As we saw in the previous BLOG our proud prayers have more wickedness in them than we can imagine. When was ask God to answer a prayer based on our merit, goodness, or worth, we are asking Him to do that which would make Him unholy. We also saw that true prayer must always come from love. We don’t think of things like that often, but when our prayers are not God-centered (theocentric) we are not praying to God out of true love. This is to say that our prayers are of no profit at all and in fact are wicked. When even our prayers are wicked, surely we can see that the rest of our lives are in trouble as well. It is not just that we need to reform a few of our actions to be religious, but when our religious actions are idolatrous and wicked it shows the depths of a practice that has moved from being God-centered to being man-centered (Isa 64:6). Even worse, when man is man-centered he thinks of God as being like man and as being man-centered as well. Our pride leads us down these wicked paths.
“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)
It is so hard for minds that are set on human-centeredness to understand that a life that is devoted to prayer and religious activity can actually be a life that is focused on self and lived in utter dependence on self. God has told us in Scripture that He opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6; I Peter 5:5). This means that the prayers that come from pride are also opposed by God. It is easy for us to think in our man-centered ways that it is proud of people not to pray. We may even think of the Pharisee who thanked God that he was not like other men as he listed the sins he was not guilty of (Luke 18:11). Yet in our hearts we may have pride that is much the same as the Pharisee. We may have pride lurking in our heart and rely on self to some degree when going to God in “prayer.” Oh the depths of pride in the human heart and how it spoils all religious actions. We so little think of how pride can spoil our prayers and make them things which the living God opposes.
The quote above is simply shocking when we begin to think about it. “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.” Every aspect of religious life bears the marks of egocentricity or theocentricity. Not just a few, or some, or even most. But every single aspect flows from one of these two central themes. These are not just outward actions, but these are the things of the heart. Either egocentricity or theocentricity constitutes the fundamental character of our religious relationship. Our very prayers, which we might be so proud of, have their fundamental character determined by whether we are in truth and in the depths of our hearts man-centered or God-centered. Man-centeredness is simply another way to say that we are still proud.
Both Reformed and Arminian theology can both be driven by pride and man-centeredness. The essence of Christianity can be missing from even the most orthodox views. The essence of Christianity is when God takes a sinner from that sinner’s pride and man-centeredness and transforms them into being God-centered in all things. It is often stated that Reformed people are proud. That can be from a misunderstanding (man-centered view) of what pride and true humility are. But it can also be a statement that reflects a lot of truth. Unless God has turned a heart from its man-centeredness and pride a person can be very orthodox and be that from no other motives and loves but pride and self. A prayer can be rigorously orthodox in its theology and words and be from a heart that is quite proud of its orthodoxy and its morality. In that case the prayer would be moved by self and actually be for self much like the proud Pharisee in Luke 18:11. A prayer that comes from a proud heart is not one that comes from a heart that is leaning entirely on Christ. It may be a prayer from a heart that leans on itself to lean on Christ which is really doing nothing but leaning on self. Oh the deceitfulness of the proud heart as it deceives the soul into thinking that it is leaning on Christ because of its orthodoxy. Oh the deceitfulness of the proud heart as it deceives the soul into thinking that as it leans on Christ in its own strength it is truly leaning on Christ. Man-centeredness and pride is/are in opposition to grace in truth regardless of the professed theology. Pride in the heart opposes and is always opposed by God even when the creed it holds is orthodox. Knowledge makes arrogant, but love edifies (I Cor 8:1). This is true of orthodoxy, and perhaps even especially true of orthodoxy.
God Loves... Himself 
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