Logos Staff
Want to hear from and have intimacy with God?
You’ll need humility, first.
This excerpt from Hearing God through the Year by Dallas Willard reminds us of the important spiritual connection between humility and intimacy with God.
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When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom. — Proverbs 11:2
Moses may be the all-time record holder for lengthy conversations with God. But he was also one of the least presumptuous human beings who ever walked the earth: “Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth” (Numbers 12:3). Certainly, a connection existed between his meekness and his close working and talking relationship with God.
In seeking and receiving God’s word to us today, we must also seek and receive the grace of humility. God will gladly give it to us if, trusting and waiting on him to act, we refrain from
- pretending we are what we know we are not;
- presuming a favorable position for ourselves in any respect;
- pushing or trying to override the will of others in our context.
This is a fail-safe recipe for humility: Never push, never presume, never pretend.
Pray: Ask for the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Then ask God: Where do I pretend to be smarter or kinder or more clever than I am? Where do I presume to know more than others or to deserve better treatment? When am I often pushy? Confess this lack of humility to God and ask him for guidance in learning to put all your trust in him.1
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Get Hearing God through the Year .
This post was excerpted from Hearing God Through the Year by Dallas Willard, compiled and edited by Jan Johnson. Copyright (c) 2004 by Dallas Willard and Jan Johnson. Published by InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, IL. www.ivpress.com
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