Solving Pride with Prayer
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Intro:
5 He sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God; and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper.
As we continue to study prayer throughout scripture, the title of my message is, [Solving Pride with Prayer].
When I think of pride, I remember what I learned in Kid’s Church and Sunday School. It was drilled into our heads, pride is not good. We shouldn’t become prideful.
Sadly, I think this notion has disappeared from society. Today, we live in a prideful word. There are parades and celebrations focusing on people who are proud of their lifestyle.
People flaunt their accomplishments, their opinions, and their way of life. Being prideful is no longer considered negative. In fact, people are proud of their pride.
I looked up pride on Google. Here is the definition, “a feeling of deep pleasure or satisfaction of one’s achievements.”
Other words include:
pleasure
joy
delight
gratification
fulfillment
satisfaction
Our culture appreciates pride. From that definition, it seems that being prideful is a good idea.
But as people of the Spirit, we must ask, what does scripture say about pride? The word pride is found 51 times and the word proud is found 56 times.
I decided to read each of the verses. Of the 107 times pride or being proud is mentioned, not once is there a positive view or context on having pride or being prideful.
In fact, I noticed the opposite. Time after time, God rejected the proud. He resisted the proud. He destroyed cities that were full of pride. He removed leaders from position who got too proud.
God has strong feelings about pride. What is the problem with pride?
Pride focuses on what I can do. It emphasizes MY talent, gifts, or abilities. It takes attention away from God and toward OURSELF.
What then is the solution for pride?
5 Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. 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.”
6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,
7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
The opposite of pride is humility. And we’ve seen this year, one of the greatest acts of humility is prayer. When I say prayer, I do not mean quick blessings over a meal or when we get bad news.
I mean consistent prayer. When we pray on a regular basis, we let God know that we need His help. We come before Him with the understanding, you can accomplish what I can not.
Humble people realize they need God’s help. Prideful people rest on and depend on their ability and accomplishments.
The enemy wants us to become dependent on self. He lies to people into believing they can operate separate from God’s assistant and intervention.
Should we begin to do that, slowly but surely, pride will take over our lives. When that happens, we will end up failing and falling.
Today, my focus is not in the pride in our world. No, I want God to reveal to us, myself included, is there any pride in me? Is there any area of my life where I trust self instead of God?
To see the problems of pride, I want to look at King Uzziah and the Prophet Isaiah. Through their lives we see two different outcomes for people. I have two points, [Prideful People] and [Prayerful People].
Let’s begin
1. Prideful People
1. Prideful People
3 Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jecholiah of Jerusalem.
4 And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziah had done.
5 He sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God; and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper.
Of all of Judah’s kings, Uzziah was one of the youngest when he came to the throne. At sixteen years of age. It could have been easy for him to become prideful.
Instead, he committed himself to God. He prayed and did what was right in God’s eyes. He even sought to know about the vision of God.
Notice, the promise, as long as he sought guidance from the Lord, God gave him success. And the beginning of Uzziah’s reign was very successful.
He declared war on the Philistines and won. Any time he went into battle, the enemies lose. He even extended Judah’s borders, taking over enemy territory.
He led Judah through a massive infrastructure campaign. He built towers and dug wells. And he grew large flocks of cattle and livestock.
He also strengthened Judah’s army. There were 307,500 men enlisted in the army, and every one of them had: a shield, a spear, a helmet, body armor, a sling, and a bow.
Everything went Uzziah’s way. Why? Because he was diligent to seek God. Here, however, is where so many people have made the wrong decision.
Uzziah prayed early on in his leadership. But the more successful he became, the less he made time for God. Slowly and subtly, he became prideful.
16 But when he was strong his heart was lifted up, to his destruction, for he transgressed against the Lord his God by entering the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense.
19 Then Uzziah became furious; and he had a censer in his hand to burn incense. And while he was angry with the priests, leprosy broke out on his forehead, before the priests in the house of the Lord, beside the incense altar.
16 But when he had become powerful, he also became proud, which led to his downfall. He sinned against the Lord his God by entering the sanctuary of the Lord’s Temple and personally burning incense on the incense altar.
As Uzziah grew in power, he also grew in pride. As prideful people often do, he sinned against the Lord. His sin seems innocent. On the surface, he wanted to go to the temple and worship the Lord.
Incense was used as a symbol of worship to God. It was sweet smelling. It was a physical representation of the praise, thanks, and worship to God.
The only catch though, only priests could offer incense to the Lord. Do we see the the problem?
Uzziah was a king, not a priest. He was not allowed to offer incense to the Lord. The high priest and eighty other priests confronted Uzziah. They told him only a priest could do that.
Uzziah was insulted. He held the incense burner and became furious. Instead of repenting, he began to rage at the priests. He was full of pride and arrogance.
As he pridefully explained, who are YOU to tell ME what to do? God got involved. Uzziah’s skin began to change. Leprosy broke out on his forehead and down the rest of his body.
A person with leprosy was deemed unclean. God had specific instruction. Lepers were considered the living dead. They had their own colonies outside of town.
No one could touch a leper. They walked around in rags with their sores exposed. Because of Uzziah’s pride, he had to exchange his royal robe for rags, living in isolation the rest of his life.
Eventually he died. A sad case of someone who stopped praying and let pride creep into his life.
There is no telling what Uzziah could have accomplished had he not become prideful, and continued to seek the Lord.
If Uzziah is the picture of prideful people, Isaiah depicts...
2. Praying People
2. Praying People
1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple.
2 Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.
3 And one cried to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!”
4 And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke.
Every great prophet has an strong prayer life. I can include, every great person has a strong prayer life. Isaiah was no exception. Imagine his surprise.
Uzziah led Judah in an era or pride. The king did not depend on God, therefore, the people did not depend on God. But God will ALWAYS have people who will pray.
And it is to THOSE that pray He reveals Himself. I am not sure where Isaiah was, but as he spent time in prayer, something dramatic and life changing happened.
It is as though his eyes were closed in prayer. Upon opening them he looks and sees God’s throne. What a contrast. As a prophet, he had been to the throne room in Judah. He knew the pride of Uzziah.
Now, he stands before the throne of God. He hears the worship of heaven— Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord! He felt the room shake when the seraphim cried out holy.
Isn’t it interesting that Uzziah pridefully forced his way into the Temple. But Isaiah was invited by God to come to the throne room of the Temple of heaven?
I am sure Isaiah had amazing encounters with God, but nothing like this one. He was forever changed. His experience caused him to humble himself before God.
5 So I said: “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The Lord of hosts.”
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar.
7 And he touched my mouth with it, and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away, And your sin purged.”
Isaiah had the proper response. He did not become prideful thinking, yeah, I deserve to be here. I have done a lot for God, it is about time I get to go to the throne room.
Instead, he looked at himself compared to God’s holiness and could summon one word, woe. Woe is me, I am undone. I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips and live around people who are equally filthy.
Isaiah identified he was unholy but God was holy. God noticed Isaiah’s humility and had a remedy. One of the seraphim came and purified Isaiah.
God took away his guilt and forgave his sins. Here is another contrast with Uzziah and Isaiah. Uzziah was an unholy man trying to send up incense to the throne room.
When he was confronted, he became livid and angry. Instead of humbling himself, God humbled him with leprosy.
Now, before God can confront Isaiah about his sin, he acknowledges, I do not deserve to be here, there is so much sin in my life and community.
But God forgave him. As he basked in God’s forgiveness, he overhears a conversation in heaven.
8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”
God saw the pride that consumed Judah. He wanted someone to come an address the national problems. But He needed a representative. He needed someone who would stay humble and prayerful in everything they did.
Isaiah listened as God looked for someone to go. He couldn’t help by volunteer. He asked God to send him wherever He wanted him to go.
God heard Isaiah and sent him with power and authority. However, God did not withhold what Isaiah would face. He promised that people would listen, but not always learn from him.
However, God knew Isaiah would remain faithful. He understood that Isaiah would keep praying and seeking God.
As Isaiah continued to pray, God revealed to him details about the birth, life, and work of Jesus. Many of his prophecies came to pass through Jesus, while we still wait for the fulfillment of others.
Close:
Of all the Uzziah and Isaiah did, I want us to notice this— there is a difference in lifestyle and outcome for those who are prideful and prayerful.
We live in a day of intense pride. We have to make sure that we do not allow pride to slip into our lives.
13 The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way And the perverse mouth I hate.
2 When pride comes, then comes shame; But with the humble is wisdom.
18 Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall.
23 A man’s pride will bring him low, But the humble in spirit will retain honor.
Over and over scriptures tells us the problems with pride. But when does pride start? It did not start for Uzziah when he went to the temple to offer incense.
Pride does not start when we hear reports of someone who has had a major fall.
No, pride begins when people stop praying. If we ever get to the position that we assume we do not need God’s help, we are entering a new realm of pride.
Therefore, we can solve pride as we pray.
5 “And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.
6 But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.
7 And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.
8 “Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.
God has a plan for us. When we get alone with God, He will speak to us. Then as He speaks, we will listen. Would Isaiah ever had an experience in the throne room if he only prayed occasionally?
No. I believe Isaiah had time with God every day. Much to his surprise, on one of those days, God took him to the throne room. It was there that His life was forever changed.
I cannot promise that if we pray, we will get to see the throne of God. But we do have this hope:
16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
When we get alone with God, we enter His throne room spiritually. We get to go to a place in Him that will transform our lives.
Who wants to have those throne-room-type experiences?
Then we have to pray. And as we pray, we must ask sincerely, is there any part of my life where I have let pride take hold?
Is there any part of my life where I do trust God fully?
Is there any part of my life where I am beginning to depend on self instead of God?
We might think, no, I am good. That does not exempt us from prayer. There have been many times God has spoken to me and showed me something about myself that I did not realize.
God is calling on His church to humble ourselves. To ask Him to rid of us any pride. And as He does, we can prepare for Him to make us more like Him and use us in supernatural ways!