In the previous musing (Musing 3) the subject was primarily on humility in order to pray based on II Chronicles 7:14. That text gives us the words of God in which He tells His people to humble themselves and pray. The problem, however, is the English word “humility.” It is a weak word to translate the original language of the text, but it is at least a good place to start.
The Hebrew word [n:K’ (k¹na`) means to be humbled, subdued, brought down, and brought into subjection. It is a stronger word than the basic term for humility. What this tells us, then, is that in order to truly pray, seek the face of God, and to repent requires a subjection of the soul first and foremost. When a foreign army or king went into a nation in older times and conquered it, the people were in complete and total subjection to the foreign king. This is seen in I Kings 20, or seen in one sense.
Now Ben-hadad king of Aram gathered all his army, and there were thirty-two kings with him, and horses and chariots. And he went up and besieged Samaria and fought against it. 2 Then he sent messengers to the city to Ahab king of Israel and said to him, “Thus says Ben-hadad, 3 ‘Your silver and your gold are mine; your most beautiful wives and children are also mine.'” 4 The king of Israel replied, “It is according to your word, my lord, O king; I am yours, and all that I have.”
The foreign king (Ben-hadad) came to Ahab who was king of Israel and demanded his silver and gold, the most beautiful wives and children. The king of Israel, who at that moment displayed subjection of heart, said “I am yours, and all that I have.” Ben-hadad sent messengers again and Ahab did not go along and they fought. But the first part of the story illustrates the point of a truly subjected heart. A heart that is humbled and subjected is a heart that says to God, “I am yours, and all that I have.” It is a heart that bows to God and submits all that it is and all that it has with no reservations and no rights to self or to property.
A soul that has been truly subjected to the Lord Jesus Christ is a person that owns nothing, not even self. A person that is going to be subjected to Christ is one that must die to self in order to follow Christ. There is a reason, after all, that the whole of Scripture points to God as absolute Lord and then to the Lord Jesus Christ. There are reasons that the New Testament speaks of the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Christ. There are reasons that the Lord Jesus Christ is the King of kings and Lord of lords. In one very real sense the Gospel of the kingdom of God and the Gospel of the glory of God in the face of Christ is the Gospel of absolute and utter subjection to King Jesus. What is repentance if not turning from the love and rule of self to the love and rule of Christ? What is repentance if not turning from the proud love of self to the humbled love of Christ? What is repentance if not from being a slave of the devil and sin to being a slave of Christ and of righteousness?
The Lord Jesus Christ is absolute Lord of the realm of the human heart and not just the realm of external lives. The Lord Jesus Christ either reigns in the heart or He does not truly reign over His subjects. True prayer should be for the welfare of the King rather than selfish things. True prayer should be for our hearts to be broken that we may truly pray and seek the face of God. Hearts that are not subjected pray from self and for self, which is to say that their prayers are all about themselves and love for self. But a heart that is subjected to Christ is a heart that prays out of love for Christ and His glory.
The Lord’s Prayer was not given for people just to repeat the words, but as a guideline for what they should love and pray for. The Lord’s people should pray for the Lord’s name to be hallowed and His glory as opposed to seeking their own glory and honor. The Lord’s people should pray for the Lord’s kingdom to come, not their own. The Lord’s people should pray for the Lord’s will to be done rather than their own. There may also be a language issue here as well. There may be a difference in praying for “the Lord” and praying for “my Lord.” My Lord means that I am a subjected creature with no rights. A subjected creature with no rights is a person that is ready to truly pray for the Lord’s name, the Lord’s kingdom, and the Lord’s will. It is a person ready to pray as Christ prayed as He went to the cross. “Yet not My will, but Yours be done” (Luke 22:42). As subjects of King Jesus, we should pray as He prayed and remind ourselves that no matter what happens to us, we are His and He has all the rights and all the wisdom.
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