A Prayer for Humility
By Chelsey DeMatteis
“For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say, ‘How shall we return?’ Malachi 3:6-7
For the last two years, I’ve wondered why my walk with the Lord felt dry. I’d find myself almost daily asking, “how did I get here”? Yet, for some reason, I never took it farther than that. I kept chugging along, doing life and feeling dry, almost empty, if you will.
By God’s grace, one night, I climbed into the tub at the end of a long day. I turned on my worship music and immediately felt tense, wondering if the person I was listening to chose to adhere to sound doctrine. Was this mash-up of favorite worship songs okay? It’s not that the questions were wrong, but they showed the posture of my heart at that moment. Tense and filled with angst instead of peace and worship.
Moments later, I had the most beautiful reminder of climbing into my dad's truck a few years ago to find him singing one of these songs. God etched that morning into my heart. What a gift it was to me to witness my dad singing praise to our Savior. Pure-hearted and in a posture of humility.
God used that memory to convict my heart that evening as the worship song played. I’d lost my humble heart. My once humble heart had been handed over to pride and arrogance. I found myself more concerned with what man thought about things rather than taking them to the Lord.
It all became abundantly clear, and the Holy Spirit began a great revival in my heart. I was brought to the book of Malachi in chapter 3 and was shown the time when God gave His people the opportunity to turn and repent of their sins. He told the people, “return to me and I will return to you…” (vs 7).
I will forever remember this moment with the Lord, just as I will always remember climbing into the truck with my dad. Humility washed over me once again. God’s grace and mercy poured out over my heart. I immediately felt softened. And the thought of harshness felt repulsive.
It is true, and I pray you know this, too; the love of Christ will always soften us. It will cause us to have humble hearts. It will make us new, whole, and in deep pursuit of the opportunity to share God’s love.
Let’s pray:
Lord, thank you for the gift of the Holy Spirit and conviction. I praise you for the way your Word softens our hearts. May I always seek to look to you for all my answers and that you are the only one I desire to please. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Photo credit: ©Getty Images/Suwaree Tangbovornpichet
Chelsey is the voice behind the Living with Less Podcast and author of the 52-week devotional More of Him, Less of Me: Living a Christ-centered Life in a Me-centered World. She writes devotions for Lifeway Women's Journey Magazine, Crosswalk.com, and iBelieve.com. She also writes Bible reading plans for the YouVersion Bible App. Chelsey lives in Ohio with her husband and two children. You can connect with her on Instagram @chelseydematteis and at her website ChelseyDeMatteis.com.
Editor's Note: We're proud to announce we've just launched a new nighttime companion to Your Daily Prayer: the Your Nightly Prayer devotional. You'll soon be able to subscribe to receive Your Nightly Prayer via email, or as a podcast, but for now you can find it on the website at crosswalk.com/devotionals/your-nightly-prayer. We hope it's a relaxing and soothing way to wind down your day with rich meditations on who God is.
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