When pride walks onto the platform, God walks off.

Under major conviction from the Holy Spirit in 1995, in the early morning on a night when I could not sleep, God revealed this truth to me. It was not a truth about someone else, but a truth about me. During those early hours, God began a work within me that He is still doing in and through me daily.

Every pastor I know, but mostly this pastor, needs to continually learn the powerful truth from 1 Corinthians 15:31, "I die every day!" May the Lord teach us this truth.

Where We Are

The spiritual vital signs in this nation, in our churches, and in our individual lives display our desperate need for a word from God that hits us between the eyes, takes the wind out of our self-importance, reminds us that we are not God and brings us to our knees. Unless we humble ourselves with fasting and prayer, we will not know real joy, we will not know God's best for our lives, and we will never experience the great awakening we need personally and nationally.

We need to stop long enough to evaluate where we are. Would anyone question that we live under ominous clouds of spiritual darkness? Unless we bow humbly before our God, that cloud will become even thicker, and the church will find itself increasingly immobilized, unable to support itself because of its own dead weight.

The answer to our spiritual crisis will not be found in the ballot box, but in the prayer closet. It will come through a fresh touch from the Lord, who wants to speak to us, move us and manifest His mighty presence. Moving the furniture in our churches, denominations or our own lives will not be enough. The answer to our spiritual crisis will come when we put off our mindsets of self-worship, territorialism, and the spirit of arrogance and pride, and put on the sackcloth of prayer, fasting, humiliation and repentance before God.

What We See When Pride Is Displayed

Those of us who think for even a moment that we are righteous are not righteous at all. When this happens, we are afflicted with a terminal disease called spiritual pride, the most deadly manifestation of our sinful nature. We often see pride display itself in one of two forms.

Greed. Greed hoards the time, money or possessions we have been entrusted within life. Greed exists because of pride. Why do people not honor God with the first tenth of all God has given them? Greed comes from pride. Humility is demonstrated through obedience to God's Word to giving; and when done, it removes the wall of greed. We can pray and fast for revival all day long, but we must stop the robbing from God that goes on weekly by the people of God. Humility removes the wall of greed.

Unforgiveness. Unforgiveness is prevalent in the lives of most Christians and in most churches. It occurs because of pride. I believe unforgiveness is the major obstacle to revival in today's church. Pride is so powerful that unforgiveness has become the norm in most Christ followers and churches.

This pride has built such a calloused heart in us that we are no longer bothered by having an unforgiving spirit toward others. Pride is powerful. It has destroyed men and women, families, businesses, churches and governments. Most of all, it has grieved the Holy Spirit in many of our lives. Has it done that in you? Humility will lead us to forgive others.

The Power of Humility

Humility crushes the wall of pride in our lives. There is nothing more deadly than pride, and the only cure is humility and brokenness. As pastors, we must do whatever it takes to see pride rooted out of our life and leadership. Quite honestly, the only thing that will remove the spirit of pride in us is to humble ourselves through fasting and prayer.

When we humble ourselves before God with prayer and fasting, God will provide major spiritual breakthroughs. We will see breakthroughs regarding our pride, our greed and even our unforgiveness. God's gateway to spiritual breakthrough is prayer and fasting.

The next great awakening will be determined by the people of God who will get down on their knees, pray, fast and believe that God is bigger than their circumstances, bigger than any election, bigger than any political party and much bigger than we are. While we are in a dark midnight crisis spiritually in our nation, through prayer and fasting spiritual breakthroughs await us.

Dr. Ronnie Floyd has been a pastor for over 37 years. Since 1986, Pastor Floyd has served as the Senior Pastor of Cross Church, Northwest Arkansas, which has baptized over 17,000 people during his tenure. Cross Church was one of the first churches in America to go multi-site. In June 2014, Pastor Floyd was elected President of the Southern Baptist Convention. He has authored over 20 books including FORWARD: 7 Distinguishing Marks For Future Leaders, releasing in 2015.

For the original article, visit pastors.com.

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