Prayer and Self- Esteem

Last Sunday, JD was speaking about Romans 12:3: For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourselves more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance to the measure of faith God has given you.(NIV)

He pointed out that many of us read into that verse that we, if we are humble, will think poorly of ourselves. However, JD challenged us to think about humility in the manner C.S. Lewis explained it: “Humility in not thinking little of yourself, but thinking of your self little”.

When we are downing ourselves (creating “low self-esteem”, as it were), we are in some ways criticizing our Maker. Take a look at these New International Bible verses JD quoted from the book Living on the Edge by Chip Ingram.

Thought: We should not criticize the Appearance our Maker gave us.

Psalm 139:13-17
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.  My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,  your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.  How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!

Thought: We should not reject the Belongingness our Maker created in us.

Romans 8:31-32
What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?  He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all — how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

Thought: We should not deny the Worthiness that our Maker placed in us through His Son.

Isaiah 61:10
I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

Thought: We should not doubt the Security of our Maker’s love for each of us.

Romans 8:38-39
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Thought: We should not forget God’s Competence in us (which makes us competent in what he has called us to do).

Philippians 2:13

For it it God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.

Philippians 4:13

I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

Ephesians 2:10

For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Lovely verses. How do we connect with God’s truth for us? Can we submit to him in prayer and ask for his help in seeing ourselves as he sees us?

Times Jesus Prayed

Can you imagine? Jesus (God-the Son) prayed. Although he had a direct connection to his Father God, he found it necessary to pray.

In perusing this month’s Revive magazine, I saw a list of Jesus’ prayer times from the gospels of Matthew and Luke. I would like to take a few weeks and explore each of those events.

Luke 5:15-16

In this story, Jesus touched a man with leprosy and healed him. Jesus instructed him not to tell anyone except the priests what had happened, but instead show his healing by his obedient life. But the poor fellow couldn’t contain himself. He told folks.

“Soon a large crowd of people had gathered to listen and be healed of their ailments. As often as possible Jesus withdrew to out-of-the-way places for prayer.” (The Message)

So life got busy for Jesus. He was experiencing a fruitful ministry- good preaching, productive healing, large crowds.

How did Jesus handle success?

He withdrew as often as possible to solitary places and simply prayed.

He was our example of the necessity of Prayer Retreats. Hey, if it was good enough for Christ, it should be good enough for us…

Quote

“Prayer mirrors the gospel. In the gospel, the Father takes us as we are because of  Jesus and gives us his gift of salvation. In prayer, the Father receives us as we are because of Jesus and gives us his gift of help. We look at the inadequacy of our praying and give up, thinking something is wrong with us. God looks at the adequacy of his Son and delights in our sloppy, meandering prayers.” -Paul E. Miller in The Praying Life quoted by Revive Magazine.