Pastors, and all Christian men for that matter, if you battle selfishness as I do, you might do well to begin to pray something similar.  The Lord is powerful and gracious enough to root out what is so deeply ingrained in so many of us.  But we must cry out for help.

I’m selfish.  I’ve known this about myself for a long time.  But, the Lord continues to reveal deeper levels and layers to my selfishness that I didn’t realize.  Like most marriages to pastors, my wife always feels the brunt of it the most.  As a result, I recently started praying a daily prayer asking the Lord to help me in this area.  I pray…

“Lord help me to think of my wife before myself, consider her needs above my own, and love and serve her in such a way that I don’t expect anything in return.”

I have found that praying this way not only opens my heart more to the Spirit’s work in my life, but it puts the care of my wife more on the forefront of my mind and heart, a focus that often gets lost in the madness of ministry.

Pastors, and all Christian men for that matter, if you battle selfishness as I do, you might do well to begin to pray something similar.  The Lord is powerful and gracious enough to root out what is so deeply engrained in so many of us.  But we must cry out for help.

Brian Croft is Senior Pastor of Auburndale Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky. He was educated at both Belmont University and Indiana University receiving his B.A. in Sociology. He also undertook some graduate work at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. This article is from his blog, Practical Shepherding, and is used with permission.