There’s a quiet battle happening inside every believer. It’s subtle, sneaky, and often ignored. Scripture calls it “the pride of life” (1 John 2:16). It doesn’t roar like the lust of the flesh. It doesn’t shine like the lust of the eyes. It hides in the heart. It whispers. And if we don’t confront it, it becomes a ceiling in our spiritual growth.

Today I want to share what the pride of life really means, how it shows up, and how we can break away from it with the help of the Holy Spirit.

1. What Does “The Pride of Life” Mean?

John writes:

“For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.” — 1 John 2:16

The pride of life is the desire to be seen, praised, elevated, or recognized apart from God. It’s the part of the heart that wants to be its own source, its own strength, its own glory. It is self-exaltation instead of God-exaltation.

The pride of life says:

• “I built this.”
• “I deserve this.”
• “I don’t need help.”
• “Look at me.”

It’s the same pride that caused Lucifer to fall.

It’s the same pride that deceived Eve with the promise, “You will be like God.”

And it’s the same pride that still tries to infect the believer today.

God warned Edom:

“The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who dwell in the clefts of the rock… who say in your heart, ‘Who will bring me down?’ I will bring you down.” — Obadiah 1:3–

Pride blinds us. It deceives us. And it always leads downward.

2. How the Pride of Life Shows Up

It doesn’t always look like arrogance. Often it appears in quieter ways:

• When we rely on our own strength instead of prayer.
• When we want the spotlight more than the assignment.
• When we measure success by applause instead of obedience.
• When we seek validation instead of transformation.
• When we resist correction because we “already know.”

Sometimes it’s subtle. Sometimes it’s loud. But its goal is always the same—to disconnect us from dependency on God.

3. How Can We Break Free From the Pride of Life?

Deliverance from pride is not complicated. It starts with posture.

A. Return to Surrender

True humility is not thinking less of yourself—it’s thinking of yourself less and thinking of God more.

“Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.” — James 4:10

B. Invite the Holy Spirit to Search the Heart

Pride hides. The Holy Spirit reveals.

Ask Him:

• “Show me where I’m trying to take Your glory.”
• “Show me where I’m resisting Your leading.”

C. Practice Gratitude

Pride feeds on self. Gratitude redirects attention to God.

The more thankful we become, the more pride loses its grip.

D. Stay Teachable

A teachable spirit is a sign of spiritual maturity. God promotes the teachable, not the talented.

E. Remember Who the Source Is

Your gifts, your influence, your opportunities—they came from Him.

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above.” — James 1:17

When you recognize the Source, pride loses its power.

4. A Few Personal Practices to Keep Pride Weak

Here are some simple habits that help keep the heart clean:

• Ask God daily: “Father, purify my motives.”
• Celebrate others and their wins.
• Do small acts of obedience no one sees.
• Fast occasionally to remind your flesh that it is not the leader.
• Read Scriptures on humility and the fear of the Lord.
• Serve without expecting recognition.

These practices aren’t religious duties. They are heart protectors.

Closing Prayer

Father, search my heart. Remove every seed of pride, every desire for self-glory, and every hidden motive that is not from You. Teach me to walk in humility, purity, and childlike dependence on Your Spirit. I yield my plans, my influence, and my future to You. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Declaration

I am free from the pride of life. I choose humility. I depend on the Holy Spirit. My life will glorify Jesus alone.

Rachel Emerson

At the School of Ministry, we have been teaching our company of believers how to effectively step into a realm of worship, prayer, and fasting. 

Over the past 6 months, we have been gathering every week to seek the face of God and intercede for our local area in Bardstown. I can tell you that building a company of people who can pray, rather than sit in a house, is the actual skill and mission.

Do you know how many believers don't know how to sit and pray? This is why we do what we do. 

Recently, the LORD instructed us to teach and equip others on the heart of prayer within the home. You'd be so surprised at how many families and couples do not pray together, let alone pray for their own neighborhood. However will drive hours away to a church meeting or conference. Somehow, as the church, we have lost touch with who we are and what we do on this earth. 

This prayer that I am going to share is not the all in all, however, I use it as a simple foundational prayer that starts to stir me up and leads me wherever the LORD takes me. 

Pray This With Us 

Father, I praise and thank you for placing me here in this neighborhood, on this street, in this house/apartment. I acknowledge that your plans and purposes for me are perfect and that you have placed me here that I might participate in your plan for this neighborhood. 

• Open my eyes to see where you are at work and help me to eagerly enter into prayer on your assignments.
• May Jesus be seen in me, the very light of His presence, in the way I acknowledge and greet others, and reach out to those around me. 
• May the presence and power of the Holy Spirit be poured out on my dwelling place, drawing those around me to yourself. 
• Open the eyes of the hearts of those I encounter and make them hungry to know you. 

I pray your blessing over the street where I live [call out the name of the street] and over the places where I purchase goods and food. (Pause and pray for places where you visit and purchase goods, by name.) Open blind eyes! Set captives free! May Jesus be revealed to the hearts of those all around me. 

Help me to minister your love and compassion to all whom I encounter. Use me, I pray that my life might be woven into the grand tapestry of your perfect plan for my neighborhood and this city, that I might have a part in spiritual harvest from this place!

In Jesus' name. Amen.

Search The Scriptures: Psalm 33:10-11, Psalm 139:16, Psalm 25:12-13, Psalm 107:10-16, Psalm 18:28, Ephesians 1:18, 2 Corinthains 4:4, 1 John 3:18, 1 John 4:7-12

Moving With God Instead of Camping in Comfort

When I talk about strategic mobility, I’m really asking you one simple question:

Are you geared up for war but still sitting by the campfire?

In natural warfare, an army can have the best weapons, the sharpest strategy, and the fiercest training, but if they’re stuck, surrounded, or unwilling to move, they lose. Mobility is not a luxury. It’s a requirement.

The same is true in the Spirit.

Jesus did not say, “Stay and wait until the world comes to you.”
He said:

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations…” (Matthew 28:19, NKJV)

At The School of Ministry, we train you to go in your city, your sphere, your assignment, and in some cases, the nations. Training is never meant to end in theory; it must manifest in movement.

The Danger of Being a Well-Equipped, Immobile Soldier

Picture this: A fully armored soldier. Helmet on, sword sharpened, shield polished, battle-plan memorized, and then he curls up by the fireplace and never leaves the house.

That’s what many believers do spiritually.

• We study the Word.

• We learn about spiritual warfare.

• We talk about revival.

• We sit in powerful services.

But the real war is not happening inside our Christian bubbles. It’s happening:

• In the streets of our cities.

• In unreached villages and neighborhoods.

• In jails and prisons.

• In strip clubs, trap houses, and drug dens.

• In boardrooms, classrooms, and living rooms.

No matter how strong your prayer life is, how sharp your theology is, or how anointed your encounters are, if there is no mobility, there will be no real takeover.

In our Foundations of Faith guide from The School of Ministry, we emphasize that doctrine is the foundation, but obedience is the building. You’re not just called to know the faith; you’re called to move in it.

Battle Skills Are Formed on the Field, Not Just in the Classroom

A soldier doesn’t become skilled by only reading manuals on warfare. He becomes skilled in warfare by actually engaging the enemy.

The same is true with spiritual warfare:

• You don’t learn deliverance only by reading about demons; you learn by casting them out.

• You don’t learn intercession only by taking notes on prayer; you learn by travailing for souls, cities, and nations.

• You don’t learn evangelism only by hearing testimonies; you learn by opening your mouth to share the Gospel with real people.

Our manuals, courses, and devotionals are your Kingdom war scrolls but the scroll is only powerful when it’s opened, believed, and acted on.

Two Kinds of Strategic Mobility

For some of you, mobility will be geographic. For others, it will be relational and emotional. Let me break that down.

1. Geographic Mobility

For some believers, being mobile means literally relocating:

• Moving to another city or nation as an evangelist or missionary.

• Relocating to attend Bible school or the School of Ministry Academy so you can be trained for your assignment.

• Saying “yes” when the Lord calls you to plant a church, build a hub, or pioneer a work in spiritually dry places.

In our A–Z Commentary, we see this pattern over and over again: Abraham leaves his land at God’s word, the apostles are “sent ones,” and the early Church spreads because they moved when God spoke.

God is still moving people like chess pieces on a board—strategically liberating regions through obedient, mobile sons and daughters.

2. Mobility Right Where You Are

For others, mobility will look like this:

• Stepping out of your Christian-only bubble.

• Leaving the safety of “church friends only” to intentionally build relationships with unbelievers.

• Going into ghettos, shelters, rest homes, hospitals, college campuses, or prisons to minister the Gospel.

You may never move countries, but you must move beyond your comfort zone.

You cannot win the world for Christ if your entire life is spent inside the four walls of a church, talking only to people who already know Him.

The Biblical Pattern: Everyone God Uses Is Mobile

Think about it:

• Abraham left his land.

• Moses left the backside of the desert to confront Pharaoh.

• Joshua marched into hostile territory.

• David ran toward Goliath, not away from him.

• The prophets went where God sent them, even when it was dangerous.

• The early believers in Acts “turned the world upside down”—not by sitting on pews for an hour on Sunday, but by living as a mobile, Spirit-led invasion force.

In our commentary materials, Abraham is called a “sent one,” and believers are described as those who move under God’s authority, like soldiers under a commander.

The pattern is clear: immobility and destiny do not coexist.

Heart Check: Am I Actually Mobile for God?

Let me ask you straight:

• If God asked you to relocate today, would you even be willing?

• If He prompted you to walk across the street to your neighbor, would you actually go?

• When was the last time you shared the Gospel with someone who doesn’t already know Jesus?

• Have you allowed fear, comfort, routine, or busyness to spiritually paralyze you?

• Is your Christianity built around attendance…or assignment?

Take a moment and sit with these questions. Don’t rush past the conviction—this is the Holy Spirit inviting you into movement.

Activation: Moving From Theory to Action

I don’t want you to just read this. I want you to activate it.

Here’s a simple pathway you can start today:

1. Ask the Holy Spirit for Your “Next Move.”
   Pray: “Lord, what is one step of mobility you’re asking of me right now?”
   It might be a phone call, a conversation, an apology, a new ministry, or a geographic shift.

2. Identify Your Comfort Zone.
   Write down where you tend to hide:

   • “I only feel safe with Christians.”

   • “I never talk about faith at work.”

   • “I’ve been afraid to say yes to missions or ministry training.”

3. Choose One Battlefield This Week.
   Ask God: “Where are You already at war that You’re inviting me into?” A coworker, a campus, a street corner, an online space, a family member.

4. Pair Mobility With Intercession.
   Before you move, pray. In our Kingdom Intercession: How to Pray and Intercede manual, we teach that intercession prepares the ground and sustains the work you're going, and your praying must be married.

5. Take One Risky Step of Obedience.
   Text the person. Start the conversation. Visit the prison. Volunteer with outreach. Share your testimony. Apply for the training. Obedience is the doorway to new authority.

Journaling Prompts

Take 10–15 minutes and write with the Holy Spirit:

• “Lord, where have I been armored but immobile?”

• “Show me one comfort zone you’re calling me out of.”

• “What city, people group, or sphere of society do you want my feet to touch?”

• “What would ‘strategic mobility’ look like in my life over the next 12 months?”

Let Him speak. Capture what you hear. Treat it like a war assignment.

A Simple Prayer of Surrender

Pray this out loud:

Father, in Jesus’ name,
I repent for wearing Your armor but refusing Your orders. I lay down comfort, fear, and passivity.
Make me strategically mobile for Your Kingdom.
Send me where others won’t go. Use my life outside the four walls of the church; in streets, prisons, nations, and neighborhoods. I say “yes” to movement, to risk, and to assignment.

Here I am, Lord…
Send me.
Amen.

Ready to Be Trained for Mobility?

If you’re reading this and you feel the pull—maybe toward missions, evangelism, prophetic intercession, or simply a more intentional commissioned lifestyle now is not your time to ignore it.

This is exactly why The School of Ministry exists:

• To lay strong Foundations of Faith so you’re not just zealous, but rooted.

• To train you in Kingdom Intercession, so your mobility is backed by supernatural power.

• To help you discern your calling through 101 mentoring, so you know where and how God is asking you to move in this season.

If you’re ready to move from “interested” to “activated,” I want to invite you to connect with us, step into the School of Ministry Academy, or apply for 1:1 mentoring and let us help you steward what God is stirring in you.

👉 Start your journey with us here:

Must Apply. Selective slots available: 
Apply For 1-on-1 Mentorship 

Free to join, partnering options inside:
Join The School Of Ministry Academy

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