humility and prayer

Opening Prayer: Lord, I know not what I ought to ask of Thee; Thou only knowest what I need; Thou lovest me better than I know how to love myself.  O Father! Give to Thy child that which he himself knows not how to ask.  I dare not ask either for crosses or consolations; I simply present myself before Thee, I open my heart to Thee.  Behold my needs which I know not myself; see and do according to Thy tender mercy.  Smite, or heal; depress me, or raise me up; I adore all Thy purposes without knowing them; I am silent; I offer myself in sacrifice; I yield myself to Thee; I would have no other desire than to accomplish Thy will.  Teach me to pray.  Pray Thyself in me. ~Francois Fenelon

Scripture: Psalm 62:9

Journal: How are humility and prayer linked for you?  How does one lead to the other?

Reflection: There is an undeniable link between humility and prayer; one always seems to lead to the other.  For, in its truest form, prayer is surrender.  It is the giving up of power and preference and prerogative.  It is the movement from “my will” to “Thy will.”  Therefore, it involves a giving up of self and an embracing of our inherent powerlessness and dependence.  For once we are finally willing to make ourselves nothing, God has the room and the freedom to become everything.  Once we finally arrive at a healthy indifference to anything but the will of God, we give him the space to make a substantial difference in and through our lives.  Once we finally make it to “God alone” we have reached the ground where God does some of his very best work.  It just takes a while to get there.  For becoming nothing is a hard place to arrive.  But once we have embraced our nothingness, we have entered the very beginnings of true prayer.

Prayer

Closing Prayer: Lord God, help us to never run away from humility, because when we do, we run away from the good, good work you are trying to do in and through us.  Amen.