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“Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:6-7
Every once in a while I come across a gem that was written in days of old that stirs my heart with fresh and timeless wisdom. This post features a prayer that was penned a hundred years ago. It is a plea for God to bring humility to the heart of each who has the courage to pray this prayer. It is consistant with the Bible’s mandate for our lives to prioritize loving God and others above all else: even above ourselves.
If you are looking for warm and fuzzy, stop reading now. This isn’t your post.
But if you are looking to live an authentic, Christ-centered, poured-out life of meaning, then read the prayer below. It bristles and rubs against the teachings of our culture. It rebuts selfish-love and the doctrine of personal affirmation that focuses on “me, myself and I.” It flies in the face of self-confidence and personal glory… instead, pleading for God-confidence and for the glory of Christ to be revealed in and through us.
Wow! Dare I say, “Yes, please!”
WORD OF CAUTION: Praying this prayer on a heart-level might radically change the posture and perspective of your life.
LITANY OF HUMILITY
Cardinal Merry de Val (1865-1930)
O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, hear me.
From the desire of being esteemed, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being loved, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being extolled, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being honored, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being praised, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being preferred to others, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being consulted, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being approved, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being humiliated, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being despised, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of suffering rebukes, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being forgotten, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being ridiculed, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being wronged, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being suspected, deliver me, O Jesus.
That others may be loved more than I, O Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be esteemed more than I, O Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That, in the opinion of the world, others may increase and I may decrease, O Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be chosen and I set aside, O Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be praised and I unnoticed, O Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be preferred to me in everything, O Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should, O Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
AMEN.
Where does this find you today?
RESPONSE TIME: Let’s go deeper together! Leave a comment below posting your thoughts about this. C’mon! I really love to hear from you! Feel free to share a Scripture, a struggle, a story. Just share.
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Thanks for doing life with me!
Gwen
Comments 14
Pray for my marriage that is not working according to God’s word and also pray for my wife who has neglected her responsibilities as a wife to me and a mother to our children and who has negleted the vows she made to me before God.God Bless you
This is a very good prayer to EXORCISE pride. Thank you for sharing this one.
I guess I don’t really mind being in the background but want to fulfill my destiny & sometimes I think it is connected to accolades : ) I don’t know why. I liked the part of the prayer that talked about fear & it made me realize that sometimes fear is from a lack of surrender to God. For some reason after reading this I realized that getting angry because I feel treated unfairly is a lack of humility. (sigh) It’s hard to not be disappointed or frustrated though.
When I was younger the repition of litanies helped me get over myself in trying times. This todsy wss a grest reminder and help. Thank you Gwen
What more can I say than, WOW!? This has given me the ways and words to ask Jesus for the help I need. Thank you so very much for having this on the Internet and thank you God for sending me here.
There is such truth in this and a great reminder…I am going to share this with my middle school bible class, I can only pray that they take it to heart.
So cool. May we all take it to heart. 🙂
Oh Gwen… this is just what I needed today… thank you. I say it again, this time with with tears streaming down my face, THANK YOU! I love how God works and guides and gently nudges us along the way… even toward something as seemingly simple as a blog post… He met me where I was at today and He used you and your faithfulness to do it… I just shared something on my ministry site today called “You Are Enough” inspired by that silly little voice inside so many of us women nagging us to feel less than good enough to carry out God’s plan and purpose for our lives… we don’t need to be anything more than His willing vessel. God inspired me to write about that today and now He has used your post and this prayer to reaffirm this “word” in my spirit. Blessings to you!!! Krissy
Oh, girl… how awesome is our God? 🙂 Thanks sooo much for sharing this. Warm blessings to you too!
Thanks Gwen! 🙂
This is a really awesome and humbling prayer, even in the midst of praying it I could feel my flesh saying – What about me? Are you really praying this? Are you serious? Even Jesus was esteemed, there’s nothing wrong with wanting a little honor for yourself. WOW!!! I am grateful I was led here by the Spirit to read this today and I am writing this down in my devotional journal to revisit and continue praying….. thank you for sharing this!
I SO know what you are saying. Same flesh-fight goes down when I read it too. Thanks for being honest! Your comments blessed me. 🙂
I have been praying that God will give me favour and allow me to do well in school. But recently I have decided to be more active in church,but I’m not really seeing the results I want in school. On top of that I am doing a major that I’m not too enthusiastic about,I just want to find what God wants me to do. When I read this it reminded me that Christ lived a life of service ,and thought about others. Even though it isn’t always convenient we should too.It reminded me of the scripture seek yea first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all other things shall be added unto you. I’ll continue to have faith,I know things will be well. Thanks for this encouragement and God bless.
You are so right. When we seek Him first the rest of life will fall in place. Not in a simple way, because life is surely complicated and filled with difficulties, but in a blessed way because God is faithful and can be trusted.