Pride is such a loaded word. As Christians, we are supposed to check our pride at the door, and pretty much never go back for it, but the reality is bit more complex, as many lessons of the Bible can be. We are supposed to “take pride” in our appearance, especially in situations like job interviews, dressing up for church, etc.

One of the things we, as a culture (in the US at least) have done is glorified pride in the places where we shouldn’t (homosexuality, reproductive “rights” etc.) and removed pride in places that build character, such as when every pee wee baseball team is a “winner” and because of that, no one truly gets to feel pride in their collective achievements.

So pride can be a slippery slope. right? Over the years I have learned that pride is something that you have a right to feel, as long as a sense of humility and acknowledgment that God Almighty put you together to begin with precedes it. So God really deserves all the credit, and if that fact is honored, pride with a side of humble pie may be consumed without any Catholic guilt whatsoever. God knows how to share, but you gotta give him his due.

I say all this to explain that I (using the wetware the Big Guy gave me) am the one who coined Esther Network’s slogan, Prayer. You’re the App for That. As a computer graphics expert, designer, and marketing professional for well over three decades (thank you again God) I was thinking about something that would be modern, relevant to youth around the world, easily understandable, short, and related to the power of prayer. None of those were in particular order, but you get the idea.

One day when I was brainstorming and thinking about how we might raise funds for an app for the ministry, it hit me like a ton of bricks, and that was that. Many people who aren’t Christians (and many who are) might say that it was my own creativity, I was dwelling on multiple pieces of different issues that related to the words that would be chosen, and so on. In some respects, they would be absolutely correct, and in admitting that I do take some personal pride in coming up with a pithy, poignant way to condense Esther Ilnisky’s vision of the power of prayer in such a creative manner.

What tempers that pride is an inherent knowledge and understanding that Jesus Christ, his Father, and the Holy Spirit, as a singular and yet triune creator of all things, put the matter together in just the right way in my head in order for me to form thoughts and come up with creative solutions like that. A tweak here and there and I might be a wolverine, a jellyfish, or a sofa. I thank God I am not a jellyfish or a sofa, but wolverine? That could be cool. Nah, I’m perfectly fine being me, thank you Lord!

Just as we have Free Will, I don’t necessarily think God shapes every thought we have or that we are destined for a totally predetermined path with no real control of our own. That’s what makes true salvation possible, and when you’re really saved, it’s easy to give God the overall credit for making you. Then, humbly, taking a bit of pride in your work, especially when that work glorifies Him.

I am (humbly) proud to remind you that indeed, you are the “app” that interfaces and connects to God through prayer. The more you do it, the more “Likes” you’ll get from on high, so get down on your knees, reboot if you have to free some memory, and spiritually post some prayer memes to Jesus’ wall. You’ll be amazed at what it does for your eternal social profile.

Prayer. You’re the App for That. Seriously.