Grace has always seemed like a gentle thing to me. A soft something that settles down in the heart unnoticed at first, but there, nevertheless. And we feel it’s peace. The thing is, I’m not good at grace. I might be good at giving grace to others, but when it comes to receiving it for myself, that’s a whole different story.
I think we all probably struggle with being harder on ourselves than we are on others, but for some of us, it is magnified, especially if we struggle with perfectionism.
If you struggle with perfectionism one of the things that you may be doing is putting entirely too much pressure on yourself. It’s a vicious cycle because perfectionism tells you that you are never good enough. And that’s the total opposite of what grace says.
Grace would tell you that you are enough, because of Who God is. He created you and He loves you. All of you. Just the way you are.
Grace tells you that you are enough, because of Who God is.Click To TweetIf you listen to perfectionism and the voice inside your head that says you are not good enough, you are in for a rough journey. It’s a path that leaves no room for receiving God’s grace.
Satan doesn’t mind us traveling this road though, and this is because he wants us discouraged and defeated in all areas of our lives.
He especially wants to defeat us in our prayer lives. Prayer is where the battles are fought and won. And Satan is always the looser. This means that he will do everything he can to discourage us and keep us from praying. Often, these discouragements will come through negative thought processes.
Prayer is where the battles are fought and won. Click To TweetOne of these negative thought patterns involves the tendency to be way too hard on ourselves which creates a whole lot of unnecessary pressure in our lives.
Think about the things we say to ourselves sometimes. We would probably never say these things about other people, but we might constantly repeat them to ourselves.
• “I skipped my prayer time today. God will be disappointed in me.”
• “My prayers seem too simple. I’m not really smart enough.”
• “I don’t really understand the Bible. Who am I to be talking to God?”
• “My life is so chaotic. I’m a mess. God wants someone who has it more together.”
• “I’ve done some pretty bad things. There’s no way God can accept me because of the things I’ve done.
This list could go on and on, couldn’t it?
But there is an answer for this, and it starts with a renewal in the mind that comes from focusing on the Word of God. We have to learn the truth about ourselves and then we need to be thinking from within those truths. When we do this, we can accept the grace that God has to offer.
God is not condemning us for our shortcomings or weaknesses. Ironically, the Bible tells us that His strength is made perfect in them. This grace that God gives is for everyone. We tend to freely give it to everyone else, but we fail to receive it for ourselves.
Let’s look at a verse about the grace of God that might give us some real insights to help us along.
2 Corinthians 12:9 says this:
And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9, NKJV)Click To TweetAnd He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9, NKJV)
I don’t know about you, but I love this. Doesn’t this just take the pressure off? We can say so many negative things to ourselves that we begin to believe those things. But this verse gives us truths we can count on.
•God gives us grace.
•His grace is enough.
•His strength is perfected in our weaknesses.
Wow! That is plenty, but look at the hidden treasures we’ll find when we go back to the original Greek word meanings!
The word “grace” comes from the Greek root word charis (xáris). This word refers to the Lord’s favor. The HELPS Word-studies (which you will find on this page at Bible Hub) explains the intent of the Greek word xáris in this verse with these words:
xáris – freely extended to give Himself away to people (because He is “always leaning toward them”)
I love the picture these words paint of God always leaning toward you and me. He loves us like that. Isn’t that just amazing?
And let’s look at the word “perfect” in this verse. That one is always hard to understand anywhere we find it in the Bible because in general, we do not have the correct definition of what the word “perfect” actually means. (You can read more about this topic HERE and HERE.)
In this passage (2 Corinthians 12:9) the word “perfect” comes from the Greek root word teleitai, and it is only used this form on this one occasion in the entire Bible! That makes it pretty special here in this verse. Teleitai is a form of the Greek word teléō. This word gives us a neat picture of what perfect means in this passage.
HELPS Word-studies (which you can find on this page at Bible Hub) tells us that teléō means “to complete.” But we also find the following insight because this word is made up of several smaller portions which have meanings of their own.
Tel means reaching the end. It is well-illustrated with the old pirate’s telescope, unfolding (extending out) one stage at a time to function at full-strength. (Helps Word-studies)
When we consider these additional insights the verse becomes even more meaningful!
•God is always leaning toward us to freely give Himself away to us.
•This is enough for what we need.
•Perfect in this passage means “complete.” (It doesn’t mean without mistakes.)
•His strength is completed one stage at a time in our lives through our weaknesses so that we can function at our full capacity. (Think about the telescope!)
Can you imagine that in our very weaknesses we can find completion through the strength of God working in us? It’s almost too deep a concept to understand! But that’s OK. It’s another thing we don’t really have to fully comprehend because His grace is enough.
In our very weaknesses we can find completion through the strength of God working in us! Click To TweetHe’s given us so much. His power lives within us (Ephesians 3:20). We can think like Jesus because we have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16). All these things mean we can also receive His grace and give it back to ourselves (though His power, not our own). We can take the pressure off ourselves by refusing the negative self-talk, experiencing His truth and accepting His grace for us.
In receiving His grace and speaking His truth into our own minds, we can let go of feeling so discouraged in our prayer lives. God just wants time with you. He is not asking you to be that “I’ve got it all together” type of girl. As a matter of fact, the more weaknesses you have, the more strength He gives!
Remember what 2 Corinthians 12: 9 says. His strength is made perfect in our weaknesses. Repeat that to yourself daily and don’t let the enemy attack you in your areas of weakness. He has no power there because that’s exactly where God is the strongest in your life!
When you feel like being hard on yourself and find negative self-talk running through your mind, remember this acrostic:
G – Grasp God’s Grace
R – Refuse Negative Self Talk
A – Ask for God’s Help
C – Claim Scriptures
E – Experience God’s Truth About YOU!
Will you join me this week in accepting God’s grace? Let’s make a conscious effort to turn away from the negative self-talk. Sometimes it’s a daily battle. But we can do it, friends! Remember, His strength is made perfect in our weaknesses!
Focus Verses
You’ll find each one of the verses listed in this post is linked to its page at Bible Hub where you’ll find many free resources for further study. Just click on the verse reference to get there.
Let’s Talk
What strategies help you when you find yourself headed toward negative self-talk? I’d love to hear your comments on this!
Let’s Pray
Dear Lord, Thank you for being a God of grace. You lean toward us with arms full of love, ready to give Yourself away to us if we will just receive. Help us to reach up and grasp the grace you freely offer. Show us how to shower that on ourselves so that we can turn away from the pressure we place on ourselves in any area and especially in our prayer lives. In Jesus name, Amen
This post may be linked in other encouraging places! Click HERE to find out where!
The post How to Strengthen Your Prayer Life Through Grace first appeared at www.journeytoimperfect.com
What a great reminder! You are right, it is so very hard to offer ourselves grace sometimes! I am so thankful that we serve a God full of mercy and grace!
Hopped over from the Faith and Friends link up.
I co-host the Live Life Well Link up with Jessica @ Overwhelmed to Fulfilled. Where we share post that will encourage Christian women. We would love to have you join us! 🙂
Blessings,
Amy
Amy, so happy to “meet” you! Thank you for stopping by and thanks for the invitation!
Really enjoyed this Leslie. As a recovering perfectionist, having you dig deep into this area by connecting it to understanding and receiving God’s grace readily was so meaningful. Well done!
Gretchen, thank you for the encouraging words. I’m glad we’re walking the road to recovery together! Blessings, friend!
I LOVE the acrostic you developed from the Word Grace. All so meaningful and encouraging for not only a flourishing prayer life, but for living the abundant life God died for so that we might have.
Thanks for sharing.
Thank you, Karen! I’m so glad you stopped by and yes to grace! It is for living an abundant life!
We like to put so many boundaries (in our minds) on grace, don’t we? We don’t even realize we’re doing it, either; it’s just that negative self talk that satan loves to see us default to. “Prayer is where the battles are fought and won.” Amen, sister. — Happy for you to win the drawing this week, Leslie! 🙂 Will get that journal right out to you. — Happiest of Holidays to you. 🙂
Thanks so much, Brenda! I love your thought about the “default” thoughts. So true. But God’s grace is greater! Thanks so much for the journal and for visiting!
“But there is an answer for this, and it starts with a renewal in the mind that comes from focusing on the Word of God. ” AMEN We must believe the truth that He makes us worthy because of His great sacrifice. We need to trust Him and know that He loves us so much and we don’t have to try to be someone or something we are not.
Blessings to you! I’m your neighbor at #TellHisStory.
Hi Gayl, Amen to that! It’s freedom to let go of trying to measure up! Thank you for stopping by today!
Leslie,
I love the telescope analogy. So vivid the image in my mind. I’m a BibleHub junkie too 🙂 It’s my favourite study tools site. I tell so many people about it.
Praying you have a blessed day and that this post reaches more women to receive the grace God extends.
Much love,
~Sherry Stahl
xoxo
Hi Sherry, I loved that analogy too! The first time I read it I was just saying, “Wow!” I love the treasures we can find when we search out the Greek root words! Thank you for stopping by today!
Great encouragement. I do often think that God must be disappointed in me, for my constant failures. But I remind myself that there are no perfect Christians. God my shake his head and give a wry smile at me but I am still loved and saved by that glorious gift of grace.
Hi Joy! It’s grace for sure, that takes away from us from the weight of our failures. And God is so good to keep giving it, grace upon grace! I love this verse: James 1:16 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. Your comment reminded me of it. Thank you so much for stopping by and reading!
Leslie- thank you for this! I’m hard on myself when it comes to prayer. I’m distracted, busy and I fall asleep when I’m praying before bed. I love the idea of extending grace and the reminder God’s power overcomes my weakness here in prayer.
Visiting from #Grace&Truth
Hi Julie, I’m glad this was encouraging to you! Thank you so much for visiting!
I love your choice for an acronym. I have always used the five R’s, but this word is beautiful. Plus I like adding scripture to it. Thank you!
Thanks, Maree! I really appreciate you stopping by today! Blessings!
Your post really hit it on the nail for me! For the longest, I’ve struggled with the negative talk “I’m not good enough”. I had actually felt that way this week when I was struggling to find words to write on my blog. Instead, I had taken my feelings and prayed and made those words into a positive message and wrote it in a blog post.
I’ve always known God was a loving Father who will never expect me to be “perfect” for Him but, it had stuck with me all my life. I’ve been a Christ-Follower for about 6 years now and I rarely knew what grace was until just recently. I never really sat down to examine God’s grace until I started hearing about it more from random areas and reading it around. I then knew God was trying to tell me something.
Thanks for sharing! I had really enjoyed reading this! God bless you xoxo
Martika, Thank you so much for sharing this! I so very much understand the negative self-talk. It’s been the hardest thing to come out from under, and the enemy loves to use it when we are writing about spiritual things. Don’t you just love how God helps us defeat that when we can turn those words right around and write positive messages that help others? God’s grace and love always conquers! I really appreciate hearing your story! Thank you so much for visiting here today!
I have clinged to His grace being perfected in us in our weaknesses. Such a different perspective from the world’s view. And I am forever grateful for God’s grace. I love the way you broke down the how to receive His grace in our prayer time.
Hi Timberley! Receiving grace is an area I have really had to work on. I’m so grateful for His grace as well! Thank you for visiting here today! Blessings!
I love the focus on grace. We–sinful and imperfect–aren’t worthy to come before God without it. I often get concerned about my sin or that I got busy and skipped my prayer time. When I feel this way, I find it difficult to get back into prayer. This is perfect for times like those!
Shannon, I totally get that. Thank goodness for grace! Thanks for stopping by and commenting! Blessings!
As a recovering perfectionist, I deal with this often. My most common negative thought is “If I can’t do it perfectly (or at least better than most other people), it’s not worth doing.” That is a lie that keeps me from doing God’s work and allowing him to use my imperfect efforts in ways I could not imagine.
Christa, that is so true. I understand that completely because I do exactly the same thing. My perfectionism kept me paralyzed in a lot of areas for a long time. It’s so true that God uses our weaknesses for His glory! Thanks for visiting today!
As a recovering perfectionist, I deal with this often. My most common negative thought is “If I can’t do it perfectly (or at least better than most other people), it’s not worth doing.” That is a lie that keeps me from doing God’s work and allowing him to use my imperfect efforts in ways I could not imagine.
So often I hear people talk about leaning into God, which is great, but as you point out the most important thing to remember is that he is leaving into us through his grace.
Rachel, I loved that little gem in the Greek word meaning about how He leans toward us. That is a comforting thought! Thanks for stopping by!
I’m so glad that God’s grace covers even our own words in prayer. No right or wrong way, just show up. The Lord is very good to us!
That is so true, Lisa! Thank you for visiting! He is good!
Your acrostic is perfect for helping us remember these Truths, Leslie! Thank you for this blessed lesson in God’s word!
You are welcome June! I’ve reminded myself of it several times this week to beat negative self-talking! Thanks so much for visiting today!
Grace is difficult to grasp sometimes. Love how you broke it down for us.
Thank you, Sarah. I appreciate your visit today!
I like your acrostic. It is so easy to be hard on ourselves when things are not perfect. it is so important to remember God’s grace and to hold to it ourselves as well as offering it to others.
Lesley, Thank you! I loved the way you worded that about God’s grace. So true! Thank you for visiting!
Oh, this is so good. That negative self-talk gets me every single time. But God wants more for us than that. God wants so much more!
Thank you Becky. He does! I appreciate your visit today!