Glorifying God as our priority

Jesus in His prayers on earth, in His intercession in heaven in His 

promise of an answer to our prayers from there, makes this His first 

objective—the glory of His Father.  Is it so with us too?  Or are not, in 

large measure, self-interest and self-will the strongest motive urging 

us to pray?  Or, if we cannot see that this is the case, have we not to 

acknowledge that the distinct, conscious longing for the glory of the 

Father is not what animates our prayers?  And yet it must be so.

Not as if the believer does not at times desire it.  But he has to mourn 

that he has so little attained.  And he knows the reason of his failure too.  

It was, because the separation between the spirit of daily life and the 

spirit of the hour of prayer was too wide.  We begin to see that the 

desire for the glory of the Father is not something that we can awake and 

present to our Lord when we prepare ourselves to pray.  No!  It is only 

when the whole life, in all its parts, is given up to God's glory, that we 

can really pray to His glory too.  "Do all to the glory of God," and , "Ask 

all to the glory of God"--these twin commands are inseparable:  

obedience to the former is the secret grace for the latter.  A life to the 

glory of God is the condition of the prayers that Jesus can answer, "that 

the Father may be glorified."

                                  Andrew Murray, With Christ in the School of Prayer

Who is Andrew Murray?  Murray was a South African write, teacher 

and Christian pastor who lived from May 9, 1828 to January 18, 1917.  

Murray focused heavily on Missions and was one of the founders of 

the South African General Mission.

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