“Jesus hallowed the Father’s name by always praying in a way consistent with God’s nature, ways purposes, and especially His will. He would never pray anything contrary to the nature of God. This is where we must think both before we pray and while we pray. This will help keep us from praying outside the Father’s revealed will and nature, or outside Jesus’ commands and truth, or outside what we know of the Holy Spirit’s nature and activity.”
Henry Blackaby, experiencing prayer with jesus, p. 62.
Share a Comment: Consider sharing a comment in the box below with something God is showing you either about fasting, prayer, or making room in your heart – as an encouragement to others.
Daily Devotionals: As we step into this next season in the life of our church, we are asking the Lord to help us “Make Room in our Hearts” – for the people Jesus loves, and the people Jesus brings. During these 21 Days, our whole church will be reflecting and meditating on these same thoughts and prayers together, with one mind, guided by and depending on one Spirit.
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Engage the Word: Making Room In Our Hearts
Read Philippians 2:3-7
3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
Connect the Heart
It’s perfectly natural that a huge portion of our energy is spent thinking about ourselves and our own interests, especially as we interact with others. How was I treated in that last conversation? Am I being heard and understood… and appropriately appreciated? Was I slighted or did somebody speak to me disrespectfully? Were my feelings hurt? Do I feel rejected, stressed, or triumphant? Without being explicitly selfish, we are ever-aware of our personal agenda, our personal dignity, and our personal honor in our exchanges with others.
In Philippians 2, Paul uses the example of Christ and turns the natural human paradigm on its head: even in your own considerations, think of others more highly than yourself. This is not to say that you should consider yourself of low value, but rather that, because of your security in Christ, you do not have to constantly prioritize your own dignity and honor as you interact with others.
With the simple shift of removing our personal agenda from our interactions, we free up huge amounts of personal resources, allowing us to treat others better.
The passage says Jesus “emptied Himself.” By emptying Himself, He made room to focus on serving others. Paul assures us that Jesus epitomized the paradigm of treating others above His own dignity. This unmerited treatment is called grace. When you make room for others in your heart, you are treating them with grace the same way Jesus was gracious towards us.
In other words, Christ helps us make room in our hearts for other people!
Reflect on the Truth
1. When we fast, we remove normal comforts and indulgences, which makes room for increased time and attention towards Christ and His work in our lives. Can you try fasting from prioritizing your own dignity in your interaction with somebody?
- If Jesus, who truly deserves highest honor, set His honor aside for your sake, how can He help you set your own honor aside in order to make room for somebody else? The passage says that making room mindset “is yours in Christ Jesus.” How can you align with His mind?
Depend on the Spirit
Ask the Holy Spirit to help you see the deeper longings, desires or motives in your heart that these thoughts are pointing to. (For example: you may write down, “Holy Spirit, please show me the deep joy of Jesus in treating others with highest grace. Help me bring you into your interactions with others that I might learn to quiet my own heart and know Your heart for others.”) The Lord can help us discern the path forward – through His Word, His Spirit, and His people.
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For Prayer
As you conclude your devotional time, pray that Jesus will help you believe His grace towards you so that you can also accept His grace towards others. If He convicts you of selfishness, confess it and ask His forgiveness. Pray that He will help you make room in your heart!
Fasting
Please read the first blog post entitled “Why Fast?” This explains what fasting is and why we follow Jesus in this spiritual discipline as together we seek the heart of God.
Previous Posts
To read yesterday’s blog post devotional, please click here.
To read our 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting Introduction, please click here.
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Some parts of our 21 Days devotionals are adapted using various resources on scripture and prayer like The Bible Exposition Commentary, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries, The New Bible Commentary, Logos Bible Software and other resources.
Share a Comment: Consider sharing a comment in the box below with something God is showing you either about fasting, prayer, or making room in your heart – as an encouragement to others.
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit… “nothing” is an absolute; an imperative statement without caveat for human foibles and frailty. God’s standard in this instruction is impossible.
The prophet Jeremiah says the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? And in Romans it says for I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.
When God’s inexorable grace pours out on the sinner and they are redeemed and set free, they are free indeed and released from penalty of sin. The process of sanctification and purification (becoming more like Christ and less bound to the chains of this world) continues, however, never fully complete in this shadow of the world to come.
“But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.” (1 John 3)
As we think about our heart condition (do nothing out of selfish ambition) I need to also consider that talking a good game is not what the Lord asks of me, but action “in deed and in truth.”