What Must We Do for Revival? - If My People Humble Themselves

Second, the Lord says we need to humble ourselves.  The Lord says a lot about pride in the Scriptures.  Consider the following passages: “When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom” (Proverbs 11:2), “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall (Proverbs 16:18), and “…for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble” (1Peter 5:5).  First, pride can keep us from salvation.  If we cannot admit we are wrong, and have sinned against God, then we will not see our need for a Savior.  Perhaps maybe we can admit we are wrong, but we are too proud to profess faith in Jesus Christ for fear of what others may think.  However, Jesus said, “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.  But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.” (Matthew 10:32-33) Pride can be a problem for the believer as well.  Pride says the principles found in the Scriptures do not apply to me.  We often make exceptions for ourselves, while holding others to a higher standard.  Pride says I’m a good person, and keeps me from receiving correction when it is based upon Biblical truth.  If you or I are proud we will have difficulty admitting when we are wrong, and the message of correction will be offensive to us.  Most importantly, it will keep us from receiving the Lord’s correction, and thereby will stunt our spiritual growth.  None of us enjoy being corrected, but it is a necessary part of life and of the Christian walk.  Proverbs says, “Correction is grievous unto him that forsaketh the way: and he that hateth reproof shall die.” (Proverbs15:10) We all have pride to one degree or another, but a good measure of how much pride we have is how offended we become once we receive Biblical correction.  If we want to see revival, we need to humble ourselves before a great and mighty God, and remember that He is the potter who wants to shape us as the clay into His image.  Humbling ourselves is the first action required, because pride will prevent us from taking the next steps.