Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. (Matthew 20:26-28)

Lord Jesus Christ,
King of all kings and Lord of all lords,
teach me to live in Your servant way
as I walk with You upon this earth.
Help me to approach my life
not out of selfish ambition or prideful clamoring,
but with the same attitude You had
as You took the downwardly mobile path of the Cross.
I confess this is difficult for me
and seems to cut against our human nature
as shaped by the self-will of the Fall
and the prideful ladder of success.
Purify me of the ways in which this seeps
into Your church and into ministry,
where agendas and pride are baptized
with a thin veneer of religious words and actions.
Purify me and sanctify me
that I might become more like You
from the inside out, oh Jesus,
my Servant King.