Prayer For LifeSample

DAY THREE: Lose Your Life and You Will Gain It

What is preventing us from living the abundant life that Christ promised us? It’s simple: self.

The abundant life that God promises is not based on venerating self. It’s not about personal blessing, personal prosperity, or personal aggrandizement. This self-focus brings about spiritual defeat and immaturity and opens the door to immorality.

We cannot live the Christian life by our own mechanisms or power. When self propels our Christian walk, we fail.

We all also have plenty of unmet expectations and disappointments stored up in our memories that we can use to shift the blame for our own problems. In my own life, I could never match up to my father’s expectations. No matter how hard I worked for him, it was never enough. I could very easily blame my anger and need of affirmation on him.

When I was at college and applied to be a residence fellow or dorm greeter, I was told I could never become a leader—I had no leadership material in me. I could have easily said, “My struggles began with that one rejection.”

When we come to the place where we die—die to our rights, our plans, our desires, and our way of thinking—we are then propelled by the life of Jesus living in us! The reason we lack abundant life, the reason we lack victory in our walk, the reason our prayers are stale and ineffective, the reason we have no joy is because we have not died to self—self is still on the throne instead of Christ.

How do we die to self? We realize that the gospel is about grace—it’s about what God has done and not about what we can do!