Pride and Humility PDF  | Print |  E-mail
User Rating: / 4
PoorBest 
Written by Terri Morey   
Tuesday, 15 February 2011 07:51
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
 
I have a burning desire to speak about pride and humility, having been impacted by Derek Prince years ago. His teaching on the subjects of pride and humility are repeated here as  I was able to glean many things he observed concerning this subject and I am sharing much of what he taught.   May God impress on us the  need to face the challenge and change.  The following statements were made by Derek Prince unless other wise stated.

" I believe the number one reason why revival tarries is because  of the sin of pride"


I think, pride is the greatest single problem, and the most common problem, and the most destructive problem.


 “All deception has one lever to get in and that is pride.” Therefore, if we aren’t proud, we’ll never be deceived. To Derek, the “pride of life” is a desire to be independent of God. That’s why the enemy tempted Jesus in this area when He was in the wilderness. Jesus refused to show His power independent of God, the Father.

If My people will humble themselves and pray”..

For at least 30 years I have been teaching on this Scripture, but recently I was confronted by a shocking realization! God’s people in our day have never fulfilled the first condition. We have never truly humbled ourselves. Our pride – both religious and racial – remains as a barrier that holds back the answer to our prayers for ourselves and for our nation.

Through the severe dealings of God in my own life, I have learned the most effective way for us to humble ourselves.
Very simply, it is by confessing our sins. If we regularly and specifically confess our personal sins to God, it is impossible to approach Him with an attitude of pride.

Furthermore, I have seen that God has only committed Himself to forgive us of the sins we confess. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). Unconfessed sins are unforgiven sins. Thus the barrier of pride builds up a second barrier of unforgiven sin.

The Bible exhorts us to confess our sins not merely to God, but also to one another. “Confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed” (James 5:16). Confessing our sins to God deals with vertical pride; confessing to one another deals with horizontal pride. We can hardly maintain an attitude of pride towards someone to whom we have just confessed our personal sins.

This applies especially to the relationship between husbands and wives. Those who regularly confess their sins to one another are not kept apart by a barrier of pride. Furthermore, confession of sin is an essential prerequisite to effective intercession.


Derek Prince concludes that pride, which fueled rebellion, is the root of all sin. 

The love of money is closely associated with the desire for popularity and for power. All these evil lusts grow out of the selfsame soil: pride.

All of the above statements were gleaned from the writings of Derek Prince.
The next few paragraphs are also from Derek Prince’s tapes.
"We all need to bear mind continually that PRIDE was the cause of Lucifer's downfall. It is also the main motive that Satan uses in tempting human beings to sin. Pride has caused the downfall of more men and women than all the other sins put together."
We need to recognize the kind of soil that produces bad trees: it is pride. It was pride that caused Satan's downfall from heaven, and pride is the primary weapon that he uses to bring about the downfall of humanity. Therefore the only sure safeguard against deception and error is to cultivate humility.

As I said , I think, pride is the greatest single problem, and the most common problem, and the most destructive problem.. If we do not turn back from the way of pride, our end will be destruction.


 It is pride that is at the root of all other sins, envy, contention,discontent,and all hindrances that would prevent renewal.  R. Baxter

Ah man, hate pride, flee from it, abhor it, do not let it dwell with you. C.H. Spurgeon

Pride is the roadblock to revival.  The essential vice, the utmost evil is pride. C.S. Lewis

In my personal journal of quotes that the Holy Spirit quickened to me…I will quote a few but do not recall who said them, all glory to God is how I see it anyhow.

The great barrier between us and God is pride.

If we do not deal with pride, pride will keep us from dealing with other sins.

God can never entrust His kingdom to anyone who has not been broken of pride.

Pride is the armour of darkness itself.

                                                HUMILITY

Further quotes from Derek Prince on Humility


Therefore He teaches sinners in the way.
The humble He guides in justice,
And the humble He teaches His way.


It’s the grace of the Lord that He’s willing to teach us sinners at all. But God enrolls His students, not by their intellectual qualifications, but by their character. A lot of people can go to a Bible school or a seminary or whatever else, but never be enrolled in God’s school, because God only enrolls the humble.

“The humble He guides in justice, the humble He teaches His way.”

“Humility is not an emotion, humility is a decision.”


Micah 6:8
He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

Matthew 18:3-4
And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. “

Isaiah 66:2
Has not my hand made all these things, and so they came into being?" declares the LORD. "This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word."

Psa 51:17

“ The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart— These, O God, You will not despise. “



Mark 9:35
Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all."

.
Romans 12:16
Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.”

1 Corinthians 1:28
He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things--and the things that are not--to nullify the things that are.”

1 Corinthians 3:18
Do not deceive yourselves. If any one of you thinks he is wise by the standards of this age, he should become a "fool" so that he may become wise. “

1 Corinthians 13:4
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.”

2 Corinthians 10:17-18
Let him who boasts boast in the Lord. For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends. “

1st Peter 5:5-7
“You younger men, likewise, be subject to  your elders;and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to  the humble.
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you  at the proper time.”


James 4:6&10
“But He gives a greater grace.  Therefore it says, God is opposed to the proud, but gives  grace to the humble.”

“Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.”



My thoughts about pride.  

Because my deep desire to see our people find Him who gave His life as a ransom for many.   It behooves me to understand that the number one reason why revival tarries is because of pride.
 
Facts-pride is mentioned 53 times in the Bible

          Humility, humble, meek and weakness combined  92 times.

In the Bible there’s no place where it says that God will make us humble. Always, God puts the responsibility upon us. We have to humble ourselves. It’s a decision. We have to make it. No one can make it for us. People can pray for us, and preach to us, but we have to make the decision to
;” humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God that He may exalt us in due time.”

:  “Pride will be with us till the day we die, it is what we do with it!  It is a decision we make.” Quoted by one of our regular attendees in our congregation.

“You determine how high you will go up by how low you will go.”


As I conclude this message, it is with hopes that when you read this or hear this you will make the decision to allow the Holy Spirit to show you when pride is taking place. 

Repent and accept the Lord’s forgiveness and continue to serve and love Him in all you do.   Your life will produce a harvest of righteousness and the grace of God will lead you to the greatest peace you have ever known.

Love,
Terri

Side note- As I looked around the room, while another prayed for this message I saw the many eyes that were closed.   My heart rejoiced, I believe there were many commitments that day to give the God the opportunity to tell us when pride arises in our hearts.

Since this is being placed on our webb site, I pray that the word here will have the impact I am praying for.   Lives changed.  Pride identified and not allowed to operate in our lives.
Last Updated on Tuesday, 15 February 2011 07:56