Self-Noughting
O Lord,
Help me to approach thee with becoming conception of thy
nature, relations and designs.
Thou inhabitest eternity, and my life is nothing before
thee;
Thou dwellest in the highest heaven and this cannot contain
thee; I live in a house of clay.
Thy power is almighty; I am crushed before the moth.
Thy understanding is infinite; I know nothing as I ought to
know.
Thou canst not behold evil; I am vile.
In my ignorance, weakness, fears, depressions, may thy
Spirit help my infirmities with supplies of wisdom, strength and comfort.
Let me faithfully study my character, be willing to bring it
to light, observe myself in my trials, judge the reality and degree of my
grace, consider how I have ensnared or overcome.
Grant that I may never trust my heart, depend upon any past
experiences, magnify any present resolutions, but be strong in Jesus: that I
may know how to obtain relief from a guilty conscience without feeling
reconciled to my imperfections.
Sustain me under my trials and improve them to me; give me
grace to rest in thee, and assure me of deliverance.
May I always combine thy majesty with thy mercy, and connect
thy goodness with thy greatness.
Then shall my heart always rejoice in praises to thee.
Rapper Fifty Cent recently said on the Oprah network "You
should either pray or worry -- don't do both," said the former street kid.
"If you pray and then worry," he explained, "How do you think
that makes God feel?" (Yahoo News http://news.yahoo.com/50-cent-oprah-either-pray-worry-202800884.html)
You do after all have a jealous God you are praying to.
“What’s that got to do with worrying?” you may ask. Fifty Cent is right, either
pray and know it is in God’s hands or risk making God feel jealous. Jealous in so
much that you pray and trust him with your worries and fears and then decide he
may not be capable of handling it. But of course you need to keep worrying
because you know it may not turn out well. And you are right it may not turn
out well, it might be the worst thing ever.
In Luke 22:44 “And being in an agony he prayed more
earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling to the
ground” Jesus prayed about his worry, to the point of sweating blood! However
after praying to the Father Jesus accepted his Fathers will. And further as we
explored last week Jesus went on to defend it (Mat 26:51-54) As well as in John
18:10 -11 when Simon Peter tried to protect Jesus from the soldiers and chief
priests by attacking and cutting off Malchus’s ear Jesus again now defends his
inevitable fate. He says to Simon Peter “Put your sword
into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?”
How does Jesus go from sweating drops of blood because of
His worry to accepting and defending his fate? He prays and does not worry. He
does not do both. He knows how it would make the Father feel. You too can and
should pray and leave your worry behind. We have an awesome God.
Today let’s pray knowing His knowledge is infinite while
ours is limited. And then shall our
hearts always rejoice in praises to Him.
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