Monday, March 16, 2009

Weekly Prayer Thought

Teach me Your way, O LORD;
I will walk in Your truth;
Unite my heart to fear Your name. Psalm 86.11

How easy it is to convince myself that I can solve all my own problems. After all, I've made it this far. I have done alright learning to provide for my family, hold a job and pay my bills. When situations come up, I do pretty well at taking care of it. I can resolve disputes and figure things out. I am no MacGyver, but I do okay.

And that's the American way, isn't it? We do not want to take charity. We want to fend for ourselves. We look out for number 1. We are self-reliant and independent. What a great life! I can take care of myself and be my own boss. I know all the answers.

But that doesn't quite ring true in light of the Psalm, does it? After all, the prayer in this Psalm is not to be independent, but to be dependent. We are to recognize our need for God. We should be praying to learn his truth, to walk in his ways and to have his values.

I am as selfish as the next guy- maybe more so. I need to hear this admonition to rely on Jesus. I can be independent, but I must always be in submission to the work of God in my life.

PRAYER: I think too much of myself, Lord. I think that I am great. I believe that I don't need anyone else. Sometimes I even think I don't need you. Forgive me my selfish attitude and teach me how to live for you. Amen.

1 comment:

Paula said...

You are so right. We have been taught to be independent. It is cultural. But only generations back it was not this way; people relied on neighbors. There WAS community.We need to recognize our need for God, but also our need for community, to allow others to help us as well as being willing to help others.