“Yes, Lord,” she said, “but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus answered, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted” (Matthew 15:27-28).
“Be humble or you’ll stumble.” – D. L. Moody
Prayer is the ultimate humbling experience because you are forced to acknowledge your dependence of a superior being.
It is easier to stay humble when you keep the purpose of prayer in mind. Prayer is not a way to force God to do miracles on your behalf. God is not like a vending machine where you can insert a few prayers and expect a miracle to pop out.
The purpose of prayer is not to change God’s mind, but to change your own.
According to Malachi 3:6 and Hebrews 13:28, God does not change. So, no matter how much we pray for God to do something, He is only going to do what He has said in His word that He will do.
For example, our prayers cannot convince God to save a friend or relative. He already desires for every person to be saved. He gave His very best, His only Son, as a gift to make salvation possible for every person. What more do you want Him to do?
T.L. Osborn said, “There are two prayers God can never answer. When we ask Him to do something He has already done and when we ask Him to do something He told us to do.”
God has done everything He needs to do for the whole world to be saved. He commanded us, “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature.” So, when we pray for the lost to be saved, our own hearts become burdened with the need to go witness to the lost.
The purpose of prayer is not to try to get God to do what we want, rather the purpose of prayer is for us to become more like God. Prayer changes our thought processes, our attitudes, our ideas. With our prayers we can change ourselves so our thoughts more closely reflect God’s thoughts.
Prayer, done properly, is a humbling experience because you become aware of how BIG God is and how small we are. We should all pray as Kathryn Kulman prayed, “All of Thee, Lord, and none of me.”
Check out Daniel King’s book: The Power of Prayer
