Blog 65 / Our High Calling
September 22, 2022
Praying for God’s Glory Will Cost Us
Most of us who love the Lord have often prayed that God would be glorified in our life, in our home, in our work and our relationships. Such prayers God delights to answer, but His answers will cost us. God can be glorified in us only as we are willing to die to self, which is often a painful and lifelong process.
Self doesn’t surrender control of our life easily – but it has to go if God is to be glorified in us. Self is not pretty and its traits are many. It craves human praise, wants to be noticed and admired, is defensive when criticized, stands on its rights and takes offense when overlooked. It covers up its faults and gives a better impression of itself than is strictly true. It gets irritable, impatient and angry. Even if we avoid outwardly committing the “big” sins, we can too easily harbor thoughts of them in our hearts.
In contrast, a life that has enthroned Christ and dethroned self is quick to surrender its will to the Master. It is not defensive nor does it stand on its own rights. It receives criticism with a humble spirit, it grieves over sin, is quick to admit failure and to seek forgiveness. It desires holiness more than happiness, has a thankful spirit and a deep hunger for the things of God.
God wants all of us to manifest these Christlike attitudes because He is glorified in our lives when His Son is revealed in us. And He is so committed to revealing His Son that He will allow us to go through hardships, disappointments, humiliations and failures to pry us loose from the things we hold onto that obscure His glory. The more we die to self though, the more the beauty of Jesus will be seen in us.
Imagine a beautiful painting that has been hidden away for decades in an old basement. It has gathered so much grime that the picture is totally hidden. When a master art restorer receives the painting he sets about carefully removing the grime. As he does this the image, once obscured, is gradually revealed.
In like manner, God wills nothing less for us than the full restoration of the image of His Son in us. So what more can we pray than for God to be glorified in us? And why ask for anything less?
Colin Stott
GRN Global Prayer Coordinator
