I have always been one of those people who would do my due diligence before co-signing something that simply “sounds” right. When I was in college there was a popular Christian phrase that ultimately spawned a t-shirt company and music career of a good friend within my social network. It took me 3-4 years to do the necessary (for me) mental wrestling back and forth to conclude that I understood and supported it. For those of you who read the Bible, I have always desired to be described similarly to how Luke describes the Berean people in Acts 17 where he says “they were more noble than those in Thessalonica in that they received the word with all readiness of mind and searched the scriptures daily whether those things were so (Acts 17:11)”.
This week I came across a prayer so difficult that my instinct was to say “ok, now that is too far”, but I could not turn away from it. The only thing that was left for me was to pray it and hope that it could one day be completely true of my own heart and life. It is titled the “Litany of Humility” and its purpose is for those faithful to pray it to be granted the virtue of humility. I warn you, it is a hard prayer. However, in this season, I believe that we will be best served by praying hard prayers and asking for difficult things.
The original author of the “Litany of Humility” is unknown. C.S. Lewis attributed its composition to Cardinal Rafael Merry del Val who lived in the late 1800s.
The Litany of Humility
O Jesus, meek and humble of heart, Hear me.
Deliver Me Jesus
From the desire of being esteemed,
From the desire of being loved,
From the desire of being extolled,
From the desire of being honored,
From the desire of being praised,
From the desire of being preferred to others,
From the desire of being consulted,
From the desire of being approved,
From the fear of being humiliated,
From the fear of being despised,
From the fear of suffering rebukes,
From the fear of being calumniated (being lied on, falsely accused)
From the fear of being forgotten,
From the fear of being ridiculed,
From the fear of being wronged,
From the fear of being suspected,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it
That others may be loved more than I,
That others may be esteemed more than I,
That, in the opinion of the world, others may increase and I may decrease,
That others may be chosen and I set aside,
That others may be praised and I go unnoticed,
That others may be preferred to me in everything,
That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should.
I hope that this prayer and earnest request challenges you in the same way that it challenges me. I also hope that we have the courage and vision to continue praying hard prayers this year.
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