In 1863, during the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln made a proclamation to the nation for prayer and fasting. In this proclamation, he wrote:

“We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven. We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power, as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us!”1

This is incredible! So many years ago, one of the greatest Presidents (in my opinion, the greatest President) recognized that we were slipping at that time. We were too proud to pray. My question to you is, “Are you too proud to pray to the God Who made you?”

Do you think that you have gotten your status at your job by your own strength? Do you believe that you have provided the amount in your bank account? Do you believe that your wisdom established your current relationship with God? Perhaps we too have been “intoxicated with unbroken success.” Perhaps “we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace.” Perhaps we are “too proud to pray.”

The Bible says that every good gift comes from above. (James 1:17) God provided everything you own, all the knowledge you’ve obtained, and every talent you possess. He is the One Who sustains you. Any problem that you have, whether material, physical, emotional, or spiritual, can and ought to be brought to God in prayer. Don’t let your pride prevent you from bringing your burdens to the Creator. Pray, pray, and then pray some more.

1Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, edited by Roy P. Basler et al.