more of You, less of me
a litany of Humility
Holy fire burn away
My desire for anything
That is not of You and is of me
I want more of You
And less of me, yeah
Empty me, empty me, yeah
Fill, won't You fill me
With You, with You, yeah
The older I get, the more I need Jesus. Although, it’s not like I didn’t before, but with age I can finally own it and humble myself enough to admit it. The more time I spend in His word and in stillness with him, the more I crave to surrender more and more of myself to Him, and the greater my desire is to know Him and let Him lead in my life.
For as long as I can remember, I have always prayed for wisdom and discernment, for myself, and my sons, and now I pray it for Greg, all our kids, and our grandchildren. It’s pretty much a prayer I pray daily for all those I love, and the leaders in our world.
If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. (James 1:5-7 NIV) (Part of receiving, is believing.)
Some of you may be wondering, well what about knowledge? Shouldn’t you pray for knowledge too? This isn’t a chicken or the egg sort of scenario, knowledge always comes first. We gain knowledge as we navigate our journey’s on this earth, but wisdom requires more understanding and the ability to discern how and when to apply that knowledge.
Not everyone is wise just because they gain a crazy amount of knowledge.
A quote by an unknown author sums up the differences fairly well: “Knowledge is knowing what to say. Wisdom is knowing when to say it.” Suffice it to say, my reason for praying for wisdom over all, is that wisdom effects our happiness and fulfillment in life. When we make wise decisions we not only consider our immediate needs, but we also think long term as well.
Wise decisions are key to making choices that bring us joy. Wisdom helps us make healthy decisions around our personal needs and in regard to boundaries with others. When we seek wisdom, we are seeking to understand life from God’s perspective which is a paradox when compared to life by way of this world.
“Wisdom is a capacity of the mind that allows us to understand life from God’s perspective. Throughout the book of Proverbs, Solomon encourages us to “get wisdom” (Proverbs 4:5). He says those who get wisdom love life (Proverbs 19:8 NIV ); that it’s better to get wisdom than gold (Proverbs 16:16 NIV); and that those who get wisdom find life and receive favor from the Lord (Proverbs 8:32-35 NIV ).” Wisdom NIV
This world has always been and always will be a tough place to live a Christian life. In all its brokenness we are constantly pulled to turn our backs on our faith, to chase the things of this world, and take care of number one, to elevate self. Our culture today, with all its focus on self-promotion, self-importance, self, self, self, has truly challenged me as I forge ahead on this writing journey.
Because social media is a huge part of writing, I have prayed for God’s direction, for wisdom and discernment in knowing how to navigate the world of social media. It’s tough not to get caught up in the competitiveness of it all, to not feel jealous, or insecure. The imposter syndrome is real, making me doubt God’s direction because I compare myself to others, and I can quickly get sucked into all the noise of that world.
True to His word, God led me to a couple of things to help guide me as I try not to get sucked into our culture’s obsession with self. One is His word. He is granting my prayer for wisdom and discernment in this situation by pointing me back to the scripture in James 3:13-18 NIV…
“Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.”
And lastly, He led me to this prayer for humility that I have prayed almost every single morning since January of this year, may it bless you and provide you with wisdom as it has me.
Litany of Humility
Adapted from a prayer by Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val, 1865-1930
From the desire of being praised, deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being honored, deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being preferred, deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being consulted, deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being approved of, deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of comfort & ease, deliver me Jesus.
From the fear of being humiliated, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being criticized, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being passed over, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being forgotten, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being lonely, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being hurt, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of suffering, deliver me, Jesus.
That others may be loved more than I, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be chosen, and I set aside, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That other may be praised and I unnoticed, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
Oh Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make my heart like yours.
Strengthen me with your spirit.
Teach me your ways.
Help me to put my self-importance aside and to learn the kind of cooperation with others in order to live as we are called to live by God.
Amen
