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There’s the old joke, “I prayed to be humble, and God answered my prayer.”
People have told me that they were praying for brokenness and humility. My thought when I hear this request: “Don’t pray for brokenness and humility. Ask God for your next step of faith, and by stepping forward, you will find brokenness and humility.”
I must be careful, as humility is a virtue to be honored by all believers. I memorized this verse years ago and go over it regularly during morning devotions …
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you (1 Peter 5:6-7, ESV).
With humility taught as something we should do, the Bible never teaches us to pray for it. Perhaps I’m nitpicking, but when I obey in faith, professing my inadequacy for a task, and pleading for God’s help, I think this is more the tonal quality of “humbling myself” found in 1 Peter 1:5 than praying, “Oh, God break me and make me humble.”
My “stepping out in faith” plan for humility involves placing our hearts in the weakness needed to release God’s power to move forward with obedient action. The Apostle Paul writes …
God said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me (2 Corinthians 12:9).
Praying for brokenness and ensuing humility can become a debilitating meditation on our inadequacies. Too much of this type of thinking can sink us into negativity, always waiting for God to make us humble or broken enough to serve. However, it also ruins the rule of freedom in the Spirit that Paul writes about …
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:1-2).
I never pray, “God, make me humble or break me.” Christ was broken for me, once and for all (Hebrews 7:27), and I am in Christ; why would I ask for this sacrifice of Jesus to happen again in my life? As Jesus said on the night before His crucifixion …
And He took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19).
I’ve encountered pastors and saints who put themselves down with “false humility” in statements like “I don’t pray often enough,” or “I don’t love people enough,” or “I have a bad attitude,” meaning that they need more brokenness or humility. It can be a point of pride in their demeanor, as if they are saying, “Oh, what a saint I am by becoming humbler.”
Sort of like the other old joke about humility: “I’m so proud that I’ve become such a humble person.”
We must be humble and broken, but only in the context of the substitutionary victory in Christ. Instead of pointing out our needs or weaknesses to others, we should proclaim victory in Jesus and how His grace makes us whole.
Praying, “God, I don’t know how, but I will obey,” or Isaiah exclaiming, “Here I am, send me,” (Isaiah 6:8) are two great examples of brokenness and humility.
We don’t need to ask for humility; when we step forward in faith, we will find it.