As parents, how many times have you said the words, “The world doesn’t revolve around you?” Honesty time: as a teenager or younger you, how many times did you hear those words said to you? The self-absorbed, self-centered tendencies of the human heart have been with us since Eve took the apple, since God put Job in his proper place, and since David first saw Bathsheba. While the natural inclination of “me” has always been with us, it has never been more evident than in today’s culture.

Today, we have the world at our fingertips and have what we want, when we want it. Technology and the information age have made us pretty self-sufficient. It’s easy to focus on ourselves when it’s what we overwhelmingly see in the world and in our very own culture. I’ve heard this latest crop of social media kids called the “me generation.” Social media sites are filled with pictures of duck-faced teens, selfies and posts that say “look at me.” Sadly, many of us moms have also been caught framing ourselves in the smart-phone camera to show where we are, how we look, and what we’re doing. Competition for personal attention is at every turn, and if you don’t think so, google how important Instagram “likes” can be to teens. Even the current secular music is filled with lyrics about self, conquest and achievement. We’re all about self-reliance and promotion of self (translation is: me, me, me), and then we wonder why the current culture is as uncaring, impatient and disrespectful as it is. We as Christians, and as parents raising the next generation of Christ-followers, have to recognize what is happening and take steps to bring attention off of ourselves and back to God.

“…if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14

Back in the day, not just in the Bible, but in our nation, folks use to pray. I’m not talking about a well-wishing, two sentence prayer of help for someone or thanks for the food. I’m referring to “humble, tear-filled, time-given, focused attention on God and God alone” prayer. Prayer takes the focus off of yourself and puts it on God. Certainly, there are those prayers that are asking for something for self or others, but it still relies on God to do the work rather than something we could do for ourselves. It puts the focus on the One Who was, Who is, and Who is to come, and if done on a regular basis, prayer can change hearts, change relationships and change a nation.

“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” James 4:10

Ah, He will lift us up…that ought to get the “me generation’s” attention. But he’s not talking about lifting us into finding the attention and personal recognition we so crave. Instead, look at what we must do to be lifted…humble ourselves. I believe that is one of the key aspects of prayer…it is humility building. It forces us to go outside ourselves, admitting that we can’t do it alone, and rely on the One who can. 2 Timothy 3:2-5 tells us in the last days people will be “lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power.” Does any of that speak humility to you?

Humility causes us to realize that it isn’t all about us. It causes us to submit to fact that God is greater than we could ever aspire to be. It was central to the Lord’s Prayer as Jesus taught us to pray…humility in asking forgiveness and humility in asking for God’s kingdom to come and His will to be done, over our own. True prayer involves humility and submission.

“Pray continually,..” 1 Thessalonians 5:17

If you were to look up some translations of 1 Thessalonians 5:17, you would see the following: “never stop praying, pray without ceasing, pray constantly.” This leads me to believe that we are to be in a posture of prayer constantly, continually, and without ceasing. That posture includes humility and submission. This constant, continual and unending prayer results in our constant, continual focus on the God, rather than on ourselves. If there was ever an individual more deserving of selfie posts, it would be Jesus. He wouldn’t have even needed a selfie stick. And yet, I have a hard time believing He would have placed focus on Himself in that way. His focus would have been on God the Father and what His Father was doing….loving others and considering others more than Himself. And though that would be worthy of a post, I believe Jesus would have wanted God to get that glory rather than Himself.

“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.” Ephesians 6:18

As you resist the urge to immediately examine your social media posts or those of your children, know that prayer is one of God’s provisions for our self-centeredness. Know that grace is too. Grace opens the door for interactive, relational prayer with God, who sees you and notices you and likes you regardless of how many likes you get on Facebook or Instagram or Snapchat. Prayer focuses our attention on what God is doing, where He’s going and how He wants us to respond. The result is that the only focus we have on ourselves is how and where God chooses to use us. Our “me” is dependent on, submitted to and humbled before “Him.” By living in a posture of prayer and training our children to do the same, we can influence the “me generation” to be the “He generation.”

“Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker;” Psalm 95:6