Three prayers to say to God to receive a humble heart, let go of pride and learn to serve like Jesus.
Pick a categoryHumility is not gained by force: it is received by looking at God as he is and at ourselves as we are. This page is for you if you want to lay down your pride, your comparing or your need to be right. You can ask God for a gentle heart, like the heart of Jesus.
Lord, at the start of this day, I acknowledge that I need you. Everything I am and everything I have comes from you. Father, keep me from pride and from the urge to show myself off. Give me a humble heart, ready to listen, to learn and to admit my faults. Help me count others as more significant than myself. May I seek your glory rather than my own. Thank you for your grace, which is enough for me. In Jesus' name, amen.
Philippians 2:3-4
Father, I confess my pride: my need to be recognized, never to be wrong, to compare myself so I can feel stronger. I lay it at your feet. You oppose the proud but give grace to the humble, and I want to live by that grace. I humble myself under your mighty hand, leaving it to you to lift me up in due time. Break whatever in me stands against you. Teach me to ask forgiveness easily and to forgive from the heart. Change my heart to be like the heart of Jesus. In Jesus' name, amen.
1 Peter 5:6
Lord Jesus, thank you for leaving your glory to become a servant. You washed your disciples' feet and went all the way to the cross out of love for me. I want to follow you on this path. Teach me to serve without expecting recognition, to rejoice in the success of others and to stay gentle and lowly in heart. Father, may my humility not be a mask, but the fruit of your Spirit in me. May my life speak of you, and not of me. In Jesus' name, amen.
Matthew 11:29
« Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up. »
James 4:10
I proclaim that I humble myself in the sight of the Lord, and he lifts me up in due time.
« Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time. »
1 Peter 5:6
I declare that I humble myself under the mighty hand of God, trusting that he will exalt me at the right time.
« Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. »
Philippians 2:3
I proclaim that I do nothing through selfish ambition, but in lowliness of mind I esteem others better than myself.
« By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches and honor and life. »
Proverbs 22:4
I declare that by humility and the fear of the Lord, riches, honor, and life come into my life.
« And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. »
Matthew 23:12
I proclaim that whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself, like me, will be exalted by God.
Humility is not putting yourself down or thinking you are worthless. It is recognizing that God is God and that we depend on him, while treating others with respect. Jesus is the model: he made himself a servant out of love, without losing any of his dignity.
Yes, it is good to ask for it. God gives grace to the humble and can shape us through time, relationships or trials. Ask him for a supple heart, ready to learn, rather than trying to put yourself down.
Thank God for who you are and what you have received, admit your faults, serve quietly and rejoice in the success of others. Read the Gospels to look at Jesus. Humility grows as we gaze on him and depend on him.