Pride is insidious, attacking all, even the most humble of people. Attacking even you.

Welcome back. Last week in Episode 23 of the God’s Word, Today’s World podcast, we looked at Antioch as they made time to pray before they set about the big ministry endeavour of sending Barnabas and Paul on a missionary journey. They discovered in their time of faithful prayer, that God was calling the two for this journey, and even though the church would doubtless miss their teaching and leadership, God had another task planned.

How many things have we started in life just because they seemed like good ideas?

I know I’ve started dozens of things because it seemed good, or I felt like it.

Only to later realise I’ve started too many things, I’ve committed days, weeks, months, years, to something that I never even prayed about.

And it led me to the question: How much time have we wasted in my life because we didn’t stop and take the time to pray first? Pray until God gave us an answer before we started a new thing?

The sad reality is, I’ve probably wasted years of my life chasing the new and shiny things that excite me, but draw me away from my service to God.

So I challenged us to, before committing to things, take the time to pray. Take an hour. Take a day. Take a week. It’s not a waste of time, time spent with our Father in Heaven is never wasted time. Time in prayer is never wasted.

This week we’re looking at the perhaps one of the most dangerous sins of all. Pride. Our passage today is Acts 13:13-52 (WEB):

13 Now Paul and his company set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. John departed from them and returned to Jerusalem. 14 But they, passing on from Perga, came to Antioch of Pisidia. They went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and sat down. 15 After the reading of the law and the prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, speak.”

16 Paul stood up, and gesturing with his hand said, “Men of Israel, and you who fear God, listen. 17 The God of this people chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they stayed as aliens in the land of Egypt, and with an uplifted arm, he led them out of it. 18 For a period of about forty years he put up with them in the wilderness. 19 When he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land for an inheritance for about four hundred and fifty years. 20 After these things, he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet. 21 Afterward they asked for a king, and God gave to them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. 22 When he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, to whom he also testified, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’ 23 From this man’s offspring, God has brought salvation to Israel according to his promise, 24 before his coming, when John had first preached the baptism of repentance to Israel. 25 As John was fulfilling his course, he said, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. But behold, one comes after me, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’

26 “Brothers, children of the stock of Abraham, and those amongst you who fear God, the word of this salvation is sent out to you. 27 For those who dwell in Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they didn’t know him, nor the voices of the prophets which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning him. 28 Though they found no cause for death, they still asked Pilate to have him killed. 29 When they had fulfilled all things that were written about him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. 30 But God raised him from the dead, 31 and he was seen for many days by those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses to the people. 32 We bring you good news of the promise made to the fathers,