4th. November. 2020. Daily Devotion.
Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. Philippians 2:1-4
Screwtape examines the virtue of Humility
Your patient has become humble; have you drawn his attention to the fact? All virtues are less formidable to us once the man is aware that he has them, but this is especially true of humility. Catch him at the moment when he is really poor in spirit and smuggle into his mind the gratifying reflection, ‘By Jove! I’m being humble’, and almost immediately pride—pride at his own humility—will appear.
If he awakes to the danger and tries to smother this new form of pride, make him proud of his attempt—and so on, through as many stages as you please. But don’t try this too long, for fear you awake his sense of humour and proportion, in which case he will merely laugh at you and go to bed.
But there are other profitable ways of fixing his attention on the virtue of Humility. By this virtue, as by all the others, our Enemy wants to turn the man’s attention away from self to Him, and to the man’s neighbours. All the abjection and self-hatred are designed, in the long run, solely for this end; unless they attain this end they do us little harm; and they may even do us good if they keep the man concerned with himself, and, above all, if self-contempt can be made the starting point for contempt of other selves, and thus for gloom, cynicism, and cruelty.
Lord, let me never commit the ironic sin, by becoming proud of my humility. Amen.
~ from “The Screwtape Letters” by C. S. Lewis.
Prayer to Walk Humbly
Father, You say, “O people, the LORD has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.” Today we choose to walk humbly with You. We choose to live by Your Holy Spirit and to follow Your lead. Help us to hear You clearly, for we do not want to walk by pride or self-sufficiency, we want to walk with You in Jesus name, Amen
Patience
My Father, I pray that I may have patience to live through the difficulties of life. May I correct my faults, that they may not destroy my peace and take from me my strength; help me to centre my life in brightness and hope. Amen.
Doxology
And now let me go forth praising you, O Lord, with all my heart, telling of all your wonders, with my words and in my actions. I will be glad and rejoice in you this day. I will sing praise to your name, O Most High. Amen.
A Proverb
Better is the poor who walks in his integrity
Than one who is perverse in his lips and is a fool. Proverbs 19:1
Coronavirus Prayer topics
Bring to mind your family and those you love and thank God for them. Pray for their protection from coronavirus, especially those who may be particularly vulnerable. Pray for God to comfort those around the world who are grieving the loss of loved ones, and for those who may be feeling isolated or lonely by being in lockdown.
Pray for wisdom for Prime Minister and First Minister, the Cabinet and senior civil servants as they decide how best to halt the spread of coronavirus in the UK while also protecting jobs. Pray for wisdom and support for governments of developing nations who are not able to provide safety nets to their people because of lack of resources and fragile infrastructures. Ask God to protect people living in refugee camps from coronavirus, such as the half a million Rohingya people in the world’s biggest refugee camp in Bangladesh. Pray for wisdom for leaders of these camps as they prepare to respond.
Pray for God’s blessing on your own church in this season, that community will be strengthened despite the inability to gather, and for wisdom for leaders as they adapt. Pray for churches in your community and around the world to be the hands and feet of Jesus during this pandemic, in both prayer and action where possible.
