WISDOM FOR LIVING DAILY DEVOTIONAL
FEBRUARY 07, 2025
TOPIC: PRIDE IS AN OBSTACLE TO YOUR MIRACLE
BY T. O. BANSO
“But Naaman went away angry and said, ‘I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?’ So he turned and went off in a rage” (2 Kings 5:11-12 New International Version).
Pride is one of the obstacles you must overcome to receive your miracle. Pride has prevented some people from obeying the Word of God or divine instructions necessary for the manifestation of their miracles.
Some people, because of their educational attainment or social status, feel that some actions required of them are beneath them. Therefore, they disqualify themselves from receiving their miracles. God does not always make sense. It takes people walking in humility to forget their status or attainment and obey what God says.
If Zacchaeus had allowed his status and wealth to go to his head, he wouldn’t have climbed the sycamore tree the day Jesus was passing through Jericho, and he wanted to see Him. More importantly, Jesus wouldn’t have seen him and went with him to his house. Salvation would not have come to Zacchaues’ house that day. His short stature and the crowd were barriers to seeing Jesus, so he climbed the sycamore tree.
The Bible records the incident thus: “Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.’ So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly” (Luke 19:1-6 New International Version).
Zacchaeus didn’t say because he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy, it was disgraceful to run and climb the sycamore tree. He didn’t care whether people saw him or not. He was not concerned if they would laugh at him. He knew what he wanted to achieve and climbed the tree to see Jesus. He wasn’t expecting Jesus to see him. But Jesus did. He took note of his sacrifice! He asked him to come down and went home with him. It was a surprise to Zacchaeus. The people were amazed and felt that Jesus was wrong.
Luke 19:7-10 says, “All the people saw this and began to mutter, ‘He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.’ But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, ‘Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost’” (New International Version). Zacchaeus was humble. Jesus honoured him by being his guest that day and he and his family received the greatest miracle: salvation.
Proud people don’t receive miracles from God because pride will not let them obey the Word that will cause their miracles to manifest. Some of them are too educated or intelligent to obey simple instructions! They analyze the Word of God instead of obeying it.
Imagine that the Israelites were analyzing how marching around the city of Jericho for seven days and making a loud shout at the end of marching around the city seven times on the seventh day could make the wall collapse. It wouldn’t make sense to the intellectuals. But the Israelites obeyed with childlike faith and the wall collapsed after a loud shout (Joshua 6:12-21).
Humble people don’t let their status or whatever they have hinder them from obeying, thereby receiving their miracle. Humble yourself. Proud people leave the presence of God empty-handed; they don’t receive their miracles. God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5). Everyone proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD (Proverbs 16:5a). “Though the Lord is great, he cares for the humble, but he keeps his distance from the proud” (Psalm 138:6 New Living Translation). God has nothing to do with the proud.
Pride is an obstacle to your miracle. Humble yourself before God and obey Him if you want to receive your miracles or answers to your prayers. The Pharisee whom Jesus talked about in Luke 18 went away without an answer to his prayer because he was proud – proud of his religious activities. But the tax collector humbled himself and went away justified.
Luke 18:9-14 says, “To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: ‘Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted’” (New International Version).
Pride is an obstacle to your miracle. Naaman, the commander of the army of the king of Aram and a leper, nearly missed his miracle because of pride. Being a high-ranking military officer, he thought that the Prophet Elisha would come out and give him VIP treatment when he got to his house, but he didn’t. He treated him like an ordinary person despite coming with his horses and chariots, carrying ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten sets of clothing. Elisha merely sent someone to tell him what to do to be healed, not minding that the king of Syria sent him to the land of Israel to be healed. Worse still, Elisha instructed that he should go and dip seven times in River Jordan, a river Naaman considered inferior to the rivers in his country.
2 Kings 5:10-12 says, “Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, ‘Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.’ But Naaman went away angry and said, ‘I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?’ So he turned and went off in a rage” (New International Version).
Did you see how proud Naaman was? Most probably Elisha related to him the way he did, not coming out to see him, because he wanted to humble him. Maybe that was why he also refused to collect any gift from him after he had been healed. A servant of God must learn to honour his holy office and not allow anyone to control him because of his position or wealth. Naaman had no right to dictate how God would heal him; his duty was to obey God.
Naaman became furious and went away but his servants prevailed on him to do what Elisha said. “Naaman’s servants went to him and said, ‘My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’!’ So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy” (2 Kings 5:13-14 New International Version).
Naaman was healed of leprosy but probably also of pride! Pride was an obstacle to his miracle. You face the same obstacle. Humble yourself and obey God. Don’t be wise in your eyes (Proverbs 3:7a). “Do you see a person wise in their own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for them” (Proverbs 26:12 New International Version). Humbly obey biblical instructions. Don’t be wise in your eyes. “Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight” (Isaiah 5:21 New International Version).
Let the Word of God become work that you do. Jesus’ mother told the servants at the wedding of Cana of Galilee, “Do whatever he tells you” (John 2:5 New International Version). They did what Jesus told them and water turned into wine. Humble yourself and obey what God has said in the Bible. Also humbly obey biblical instructions given by His servants, not unbiblical instructions. The Spirit of God always agrees with the Word of God. 1 Thessalonians 5:21 says not to scoff at prophecies, but to test everything that is said and hold on to what is good. Obey scriptural instructions. As Jehoshaphat said, have faith in the Lord your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets and you will be successful (2 Chronicles 20:20).
Pride is an obstacle to your miracle. Don’t let it block your miracles. Put on the garment of humility.
TAKE ACTION!
If you are not born again, you need to give your life to Jesus now. Take the following steps: *Admit that you are a sinner, and cannot save yourself, and repent of your sins. *Confess Jesus as your Lord and Saviour. *Renounce your past way of life – your relationship with the devil and his works. *Invite Jesus into your life. *As a mark of seriousness to mature in the faith, start attending a Bible-believing, Bible-teaching, and Bible-practising church. There they will teach you how to grow in the Kingdom of God.
Kindly say this prayer now: O Lord God, I come unto You today. I know I am a sinner, and I cannot save myself. I believe that Jesus is the Son of God who died on the cross to save me and God raised Him on the third day. I repent of my sins and confess Jesus as my Lord and Saviour. I surrender my life to Jesus now and invite Him into my heart. By this prayer, I know I am saved. Thank You, Jesus, for saving me and making me a child of God.
I believe you have said this prayer from your heart. Congratulations! You must join a Bible-believing, Bible-teaching, and Bible-practising church where they will teach you how to live your new life in Christ Jesus. I pray that you flourish like a palm tree and grow like a cedar of Lebanon. May you grow into Christ in all things and become all God wants you to be. I will be glad to hear from you. The Lord be with you.
PRAYER POINTS: I repent of pride today because pride goes before destruction. With the help of the Holy Spirit, I put on the garment of humility, for humility goes before honour. Pride will not disqualify me from receiving my miracles. My miracles will manifest at the right time in Jesus’ name.
(For over 900 in-depth and powerful messages by T. O. Banso, visit www.cedarministry.org).
T. O. Banso is the President of Cedar Ministry International, Abuja, Nigeria.
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