4/4/19
Stay in Your Lane
When a believer starts to make some ground in prayer, one of the first obstacles that there is to overcome pride inwardly. There is a great drive for people of prayer to want to find appreciation in the fact that have gotten somewhere in prayer. However, a deeper dive into prayer is what they need at that time. True it is, that when you have prayed in secret, the Lord can and will reward you openly. But that reward is supposed to be like a pat on the back, a thumbs up, and a boost to “get back to work”. Lol. The Lord knows that the deepest of treasures is found in the knowledge of Himself and of yourself in Himself. In the family of Christ, we will see ourselves and our good qualities (and bad qualities) reflected or shown when we are together. There may be a comment or a prophetic word, a word spoken like a word of knowledge in prayer, a coincidence shared by a friend that you had need of hearing, a comment made about a memory that tied you to being with another person, etc. It takes a long time to cultivate humility, years and years, and miles and miles talking to Jesus, and the greatest threat to keeping humility is self-praise. The devil thrives on pride and having his pat on the backs continually. The devil was thrown out of his place in Heaven because of discontent and now wanting God to have all the glory. So, it is a sure thing, that if we can tackle the beast of pride as Christians, it will keep us in Heaven’s view, keep us out of trouble, keep us in His joy, and keep our soul. “For they loved human praise more than praise from God.” John 12:43 This is because all the devil’s glory is on this earth and in heavenly reams with spiritual battles. Sure, the devil gets a mere 6000 years of glory on this crooked earth, but when the Lord returns that 6000 years will look like a spec of dust compared to Jesus’ eternal reign. The Lord’s people are to be as meek as a lamb, as mild as a babe in a manger, as lowly as a persecuted and blistered Lord. If we get back to that state of humiliation, of being childlike in truth, of relying on the Lord in the face of all our fears, we will have His mantle of revelation to guide us in all our ways. When we have made it to a height in prayer, it will take more prayer to get back into prayer, and more prayer to pray after that, and more prayer to stay humble. The Lord’s river does not ever run dry but flows from the throne of God living and full and rich and plenty-to-go-round for all. The insidious demons of pride stand at the door as you try to enter the gate to a new wavelength with the Lord. The demon of pride also is seen quite frequently with other demons of conceit, insincerity, and deception, which is dishonesty. A great feat it is to be able to “stay in your own lane” while in prayer. When you are around others is when you are tested the most, because pride feeds on the presence of others. Not many people struggle near as much with patting themselves on the back time after time when they are alone, I don’t think. When you are praying around others or not, don’t “look up” from where you are in prayer so that others can “see” you. There are several teachings of Jesus about doing things privately: giving prayer in private, giving to others in secret, and the mysteries of God taught by Jesus are even referred to as “secrets” told in privacy, another theme of a humble gospel. What I mean is, don’t check to see if others can see what such a great job you are doing in the Lord. Don’t be distracted from the Lord in prayer by checking to see if anyone can see how holy you are. And especially if it does happen, don’t ever let it continue. Just acknowledge privately that you were prideful, because if the spirit of pride proceeds a thought-no matter how holy- it has no firm foundation to stand. It doesn’t matter if anyone ever sees you because our connection is to be to God and His Spirit. Up and up and up. Stay in your own lane and keep your eyes on your own prize. Mind your own business and you’ll be good to go! 1 Thessalonians 4:11a “Stay calm; mind your own business; do your own job.” MSG version
Rebekah's Reflections 