It appears that there are vast numbers of books that have been written on prayer the past few centuries and they continue to pour from the presses. The books appear to focus on what to say before God and how to get things from God. But is that true prayer? Do we really find the New Testament teaching us about the proper words to say in prayer? Do we really find the New Testament teaching us about how to pray and get the things we want from God? Since there is no true act of a Christian apart from love, which would certainly include prayer, what would the prayers of a person be like if that person loved God above all things? What would it mean to truly seek God out of love for Him and His glory rather than to seek things for self and the comforts of self? 2 Chronicles 7:14 has some important and vital teaching on this subject.
My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
The order in this passage is for people to humble themselves and then pray. Could it be the case that apart from humility there is no true prayer? If so, then all non-humble prayer is much like the Pharisee who “was praying this to himself” (Luke 18:11). Can it be that all prayer that comes from a non-humbled heart is really a person praying from himself and to himself in reality? What on earth can a proud prayer mean? After all, the prayer of a person that is not humbled is the prayer of a proud person.
The order of the passage continues on and tells us that those who are humbled and praying will seek His face. This is to say that a proud person will pray and see things for himself. The proud person is full of self and self-love and his prayer is nothing but an espousing of his self-love and desire for self. The proud person may use the right words in his religious activity, but the proud heart only wants the things of self and things for self. But the humble heart prays in order to seek the face of God. The humble heart wants and pants after God and longs to know more of God and to see His glory.
The last point of the passage (in this context) is that of repentance. The humbled soul that prays and seeks the face of God is a soul that will repent of all known sin. The proud heart will be blinded to sin for the most part but will repent in order that things will be better for self. Oh how the heart of men must be humbled in order to truly pray. How horrible it is for proud men to pray from their proud hearts and seek themselves in the things of religion. They only pray in order to seek things from God and their repentance is only to obtain things from God or to maintain a good face in religion. A proud heart is, then, the idol of all who have one. It is a horrible thing to be in worship of self while pretending to worship the living God.
If humility is an utter need for prayer, then it is an utter need for all that is truly Christian. Can a person worship God with a proud heart? Can a person give alms with a proud heart? Can a person fast with a proud heart? Can a person preach or teach with a proud heart? It seems self-evident that this is something that cannot be. If all the true believer does must be given by grace first, then it is clear that the proud heart is opposed to God will not serve Him from grace because that proud heart cannot receive grace. Only the humble receive grace and grace is necessary to do all one does for the glory of God.
A proud heart is one of the greatest curses that God turns the soul over to. A proud heart is blind and unfeeling in spiritual things. A proud heart does not hear spiritual things. A proud heart does not taste spiritual things. But if a humble heart is so necessary to be a Christian and the Christian life, then why do people not seek true humility rather than the appearances of it? It is because true humility comes at a great cost. It costs the soul all of its rights and all that it is. True humility means that the soul must be emptied of self and of its pride. True humility means that God has all rights over it and it has no right to choose anything for itself. True humility means that the soul must die to self and Christ must be its life. True humility means that the proud heart must be broken of its pride and the spirit of self and for it to be filled with the Spirit. In other words, it costs the soul all that it is and all that is has to be truly humble. It appears that few are willing to die to self in reality in order to have humility. That means that true prayer is rare.
God Loves... Himself 
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