to be holy rather than teaching those things as coming from the heart in truth. A heart that is utterly dependent on God in prayer is also a heart that is utterly dependent on God for prayer. A heart that is utterly dependent on God in prayer is a heart that is looking to God for an utterly dependent heart.
II Chronicles 7:14 gives us an approach to prayer as does the Lord’s Prayer. But neither can be copied as to the forms of them and then we are taught to pray. The passage in II Chronicles starts off with humility. We must be humbled in order to truly pray. In prayer we are to seek the face of the Lord in order to truly pray. We are to repent and turn from our wicked ways in order to truly pray. But these are things that have to come from the utterly dependent heart. Likewise we have the Lord’s Prayer as given in Matthew six. We are to come to the Father who is in heaven. Surely that requires humility. It also teaches us to be utterly dependent because He alone is totally sufficient for all things. We are to then go to this Father and pray for His name to be revered and glorified. Surely we don’t mean this is reverence and love apart from a heart that has been humbled from its self-exaltation (pride) and is truly seeking the exaltation of God. This is a heart that has given up on its own abilities to glorify God and is now seeking God to glorify Himself.
Why is prayer so hard today? One reason is that God has withdrawn His face and is hardening our hearts and leaving us to our own devices. Another reason is that we have become so used to seeking our selves and our own interests in prayer that we don’t know what it means to seek the presence and glory of God in our prayers. How wicked a proud “prayer” is! It is also an oxymoron. How utterly wicked it is for a proud heart to seek itself rather than the glory of God in prayer. It is utterly vile and wretched for the proud heart to look to itself in so-called prayer rather than look to God in and for all things. The depths of pride in our hearts should be open to us when we seek God for the benefits rather than for Himself. A theocentric prayer is when the heart is broken from its pride and in utter dependence on God cries out to God for Himself and His glory. But the words alone won’t do it; the heart must truly mean it. Words offered as a prayer without a dependent heart is words from a proud heart.
God Loves... Himself 
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