Pride blocks prayer

For years, certain prayers have gone unanswered even though they are “in God’s will” and not selfish, or so I’ve thought.

Today, Spurgeon talks about humility. He says that God always blesses a humble spirit. Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3) and my devotional adds, “heaven with all its riches and treasures.” Certainly this describes a life of answered prayer and of the honor that God bestows on those who are humble of spirit.

The devotional also points to verses that spell it out plainly; humility comes before honor. I cannot expect God to hear me when my heart is full of pride.

The fear of the LORD is instruction in wisdom, and humility comes before honor. (Proverbs 15:33)

I’ve connected my unanswered prayers to pride, but not like the Lord brings it home today. One sentence in today’s reading clearly shows me why He holds back the blessings that I pray for. Before getting to that one sentence, the Lord set me up with several reminders.

First He says that I’m to empty my heart of self and let God fill it with love. While I love the people that I pray for, some aspects of those prayers are for me. I know that because of the way I talk to God about them and my assumptions for why He has not done anything. I actually apologize for not doing my job right — as if God is limited to my performance. I bemoan my own inadequacies as if I could do what only He can do. From that, I realize that if He did what I ask, I would probably take some credit for it.

Second, He says if I really want close communion with Him and want Him to answer my prayers, then I need to remember what He says about my attitude: “This is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at My word” (Isaiah 66:2). My pride, even a smidgen of it, can stand between me and my audience with God. Much of the time I have far more than a smidgen.

Then God uses this sentence to tell me the reason why He is not answering certain prayers. “If you do not get a blessing, it is because it is not safe for you to have one.”

Oh, my. This hits home. The hard reality is this truth: If my heavenly Father were to let my proud spirit win a victory in His holy war, I would pilfer the crown for myself. Then, when I meet with a fresh enemy, I would certainly fall. God keeps me in this state of not seeing a “yes” answer to my prayers — for my own safety. I cannot handle the answer.

Spurgeon adds that when a person is sincerely humble and “never ventures to touch so much as a grain of praise, there is scarcely any limit to what God will do for that person.” Humility makes us ready to be blessed and equips us to deal efficiently with all issues of life for it causes us to rely totally on the only One who can give us all that we need.

*****

Now what do I say to You about this? I know and abhor my pride. I know that my heart would swell with it should You do some of the things I ask. This is a mockery of grace. Why should I feel proud when it is You alone who is responsible for blessing others, blessing me, even bestowing honor? I earn or deserve none of it.

Oh Lord, this battle against pride also puts my focus on me. Only You can save me from self-focus, self-righteousness, and the insidious ruin of thinking of myself too much and too often and more highly than I ought. You tell me that I have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16), obviously because my own is corrupt. Lift my thoughts to You and put my pride where it belongs.