Of Humility, Love, and Prayer

“Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.” (1Pe 5:6-7 AV)

Usually, we tend to split these two verses apart and teach truth from them which is still true.  Humility is always a good thing.  And Peter is especially right when he says that God rewards humility.  Verse seven is also used apart from verse six.  There is definitely a case for casting all that we are concerned with upon the throne of God because He loves us more than we could ever know.  However, not the colon that joins these two verses.  As we have stated before, the colon tells us that what follows expounds on what was stated.  In other words, humility and efficacious prayer are inseparably linked.  What stood out this morning is the relationship of humility with divine love.  If we are not apt to pray, it may be we are too proud to do so.  If we do not spend time in our prayer closets, it could be we are too independent.  Love has a strange way of mitigating pride.  The more love abounds, the less pride seems to be an issue.  The more two people care for one another and need one another’s companionship, the less pride has a way of standing in between.  The less we love or are loved, the less we need others.  This puts a strain on communication.  This pride of self-sufficiency is the enemy of relationships.  Particularly with the LORD.

The marriages that have really spoken to me are those where the spouses are so humble with one another they are like one person.  I know I have written of this couple before, but their relationship was something to behold.  When I had the privilege of knowing them, they were retired from work.  Jim Grove was a postman most of his life.  Chub Grove was a homemaker but sometimes worked as a secretary.  When they retired, they ran a grape pie business out of their house in a little village called Naples, NY.  Their home was the first one on the north end of town.  The north is from which most visitors would come.  Naples was a hopping place during the summer and fall months.  Grape pies would fly off the shelves.  Needless to say, Jim and Chub were very busy people.  One afternoon, after church, we were invited to their home for Sunday dinner.  It was here I was able to see two people who loved one another very much interact.  It was such a testimony to me in my early married life that I believe the example they set in front of young eyes would shape my relationship with my lovely wife.  They shared the chore of entertaining company without one asking the other to do anything.  There was no need.  Each knew what needed to be done at the moment it needed to be done and did it.  They always spoke to one another with tremendous respect and delight.  There was never a kind word.  Never a word of correction or criticism.  Jim and Chub were one of the humblest couples I have ever known.  Their humility was a vulnerability founded upon mutual love and trust.  The more they loved one another, the more they trusted one another.  The more they trusted one another, the more they communicated.  The more they communicated, the more intimate their relationship.

The principle above the more we love the LORD the more we will pray to Him.  The more we pray to Him, the more vulnerable we will allow ourselves to be.  The more vulnerable we allow ourselves to be, the more God can show just how much He cares for us.  There is a relationship between humility, love, and intimacy.  If we do not have the first two, the last is not very deep.  If we wish to grow in heart and mind closer and closer to the heart of God, it begins with humility.  To truly be intimate with Christ, we have to dissolve all self-reliance.  Independence must be surrendered.  Pride is what destroyed Satan.  Pride is what keeps people from trusting Christ.  And pride is still the greatest hindrance to an intimate relationship with the Father.   There is a promise above.  Peter assures us that if we humbly seek our God, then He will hear us and listen to that which we have in our hearts.  What we cannot do is divorce love from humility.  Are we humble before God?  Perhaps the reason is we do not love Him.  Do we not love Him.  Perhaps it is because pride still reigns in the heart.