Pastor Jerry, here from California, taught an incredible Bible study today. He began the study by having us stand and say the Lord’s Prayer. He mentioned that in some churches, people have decided that the Lord’s Prayer is just a model prayer, and sort of look down on another person who might pray the Lord’s Prayer. One member said it is like the comfort food of prayers, and another member mentioned that the Lord’s Prayer is in the Bible, so it is as biblical to pray it, as to pray any other prayer in the Bible.
Pastor Jerry mentioned that we can at times be very prideful about our prayers. He mentioned that a little knowledge can very easily turn into pride.
I love Pastor Jerry’s Bible studies because he gives a lot of Bible references, and handouts!!!!
Luke 12:16-21 Then He spoke a parable to them saying, “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, “What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops? So he said, “I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years, take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.” But God said to him, “Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided? So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”
Deuteronomy 8:17 “then you say in your heart, “My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.
1 Corinthians 1:31 “that, as it is written, “He who glories let him glory in the LORD.”
So many “I’s” in the above passages. The man was foolish to lay up treasures and not give God the credit. The farmer did not give credit where credit is due. He did not cause the seeds to grow into crops, he got prideful and felt that the abundance of crops was his doing, when really it was the grace of God. The source of his riches was God and his words are not giving a witness to the glory of God.
Don’t get swallowed up in pride to where we cease giving credit to God. We like approval, a pat on the back, recognition in public. Sometimes in public people might be ashamed to give the credit to God, but God is the one who deserves the credit.
Be careful about what you say. Pride can sneak up on you, out of the abundance of the mouth the heart speaks. We have to diligently depend on God, but not bury our talent in the sand. We need to use our talent within the guidelines God has given us. We are not to seek after things of the world, but lean on the Lord, trust God for the victory. Sometimes we will have obstacles along the way, but sometimes the obstacles are really victories that God has prepared for us.
Matthew 18:1-14 At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me. But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe to the world because of offenses! For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes! If your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life lame or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the everlasting fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire. Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven. For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost. What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying? And if he should find it, assuredly, I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray. Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.”
Who is the greatest? The humble little child. God values humility.
Daniel 4:28-33 All this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar. At the end of the twelve months he was walking about the royal palace of Babylon. The king spoke, saying, “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?” While the word was still in the king’s mouth, a voice fell from heaven: “King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: the kingdom has departed from you! And they shall drive you from men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. They shall make you eat grass like oxen; and seven times shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He chooses.” That very hour the word was fulfilled concerning Nebuchadnezzar; he was driven from men and ate grass like oxen; his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair had grown like eagles’ feathers and his nails like birds’ claws.
Everybody in our Bible study groaned when we read the passage where King Nebuchadnezzar stated that “I have built….by my mighty power…for the honor of my majesty.”
Oh, how prideful he was, and how he fell, until he came to his senses, then he honored God and gave God the glory.
Matthew 23:12 (Jesus speaking) And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.
God hates a proud look. Proverbs 6:16-19 These six things the LORD hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him. A proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, a false witness who speaks lies, and one who sows discord among the brethren.
Sometimes a person looks outwardly humble, but inwardly they are proud. Pride can sneak into a believer’s life very easily.
Pastor Jerry asked us to brainstorm ways that pride could sneak up on us, here is a partial list: complements that are not kept in check, self satisfaction, losing the focus on God, speaking humble words, but in our heart feeling prideful.
Another point was brought up about someone who claims to believe God in faith, but their faith level does not match up with what they are stating. Pastor Jerry pointed out that we can pray, “Lord I believe, help my unbelief.” But that we have to be honest where our level of faith is so that we can agree in faith with the people who are praying for us. That God knows where our faith is. We are not to make a false confession out of pride, not wanting to look like we don’t need help with our faith.
We are to esteem others as higher than ourselves, but at the same time that is not much esteem if we are viewing ourselves as part of the dregs of society. We also have to honestly realize who we are in Christ.
Sometimes self-abasement, which seems like humility, is really a prideful action. Sometimes it is motivated by a person not wanting to really change a behavior.
Some people, who are torn down by life, have low self-esteem, and lack self-confidence. By by the grace of God, He restores us, and one day these will not be problems we face. We are all on equal footing as God’s children.
We also have to realize that when we act in a servant role, when we put others ahead of us that does not diminish our standing, for example – Jesus washed the feet of the disciples.
Pastor Jerry surfed the web and came up with a quote from a person named Becker “If I could not experience the feeling of pride, then I would have no measure or motivation to move to the next higher level. It is not a sin, but rather a desirable condition if God is given His due.” “I am confident that if I let the Holy Spirit lead me, everything works out perfectly.” “…if you don’t experience an immense pride from being chosen by Him.”
We discussed this for awhile, and feelings were mixed about the idea of pride being motivation to move. We decided that it was a motivator, but not the only one. But the true line is that we need to let the Holy Spirit lead us, that what we do, we do for the glory of God.
GIVING CREDIT TO GOD IS THE WHOLE KEY.
God raises up the lowly things (and we are lowly things before God comes into our lives) so we need to stay focused on who is doing what – namely God.
Pride can keep us down too. When we operate under pride about what WE can do, we limit what God does. For we do not step out in faith, and God does not then have the option to do incredible things through us. We are limited by the scope of our human imagination when we act in pride.
When we operate from pride, a love of ourself instead of giving glory to God we focus on the circumstance, the exterior accomplishment. We get a lot of help in doing this from the world which teaches us to depend on ourselves. TV shows, school, ads, books, magazines, all preach about the SELF. Satan uses the world system to try and convince us that we are god, and to replace God in our minds. This is the whole message of the new age philosophies, that we are god. That we need to work on our self-esteem. The media tells us what to desire and who to imitate, satan is using the media to undermine our value system. Then we are faced with peer pressure, peer approval, and there is a pride in having the esteem of one’s peers.
With all of this pressure on us, it is easy to cross over the line and degree by degree find ourselves where we didn’t want to be. Only by focusing on God, and God’s values can we free ourselves from this world system viewpoint.
This tactic is not new, satan has been using the same tactic since the beginning of time, starting with Adam and Eve, convincing Eve that if she ate of the fruit she would be as God, knowing good and evil. He played on her pride.
Isaiah 14:13-14 (talking about lucifer) For you have said in your heart, “I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.”
Pastor Jerry suggested reading Genesis 3-5 to see satan’s working, how he tells Eve, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
Then Pastor Jerry gave us some positive examples of relationship with God.
From Pastor Jerry’s handout:
“Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2:3-5 “I come to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.”
1 Corinthians 1:31Therefore as it is written let him who boast, boast in the LORD.
l Corinthians 10:12 Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.
Psalm 113:5-6…(5) Who is like unto the LORD our God, who dwelleth on high. (6) Who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven and in the earth!
Pastor Jerry wrote on the handout, “We can be tempted to try and become like the people we see – or to act out in ways we think are appealing, that will win us the approval of others. The prideful person resents those who do not bow to him or applaud him. Who do not acknowledge them and pat them on their egos.”
More from Pastor Jerry’s handout,
“Pride is that attitude of self-worship which causes a man or woman, a boy or a girl to think more highly of him or herself than he or she ought.
Mark 7:21-23 And He said, “What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man.”
Luke 1:51 He has shown strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
More from the handout: “The mind of a proud man seeks to construct everything in his internal world to offer up continual adoration and praise to the self, to the ego. All a man’s accomplishments and achievements are marshalled before his own internal gaze, he views them with self satisfaction. If others seem to excel more, the proud man can find a way to belittle that person or find fault. Pride has many symptoms and features. The difficult thing about it is that it is so hard to see in yourself! Often the people who hate pride the most in others are those who are the proudest themself…”Pride is a sinful attempt to meet a deep emotional need that we have for significance.” Michael Fackerell on the Christian-faith.com web site www.wcie.net)
Proverbs 16:18 Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.
2 Corinthians 12:7 And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure.”
Pastor Jerry pointed out that this time in reading the above he noticed the words ABUNDANCE OF REVELATIONS. Paul was receiving a lot of revelations from God, so God kept him humble by permitting satan to buffet him with a thorn in the flesh. Buffet means a continual pounding of things.
Someone pointed out that sometimes we don’t see the solution in our own minds, so we make a decision based on the ego and pride, a practical decision, thinking we know what has to be done. But it is not God’s plan for the situation. Sometimes the easiest way to do something is not what God is desiring. He knows the correct way to do something.
More from Pastor Jerry’s handout (Heather’s note, I love handouts)
Malachi 4:1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
Pride will become nothing but hay and stubble, and be destroyed.
James 4:6 God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.
Psalm 138:6 Though the LORD be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly; but the proud he knoweth far off.
Jesus, although He is God, came to earth in a lowly human body.
From Pastor Jerry’s handout:
You cannot maintain an attitude of pride and be close to the LORD.
One hardens their heart against God when we have pride.
We sin when we have false pride, it is an act of rebelion, and God says that when we sin we hate Him.
From Pastor Jerry’s handout:
Matthew 6:1-2 Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men.
One thing that fuels pride is the desire to get the respect and honor of men or when one feels that they are being denied their due respect–they insulate themselves with pride…can people see themselves?
We decided that it is very difficult at times to detect pride in ourselves, for it is often hidden. We need to pray and ask God to let us know where we are out of line, where we have pride, and are not giving Him the glory.
Galatians 5:19-26 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
Ephesians 5:3 For a greedy person is an idolater, worshipping the things of this world.
1 Corinthians 6:19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?
Do we put pride in our temple? That is like the abomination of desolation.
From Pastor Jerry’s handout: “The antichrist sits in the temple convincing himself that he is god. The body is described as the temple of GOD the HOLY SPIRIT…so GOD should be seated on the throne of our hearts-but we often replace HIM and in HIS place put ourselves – we place the desires that have possessed us, the wants that have overtaken us above the commands of GOD-that which was successfully appealed to us we elevate above the Will of GOD The world flatters us – it tells us to do it our way – it says we deserve the best.
Justification – the saved are saved, not because of their own righteousness, but because they are accepted by God as righteous… Feel good about yourself. Without becoming a victim of “the pride of life.” 1 John 2:15
Positive: 1 Peter 5:5-7 Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for ‘God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’ Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time.”
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This was an excellent Bible study. I put it in its entirety even though it was long because there seemed no good place to break it into two parts. Before we knew it, it was after 3 in the afternoon. Usually our studies do not go that long, but what a meaty topic. I am so blessed to have sat under this teaching, and it is convicting. It always amazes me, as we learn more about God and grow closer to Him, how we find areas in our lives that need working on, and pride is one of those which can sneak in in so many ways.
I hope this blessed you.
Heather
