Day 4: Overcoming Pride (Psalm 10:4)

Do you think highly of yourself, especially in moments when others are failing to achieve the level of success and achievements you have? If this is you, I recommend that you read Romans 12:13, and consider what it means to judge with a sober judgment.

There is not a person I know that has not struggled with pride. When pride creeps into your life it will create a barrier between you and God. You no longer depend upon God, by seeking him daily , because you have acquired a distorted view of who God is. God is infinitely superior to all humanity. He is omnipresent and omniscience and he God all by himself ( Psalm 139:7-10, Matthew 28:20). Knowing who God is and his love, mercy and grace towards us in the life of Jesus Christ, are essential to our Christian faith (John 17:3).

The arrogance of man will be brought low and human pride humbled; Isaiah 2:17

So the questions you should ask yourself during this fast are: How does a person overcome the spiritual challenges of pride? and what do you do when pride challenges your loyalty to God and questions your commitment to your call to sonship? The first step to answering these questions is to first recognise the signs of pride in your own life.

Here are 9 signs that you may be serving the Lord with a prideful spirit.

1. Prayerlessness: Pride gradually deceives us into believing that we can live our own lives independently without God. ( 1Samuel 12:23, Luke 18:1)

2. Self-reliance: Pride resists God and exalts self. Proverbs 26:12,

3. Lack of dependence and trust: Pride will cause a person to conceal their sins and not confess and repent of them. ( Proverbs 3:5-6)

4. Arrogance and self-exaltation ( Proverbs 16:18, Proverbs 21:24)

5. Fear. Pride is the root of all fears and anxieties ( Matthew 14:31)

6. Ingratitude and entitlement. (Romans 3:23; 6:23, Luke 22:26)

7. People-Pleasing. ( Colossians 3:22)

8. Hypocrisy. ( Matthew 23:25-28)

9. Rebellion. ( Jeremiah 29:32, 1 Samuel 15:23)

Now that you can recognise these signs, today I encourage you to embark on the next step to overcoming the power of pride which is, you must choose to embrace humility. To begin to deliver yourself from a prideful state you must humble yourself and seek the Lord’s face, with the intent to confess, renounce and repent of your sins.

By confessing your sins and forsaking them, your heartfelt conviction will provoke the faithfulness of God’s justice and forgiveness found in 1 John 1:9 and usher you into a place of forgiveness. Practice humility, by finding time in your day to study scriptures on the nature of God and who he is. Meditating upon the word of God will help refocus your mind from self-centred thoughts to God centred ones.

Be like Jesus.

Serve others without selfish ambition. (Philippians 2:3-8)

Jesus, 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).

What a glorious gospel truth! Jesus humbled himself unto death. In John 11:25, Jesus revealed himself to be the resurrection and the life. Jesus life was not self- serving , because he was always attending to his father’s business. Our Christian humility should be rooted in the gospel. Jesus calls us to follow his humble example in John 13:14-15. Jesus says to his disciples , "So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example so that you should do as I have done for you". Today why don’t you answer the call to humility in service? Why don’t you ask God to identify any pride hiding in your life? Ask God the to do the following: Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting! (Psalm 139:23–24).

Let us pray.

Father Lord, I come before you repenting of all my sins. My pridefulness has led me to be stiff necked and stubborn and I acknowledge that I failed to depend upon your Holy Spirit. As I kneel before you today, I repent for attempting to serve you religiously, ambitiously and denominationally because I was prideful (Acts 7:51). Today, as I yield under the authority of your Holy Spirit, let your tender mercies and forgiveness deliver me from walking in rebellion to you. Take your place as Lord over my life, in the name of Jesus.

Amen.

For further studies during this fast: Read Matthew Chapter 10-12