The Real Lie Behind Self-Sufficiency

When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate… 3:6

The serpent told Adam and Eve that God didn’t want them to know good and evil like he did. So they took the fruit, believing it would give them wisdom and make them like God. Yet, when they took it, the promise turned out to be a lie!

Over and over this cycle continues. We desire something, we take it, it ends up not being what it promised to be. So we seize another solution, and it ends up not being perfect… again.

All this “taking” has a name. It’s called self-sufficiency.

And actually, self-sufficiency is the opposite of prayer.

DEFINING PRAYER

The original language Greek word for prayer breaks down to mean “wishing toward.” Interesting, huh?

Do you know that every time you point a heart-desire toward God you’re praying?

Here’s how prayer looks:

1. We feel a need (often signaled by nervousness, stress, fear, worry, or anxiety).

2. Instead of mustering what we desire, such as human courage, determination, or grit, we shift the eyes of our mind to Jesus.

3. We remember we’re in Jesus who is love. And in him, God always tells us yes.

4. We move forward into our situation, expecting God, in his perfect love, to deliver exactly what we need for that moment.

Of course prayer can also be words we pray audibly. But the essence of prayer (ie. wishing toward) is the conscious decision to trust God to supply the need of the hour. We aim that need or desire or wish toward God, trusting he loves us so much he’ll supply for it.

IN CONCLUSION

The greatest strides we’ll make in our prayer lives will be those we take in effort to see the lie of self-sufficiency. All self-sufficiency really is is doubt of God’s perfect love for us.

At the end of the day, prayer is really just an act of faith that God loves us perfectly.

Today, will you dare to see the lie of self-sufficiency? Will you examine whether you’re really actively believing God loves you perfectly? Will you dare to trust he does? Will you entrust your every wish to his perfect love?

**This devotional was excerpted from Katie’s soon-to-be released, Little White Lies: 31 Devotions to Uncover the Lies We Trust in Place of the God we Should. Sign up here to receive a free copy when it is released.

KATIE MOON is a Biblical researcher, writer, teacher/speaker, and founder of a non-profit online ministry called In Black and Light.