February 12, 2020 Be careful praying for humility. You just might end up humbled. It started with a discussion in an online group. The original poster indicated she was struggling with pride in a couple aspects of her life. Several group members commented on the post, suggesting the woman incorporate the “Litany of Humility” into her prayer routine. I was somewhat familiar with this prayer prior to this conversation, but it hadn’t been on my radar much lately. I struggle with pride. I’d like to think a lot of us do. For those so inclined, the Litany of Humility is a tough prayer. In that prayer, we ask the Lord to deliver us from things like, “the desire of being praised,” “the desire of being approved” and “the fear of being despised.” But I like being praised and approved, and I don’t like being despised. Yup. It seems like I need this prayer. For the last couple of months, I’ve tried to pray this Litany of Humility at least once a week. It’s made me more aware of all the ways the Lord humbles me, usually exactly when I need it. A couple months ago, as I sat to write a column for that week’s edition, I thought I had gold. I kept thinking to myself, “this is a topic with which people can identify. People are going to like this one.” When the column appeared in print a couple days later, I reread it, again congratulating myself on how good I thought it was. Then, I reached the end of the column and found a giant editing mistake. I was reminded that I’m not as good as I sometimes think I am. Humbled. On a recent morning, I was super tired after staying up far too late talking about books with a friend. While exhausted, I was thinking about how intelligently I participated in the book discussion. I was proud of my literary knowledge. Then I spent almost 10 minutes looking for my car keys, checking every table, pocket and purse in the house several times. Finally, it occurred to me that my keys were already in my vehicle. My husband had started it for me to let it warm up and defrost. I guess I’m not that smart. Humbled again. While I don’t really enjoy being humbled, every time it happens, I try to remember that I need to be humbled. And I try to remember to be careful what I pray for, because I just might get it. |
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