Have you ever prayed the following prayer: “Lord, make me like Christ.” My friends, the implications of this prayer are truly monumental. Paul Washer shows us why this prayer is so life altering and dangerous: “The most dangerous prayer a human being could every pray, ‘Lord, make me like Christ. I don’t care if you have to dethrone me, I don’t care if you have to tear apart my ministry, I don’t care if you have to destroy me, I don’t care what happens – make me like Jesus Christ!’ It’s practically calling a death sentence upon yourself. But then again, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it abideth alone, but if it dies, it bringeth forth much fruit.”1
Washer’s phrase that really caught my attention was: “It’s practically calling a death sentence upon yourself.” Before I gave my heart to Christ, back in 1981, everything about me was about self. I needed to be happy. I needed to be successful. I needed to make a lot of money. It was all about me. But as a Christian I must daily put to death self, if I want to be like Christ. On the surface this sounds radical to the highest degree if viewed through the eyes of our old nature. But when viewed through the eyes of my new spirit nature, the more I become like Christ, the more I understand that death to self is really the only way to experience what true living is all about.
You see, when I allowed self to be in control, I had no hope of obtaining any real peace, joy, or meaning in life because my old self was on a sabotage mission, where all of my best intentions were doomed to fail since my old nature was under the curse of sin. And as a result, I didn’t have the ability to break free of the bondage that I was living in. Paradoxically, when I died in Christ, I was set free to live the abundant life that living in Christ made possible. It was as if God gave me a new set of lenses in which to view the world through the eyes of my Savior. And now when I do this I am reminded of (John 8:31-32): “Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, ‘If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.’”
This most dangerous prayer allows me to not only know the truth, but apply it in my life. Only then can I be set free to experience the peace, joy, and rich meaning that being like Christ offers. If I can flip the script for a moment, I contend that the real most dangerous prayer is, “not to pray to be like Jesus,” because this means that we will have to struggle, on our own, without Christ. And if I can speak for myself, that when I did things on my own, I ran my ship aground. Living life without Christ or as a nominal Christian implies:
Know Jesus, Know Peace – No Jesus, No Peace!
Dying to self is the gateway to Jesus. And living like Jesus is the gateway to untold blessings – both now and on into eternity! The choice is up to us.