“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray …” (2 Chronicles 7:4)
Real prayer arises from a place of brokenness and humility. When we can’t, we trust that God can. Where we can’t be, He is. What we have no idea how to solve, He has a perfect solution for.
The proud don’t pray. “The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.” (Psa. 10:4) The humble include God not because they can “use all they help they can get” – but because they deem Him to be their only hope. Without Him, they can do nothing. They don’t trust in their own strength or wisdom or works. It is not by their might or power, but by God’s Spirit that success is achieved.
Prayer not only enlists God to do what we can’t, it also positions us to learn from Him what we can and should do. He is “able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh IN US.” (Eph. 3:20) We stay attuned to God as we come before Him in brokenness, acknowledging our great need for Him to arise on our behalf. We move in faith when we’ve heard His still, small voice.
May we never be afraid to own up to our weakness. The Lord hears the cries of the poor and needy. We pray because we trust God to take care of any and every situation far better than we can. We pray because we dare not move without Him.