PRAISE & PRAYER PROMPT ••• “The sacrifice pleasing to God is a broken spirit. You will not despise a broken and humbled heart, God” (Psalm 51:17).
This is a powerful verse.
And I’m going to use an analogy for which I have zero frame of reference: horses.
I’ve never ridden a horse.
They are pretty, but horses have free will and they don’t come with brake pedals.
So I admire them from a distance.
Despite my lack of personal experience with horses, I’ve read enough books where the characters dealt with horses, including training them.
Or breaking them.
The breaking of a horse is about teaching them to obey and follow direction.
There is some controversy in the term “breaking” as it has a negative connotation, but the point isn’t to break the spirit but to break the bad habits.
To help the horse learn self-control and how to surrender to the will of the trainer.
Y’all are smart people, you know where I’m going with this.
Before we give our lives to Jesus, we are willful, stubborn, prideful, self-reliant, and selfish.
When we surrender our pride and selfishness and come to God with humble hearts, that’s when we can truly experience the overwhelming magnificence of God’s grace.
In James 4:6, it says, “But he gives greater grace. Therefore he says: God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
It’s a hard look in the mirror that examines our hearts and allows the Holy Spirit to convict us, correct us, change us, and point us to Christ.
And the broken spirit isn’t negative at all.
There is unparalleled freedom in offering our broken spirits to God.
It’s the very reason Jesus allowed Himself to be broken for us—“But now he has reconciled you by his physical body through his death, to present you holy, faultless, and blameless before him” (Colossians 1:22).
Today, as you pray, thank God for the circumstances that broke your spirit to the point of humility and surrender.
Thank Him for His immeasurable grace.
Ask the Holy Spirit to convict you and make you more like Jesus.
Ask Him to help you focus not on your wants but on the freedom that comes from a humble life that is lived for Christ.
