November 10, 2005
A call to Prayer
The sin that separates us from God most is the cold arrogance of a self-centered, individualistic life. The key to prayer is to give up all the privileges, rights, and demands of self-esteem, all self-justification and all clinging to the good things we have accomplished through our own virtue. Self-importance is the opposite of love and goodness and is the deepest root of sin. Conversely, the root of community with God and love to others is the awareness that we receive undeserved grace and good gifts from God. If we are full of ourselves, thinking we are better than others, our prayer will never reach God. But if we are aware of our guilt and recognize that we are worse than others, and ask God for his mercy, he accepts our prayers (Luke 18:9-14).
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conversely if we wallow in our self-pity and guilt without repentance we are just as much in a state of sin and self-centeredness. it still means we have to allow God to be absolutely sovereign in our lives. How we get to the realization may take brokeness or may take struggling with false paradigms and wrong assumptions, beliefs and unfounded understandings of who are, who God is, all within the light of His word.
thanks for the post. very challenging
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