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What is the difference between the prayer of a proud and a humble person? Prayer to pacify pride

Many of us have been tempted more than once because of weakness of character and flesh. And it’s good if later a person repented and atoned for his sins with the help of prayer from pride and conceit, because his soul suffers from his sins, and to prevent this from happening, we need to figure out why we fall into the power of pride, arrogance and greed.

A greedy person dreams of becoming richer; vanity and ambition force him to do things that make him look better in his own eyes.

You can save yourself from all this by saying, as the basics of Orthodoxy say, prayers for pride. By turning to specific saints, sincerely reading prayer addresses in front of their faces against pride and selfishness, you can learn to admit your shortcomings, forgive and thank God for the lessons of life.

As Holy Scripture teaches us, the best remedy for selfishness and arrogance is love for your neighbors and the Lord God. Lack of humility, indifference to other people's misfortunes and the desire to be the best lead to the fact that relatives turn away from a person. And only sincere awareness of your mistakes, as well as daily reading of prayers, can clear your thoughts. When you learn to thank God for good and bad, your soul will be cleansed and your path will become clear.

Who do they pray to to protect themselves from pride and conceit?

There are many saints in Orthodoxy who can take away the sin of pride and selfishness from you. Remember that the result of reading the prayer against pride is not a tribute to complacency, but obedience and humility. Ask them from Jesus Christ, John of Kronstadt, St. Sergius, St. Alexis, the Man of God. The prayer of John Chrysostom himself, “I deny you the Satan of your pride,” which must be read every time you leave the house, also helps in such cases.

Texts of strong prayers against pride and selfishness

I deny you, Satan, your pride and service to you, and I unite with you, Christ, in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Prayer to Saint Alexy, man of God

O servant of Christ, holy man of God Alexy! Look mercifully upon us, servant of God (names), and stretch out your honorable hands in prayer to the Lord God, and ask us from Him for forgiveness of our voluntary and involuntary sins, a peaceful and Christian death and a good answer at the Last Judgment of Christ. To her, servant of God, do not disgrace our trust, which we place in you, according to God and the Mother of God; but be our helper and protector for salvation; that through your prayers we have received grace and mercy from the Lord, let us glorify the love of mankind of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit and your holy intercession, now and ever and unto ages of ages.

Prayer for deliverance from pride

O great servant of Christ, holy man of God Alexis, your soul stands in heaven before the Throne of the Lord, and on the earth given to you by grace from above, you performed various miracles!

Look mercifully at the people standing before your holy icon, tenderly praying and asking for your help and intercession. Stretch out your honest hand in prayer to the Lord God and ask Him for forgiveness of our sins, voluntary and involuntary, healing for those who suffer, intercession for those who suffer, consolation for the grieving, ambulance for those in need, and for all who honor your peaceful and Christian death and a good answer at the Last Judgment Christ.

To her, servant of God, do not disgrace our hope, which we place in you according to God and the Lady, but be our helper and protector for salvation: so that through your prayers we have received grace and mercy from the Lord, let us glorify the love of mankind of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, glorified in the Trinity and the worshiped God, and your holy intercession, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.

Prayer for vanity

You, my Savior, Who, out of obedience, for thirty years in Nazareth obeyed Your Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the guardian of Her virginity Joseph, and upon entering into the work of Your great service, you were obedient to the will of Your Father even to death, death on the cross, make me, following Your example, obey in everything You placed over me and fulfill everything You commanded in the law and the Gospel, so that my whole life would be continuous obedience, which would make me a worthy participant in Your grace in this life and Your glory in the life to come.

The most detailed description: prayer for pride - for our readers and subscribers.

Prayers for pride and vanity

You, my Savior, Who, out of obedience, for thirty years in Nazareth obeyed Your Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the guardian of Her virginity Joseph, and upon entering into the work of Your great service, you were obedient to the will of Your Father even to death, death on the cross, make me, following Your example, obey in everything You placed over me and fulfill everything You commanded in the law and the Gospel, so that my whole life would be continuous obedience, which would make me a worthy participant in Your grace in this life and Your glory in the life to come.

Lord, do not let me dream of myself as being the best of any of the people, but think of myself as the worst of all and not condemn anyone, but judge myself strictly. Amen.

O great servant of Christ, holy and righteous Father John of Kronstadt, wondrous shepherd, quick helper and merciful representative! Raising praise to the triune God, you prayerfully cried out: “Your name is Love: do not reject me who is erring. Your name is Strength: strengthen me, who is weak and falling. Your name is Light: enlighten my soul, darkened by worldly passions. Your name is Peace: pacify my restless soul. Your name is Mercy: do not cease to be merciful to me.” Now, grateful to your intercession, the all-Russian flock prays to you: Christ-named and righteous servant of God! With your love, illumine us, sinners and weaklings, grant us the ability to bear fruits worthy of repentance and to partake without condemnation of the Holy Mysteries of Christ: with your power strengthen our faith in us, support us in prayer, heal ailments and illnesses, deliver us from the misfortunes of enemies visible and invisible: with the light of your face our servants and incite the primates of the altar of Christ to the holy deeds of pastoral work, grant upbringing to an infant, instruct youth, support old age, illuminate the shrines of churches and holy monasteries: die, most wonder-working and most visionary, the peoples of our country, by the grace and gift of the Holy Spirit, deliver from internecine warfare; Collect the scattered, convert the seduced and unite the holy congregations and apostles of the Church: by your grace preserve marriage in peace and like-mindedness, grant success and blessing to the monastics in good deeds, give comfort to the faint-hearted, those suffering from unclean spirits, freedom, in the needs and circumstances of those who exist, have mercy on us all instruct the path of salvation: in Christ living, our Father John, lead us to the unevening light of eternal life, so that with you we may be worthy of eternal bliss, praising and exalting God forever and ever. Amen.

Prayers are read in front of the icon of the Savior or in an open space, in case of irritability towards others.

Lord, grant us to see our sins, so that our mind, drawn entirely to the attention of our own sins, ceases to see the faults of our neighbors, and thus sees all our neighbors as good. Grant to our hearts to leave the destructive concern for the shortcomings of our neighbor, to unite all our concerns into one concern for the acquisition of the purity and holiness commanded and prepared for us by You. Grant to us, who have desecrated the garments of our souls, to whiten them again: they have already been washed with the waters of baptism; now, after desecration, they need to be washed with tearful waters. Grant us to see, in the light of Your grace, the various ailments living in us, destroying spiritual movements in the heart, introducing blood and carnal movements into it, hostile to the Kingdom of God. Grant us the great gift of repentance, preceded and generated by the great gift of seeing our sins. Protect us with these great gifts from the abyss of self-delusion, which opens in the soul from its unnoticed and incomprehensible sinfulness; is born from the action of unnoticed and incomprehensible voluptuousness and vanity. Protect us with these great gifts on our path to You, and grant us to reach You, who calls confessing sinners and rejects those who recognize themselves as righteous, so that we may forever praise You in eternal bliss, the One True God, the Redeemer of the captives, the Savior of the lost. Amen.

Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me, for my soul trusts in You, and I hope in the shadow of Your wing, until lawlessness will pass away. I will cry to God Most High, God who has done good to me. God sent His mercy and His truth from Heaven and saved me, and delivered my soul from the midst of the skimni. The ambassadors are confused, sons of humanity, the teeth of their weapons and arrows, and the tongue of their sword is sharp. Ascend into Heaven, O God, and Thy glory be throughout all the earth. You prepared a net for my feet and slushed my soul, digging a hole in front of my face and falling into the nude. My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready, I will sing and sing in my glory. Arise, my glory, arise, psaltery and harp, I will arise early. Let us confess to You among the people, O Lord, I will sing to You among the nations, for Your mercy has been magnified to the heavens, and even to the clouds of Your truth. Ascend into Heaven, O God, and Thy glory be throughout all the earth.

Prayers for the proud and obstinate

Lord, teach Your servant, who has fallen into the pride of the devil, meekness and humility and remove from his heart the darkness and burden of satanic pride!

Prayer for pride

Venerable Sergius of Radonezh,

of all Rus' to the miracle worker

O sacred head, Reverend and God-bearing Father Sergius, by your prayer, and faith, and love, even for God, and the purity of your heart, you have established your soul on earth in the monastery of the Most Holy Trinity, and been granted angelic communion and the visitation of the Most Holy Theotokos, and the gift received miraculous grace, after your departure from earthly people, you drew closer to God, and partook of the Heavenly Powers, but also did not retreat from us with the spirit of your love and your honest power, like a vessel of grace full and overflowing, left to us! Having great boldness towards the All-Merciful Master, pray to save His servants, His grace existing in you, believing and flowing to you with love. Ask us from our Greatly Gifted God every gift that is beneficial to everyone, observance of the immaculate faith, strengthening of our cities, peace, and deliverance from famine and destruction, preservation from the invasion of foreigners, consolation for the afflicted, healing for the sick, restoration for the fallen, and for those who are led astray on the path of truth. and return of salvation, strengthening for those who strive, prosperity and blessing for those who do good in good deeds, education for infants, instruction for the young, admonition for the ignorant, intercession for orphans and widows, departing from this temporary life for the eternal, good preparation and guidance, for those who have departed a blessed rest, and all of us who help you through your prayers, on the day of the Last Judgment, the last portion will be delivered, and the right hand of the country will be partakers and hear the blessed voice of the Lord Christ: come, blessed of My Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Amen.

O sacred head, Reverend Father, Most Blessed Abvo Sergius the Great! Do not completely forget your poor, but remember us in your holy and auspicious prayers to God. Remember your flock, which you yourself shepherded, and do not forget to visit your children. Pray for us, holy father, for your spiritual children, as if you have boldness towards the Heavenly King, do not remain silent for us to the Lord and do not despise us, who honor you with faith and love. Remember us, unworthy of the Almighty Throne, and do not stop praying for us to Christ God, for you have been given the grace to pray for us. We do not think that you are dead, even though you have passed away from us in body, but even after death you remain alive. Do not retreat from us in spirit, keeping us from the arrows of the enemy, and all the charms of the demonic, and the snares of the devil, our good shepherd; Even though your relics are always visible before our eyes, your holy soul with the angelic hosts, with disembodied faces, with the Heavenly Powers, standing at the Throne of the Almighty, rejoices with dignity. Knowing that you are truly alive even after death, we fall down to you and we pray to you, to pray for us to the Almighty God for the benefit of our souls, and to ask for time for repentance, and for the unrestrained transition from earth to Heaven, the bitter ordeals of demons, air princes and be freed from eternal torment, and be an heir to the Kingdom of Heaven with all the righteous who have pleased our Lord Jesus Christ from all eternity. To Him belongs all glory, honor and worship, together with His Beginning Father, and with His Most Holy, and Good, and Life-Giving Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

O venerable and God-bearing Father Sergius! Look upon us (names) mercifully and, those who are devoted to the earth, lead us to the heights of heaven. Strengthen our cowardice and confirm us in faith, so that we undoubtedly hope to receive all the good things from the mercy of the Lord God through your prayers. By your intercession, ask for every gift that is useful to everyone and for everyone, and through your prayers that help us, grant us all, on the day of the Last Judgment, to be delivered from the last part, and the right hand of the country to be partakers of life and to hear the blessed voice of the Lord Christ: come, blessed of My Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world . Amen.

Reverend Alexy, man of God

O great servant of Christ, holy man of God Alexis, stand with your soul in heaven before the Throne of the Lord, and perform various miracles on earth given to you by grace from above! Look mercifully at the upcoming holy icon of your people, tenderly praying and asking for your help and intercession. Extend your most honest hand in prayer to the Lord God and ask us from Him for forgiveness of our sins, voluntary and involuntary, healing for those who suffer, intercession for those suffering, consolation for the grieving, ambulance for those in need, and for all who honor your peaceful and Christian death and a good answer at the Last Judgment Christ. To her, holy of God, do not disgrace our hope, which we place in you according to God and the Mother of God, but be our helper and protector for salvation, so that through your prayers we have received grace and mercy from the Lord, let us glorify the love of mankind of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, glorified in the Trinity and the God we worship, and your holy intercession, now and ever, and forever and ever. Amen.

O servant of Christ, holy man of God Alexy! Look mercifully upon us, servant of God (names), and stretch out your honorable hands in prayer to the Lord God, and ask us from Him for forgiveness of our voluntary and involuntary sins, a peaceful and Christian death and a good answer at the Last Judgment of Christ. To her, servant of God, do not disgrace our trust, which we place in you, according to God and the Mother of God; but be our helper and protector for salvation; that through your prayers we have received grace and mercy from the Lord, let us glorify the love of mankind of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit and your holy intercession, now and ever and unto ages of ages.

Prayer requests of St. Silouan of Athos in grief for insubordination and the gift of humility

Lord, give me Your humble spirit, so that I may not lose Your grace and not begin to weep for it, as Adam wept for paradise and God. Lord, You are Merciful; tell me what should I do to humble my soul? Lord, grant us the gift of Your holy humility. Lord, grant us your humble Holy Spirit, just as you came to save people and take them to heaven so that they may see your glory. Most Holy Mother of the Lord, ask, O Merciful One, for us a humble spirit. All Saints, you live in heaven and see the glory of the Lord, and your spirit rejoices - pray that we too may be with you.

How God punishes the sin of pride. Prayer for pride

Pride in Christianity is the most serious of the seven deadly sins, which entails all the others

Pride underlies or intersects with such vices as greed, envy and anger. For example, the desire for enrichment (Greed) is caused by the fact that a person wants to become not just rich, but richer than other people, he envies (Envy) because he does not allow the thought that someone lives better than him, he gets irritated and angry (Anger ), when another person does not recognize his superiority, etc.

What is pride? And pride, and pride, and vanity, we can add here - arrogance, arrogance, conceit - all these are different types of one basic phenomenon - “focus on oneself.” Pride is extreme self-confidence, with the rejection of everything that is not one’s own, a source of anger, cruelty and malice, a refusal of God’s help, a “demonic stronghold.” In any case, if it is difficult for a person to ask for forgiveness, if he is touchy and suspicious, if he remembers evil and condemns others, then these are all undoubtedly signs of pride.

We, people raised in Soviet times, were taught from childhood that pride is almost the main virtue of a Soviet person. Remember: “Man sounds proud”; “The Soviets have their own pride: they look down on the bourgeoisie.” And indeed, the basis of any rebellion is pride. Pride is the sin of Satan, the first passion that appeared in the world even before the creation of people. And the first revolutionary was Satan.

How does God punish the sin of pride?

Brother : I ask you, Reverend Father, tell me how God punishes the sin of pride?

Elder : Listen, brother John! To imagine how vile pride is before God and how He punishes it, it is enough to remember that only because of this sin Satan fell and was cast out of heaven with all his angels (see: Rev. 12: 8–9). And in order to understand how deep the abyss into which one possessed by disgusting pride falls, let us imagine from what glory and light Satan and the angels like-minded with him fell, into what disgrace they fell and to what torment they became guilty.

And so that you can imagine this even better, know, your brotherhood, that Satan, before his fall from the highest light and glory, was not some insignificant creation of God, but was one of the most beautiful, most radiant, most adorned and chosen creatures, the most close to God. As the Holy Scripture says, he was a shining star among the heavenly intelligent ranks. He was the son of the dawn of the evening and the heavenly Cherub, most beautiful, luminous and adorning his Creator, God.

Scripture writes about this symbolically, through the mouth of the prophet Ezekiel, who says to the king of Tyre: You were an anointed cherub to overshadow, and I appointed you to do so; you were on the holy mountain of God, you walked among the fiery stones(Ezek. 28:13–14). Likewise, the prophet Isaiah calls Satan a shining star and the son of the dawn (see: Is. 14: 12). Do you see, brother John, what glory the devil had, what beauty and splendor before he fell into a great fall?

So, Brother John, from these few testimonies of Divine Scripture, I think you understand how God punishes pride and what harm it causes to those who have it.

Brother : Indeed, Reverend Father, I understood this quite clearly, but I think that God appointed this punishment only for Satan and his angels, because they, like angels, could not sin as easily as we do. But I would ask you to tell me how God punishes pride in the human race?

Elder : Know, your brotherhood, that much should be said to answer this question. But to be brief and so that we can imagine how severely God punishes the pride of people, I will first cite the words of the Divine Scriptures, from which we see how God punished our ancestors Adam and Eve for the pride.

Brother : But what kind of pride could our ancestors Adam and Eve have had, Reverend Father? I know that they were punished by God not for pride, but for disobedience, because they transgressed the commandment of God and ate from the forbidden tree!

Elder : Know, your brotherhood, brother John, that our ancestors Adam and Eve also suffered from pride and were seduced before disobedience and transgression of the commandment, because the first sign of pride is neglect of obedience

This was also evident in our ancestors, when they disdained obedience to God and transgressed His sacred commandment. To test their obedience, God commanded them: You may eat from all the trees of paradise, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it you will surely die.(cf. Gen. 2: 16–17). The devil inspired them to eat from this tree, saying that not only would they not die, but they would also become like gods, knowing good and evil (see: Gen. 3:5). And they, having listened to the serpent, dared to transgress the commandment of God and eat from the forbidden tree, imagining that they themselves would become gods! That is why the divine father Maximus the Confessor says: “Just as the devil fell because of dreams, he did the same thing so that Adam and Eve would dream in their minds that they would become exactly like God, and so that because of this dream they would fall »

You see, therefore, Brother John, that only after our forefathers fell and imagined in their minds that they would become like God, only then did they disdain obedience to their Creator and transgress His commandment. So let's be clear about this.

And about how God punished their pride and transgression of the commandments, listen, brother John. First of all, they inherited a double death: the death of the body and the death of the soul, that is, the entry of their souls into hell. Secondly, they were expelled from God's paradise. Thirdly, the earth was cursed because of their sin. And fourthly, they were punished by God and their Creator so that they, through labor and the sweat of their brow, would obtain food for themselves on earth all the days of their lives. So that the earth would bear thorns for them, and in the end they should return to the earth from which they were created (see: Gen. 3: 18–19). He then gave Eve a double punishment: so that she would give birth to her children in pain and so that she would be attracted to her husband, that is, so that she would be subordinate to him at all times.

But the greatest punishment and penance for them was spiritual death, that is, to remain in hell and torment for 5508 years, that is, until the Coming of the Redeemer and the Resurrection of the New Adam from the dead, Christ.

Behold, brother John, how severe was God’s punishment for the human race for the sin of pride. Through the mistake of our forefathers Adam and Eve, the entire human race remained under penance until the Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who, with His immeasurable humility and His obedience to the death of the Cross, healed their pride and disobedience and removed the condemnation of death from the entire human race.

Let this be said only about the punishment for the sin of pride of our ancestors Adam and Eve, but if you want to know about the punishment for other people for this sin, then read the Holy Scriptures. There you will see how God punished the children of Israel (see: Deut. 1: 43–44), how He punished the pride of those who began to build the Tower of Babel (see: Gen. 11: 4–8), how He punished the pride of Nebuchadnezzar, the king Babylonian (see: Dan. 4: 22; 5: 20–23), and you will also learn about the punishment of King Manasseh (see: 2 Chron. 33: 11). And from many other places in the Holy Scriptures, Old and New, you will learn how much God hates proud people.

“FATHER, forgive my sins and my most important sin - my pride. She is the cause of my pain and the pain of other people, and therefore YOURS!

Its birth is hidden in time, but I am reaping its fruits now, for my pride is the cause of my judgment. Just as pride gives rise to judgment, so judgment gives rise to hatred. I understood why she was born. The reason is simple - I did not see YOU in my world.

I did not see YOU in the events of my life, in my loved ones, in the people around me, and I rose above YOU, allowing myself to judge YOU (in my mother, my father, my wife, my children, loved ones and just people around me. I judged YOU in all YOUR manifestations, the destinies of people and the destinies of nations, state laws and moral laws... etc.).

FORGIVE for dividing YOUR world, and therefore YOU, into good and evil, light and darkness. I realized now that it’s all YOU! And life itself is YOUR life. And YOU, as a caring FATHER, raise me - your child with great LOVE, and everything that happened in my life, IT WAS FROM YOU! And everything was for me!

THANK YOU, FATHER, for YOUR lessons. For all the events of my life, from small to large, are just lessons of LOVE - my daily bread, food for my thoughts. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU.

I bow before my enemies, for I have no enemies! How can you be my enemy? My enemy is my friend! This is a manifestation of YOUR LOVE! It was YOU who became this way for my sake, to make me think, for I am lazy, and the swamp of false prosperity and peace can suck me in, and YOU do not allow me to perish.

And therefore I THANK my enemies, for it is YOU and IT WAS FROM YOU! And I THANK my friends and loved ones, for this is YOUR shoulder, my support in my life.

I accept life as it is, because how can I not accept YOU, YOUR lessons. Everything that is is from YOU and for my good, and therefore I THANK YOU for the very opportunity to live and accept my path, no matter how difficult it may be.

I accept all the trials that were, are and will be in my life, because IT WAS from YOU and for me!

I THANK YOU for everything that was, is and will be in my life - for joy, for pain, for hatred and LOVE, for IT WAS from YOU and for me!

In any trials, I promise to be faithful to YOU. Which means LOVE!

I choose life - service, FATHER! For I know that I can serve YOU only with one thing - MY LOVE! And I know that it is born in the experience of life itself, in the pain and trials that you send us. But life without LOVE has no meaning. So they calcined my life to a diamond state, and if there is not enough wood in the smelting furnace, then here is my body to YOU, LORD.

Please accept my GRATITUDE for the life you have lived! Here is YOUR LOVE in my heart, I have kept it, FATHER! This is my LOVE in my heart, I have learned to LOVE! And only you, FATHER, know the measure of my LOVE!

Source - Konstantin Nikulin. A world of positivity.

How to recognize pride in yourself?

To the question: “How to recognize pride in yourself?” – Jacob, Archbishop of Nizhny Novgorod, writes the following:

If what is born in you first of all is not the thought of meekly correcting a mistake made by others, but displeasure and anger, then know that you are proud and deeply proud.

If even the slightest failures in your affairs sadden you and cause boredom and burden, etc. and the thought of God’s Providence participating in our affairs does not amuse you, then know that you are proud and deeply proud.

PS. In today's Russian language, the word pride has several meanings. For example, “I am proud of his action” means “I am happy or very approving of his action.” This post speaks exclusively about “pride” in its spiritual meaning, which existed mainly before 1917. In Dahl’s dictionary, there is the following definition: “Proud - Arrogant, arrogant, arrogant; pompous, arrogant; who puts himself above others." This kind of “pride” is the subject of this post.

Get rid of pride, because pride brings with it constant grievances and conflicts with loved ones; it does not allow problems to be solved productively and is a sign of egocentrism, which does not allow a person to move forward on the path of personal development.

How to get rid of pride? Start by reviewing your principles and beliefs, your “shoulds” and “musts” and try to replace them with “I want” and “it would be nice.” To discover these painful beliefs that give rise to pride, in the most ordinary life situations, look for the thought that makes you feel offended or irritated.

If you allow yourself to let go for a while of the control that prevents you from realizing this thought, if you want to be frank with yourself, you will definitely be able to find the core of your troubles. Do not condemn in your thoughts and words the people who, in your opinion, have committed immoral acts: after all, your point of view is not the only one and not the most correct one, it is simply different. Don't consider people as owing or owing something to you personally or to the world as a whole - they don't. Try to do good secretly, hidden from people. After all, doing good for the sake of letting someone know about it is not selfish: this is also the result of pride.

And success to you on this difficult path - the path of ridding yourself of pride!

What is the danger of pride for an Orthodox person? How is it different from pride? Will prayer help get rid of this condition? How does pride arise and develop? These questions are of interest to many, because in the modern world the pace of life is so high, and there are so many temptations, that people often do not notice how they are losing spirituality and starting to commit unrighteous acts.

What is pride?

Every believer needs a protective prayer from pride. Orthodoxy considers this condition one of the most dangerous for the soul. It is a grave sin. A person who indulges in pride does not simply admire himself or what he has done. He denies the Lord's involvement in his own life.

People who have fallen into this state experience absolute confidence that everything they possess and have achieved did not happen according to God’s will, but thanks to their own efforts. This sin, having originated in the human soul, grows and consumes it. There is no room left for gratitude, humility, patience, or attention to others.

How is it different from pride?

Pride is a different state, but it can become the first step towards sinfulness if it takes on exaggerated proportions. Every person is susceptible to both of these feelings, which is why prayer against pride and conceit is needed. Orthodoxy endows pride with a demonic principle and considers it a product of the devil. Pride is a natural feeling given from above. Distinguishing which of the states has taken possession of a person is not as difficult as it seems.

Pride carries a positive, not a destructive, principle. It manifests itself as spiritual strength, confidence and dignity. A person who experiences this feeling is endowed with respect both for himself and for others. He rejoices at the successes of others and grieves with them in their sorrows, that is, he is capable of empathy.

Pride manifests itself as hypertrophied selfishness. People who indulge in it exalt and delight themselves. They are completely incapable of being happy for others or sympathizing with them. Such people sincerely believe that they are the “center of the Universe” and everything around them exists only to satisfy their needs.

How to spot emerging pride?

A prayer for pride is read, regardless of its presence, because the danger of indulging in this sin always awaits a person. But, of course, if there is a tendency to such a state, prayer is especially necessary.

The first signs of approaching pride are:

  • arrogance and conceit;
  • painful touchiness;
  • selfishness and arrogance;
  • sarcasticity and cynicism;
  • vanity and ambition.

These are the very first “alarm bells” indicating that a person needs prayer for pride. After these feelings comes ignoring and ridiculing moral standards. A person loses the ability to forgive the actions of others and completely stops accepting criticism towards himself.

Who should I pray to?

There are quite a lot of saints in Orthodoxy to whom prayer can be addressed out of pride. They ask for relief from this condition and protection from it:

  • Saint Alexei.
  • John of Kronstadt.
  • Sergius of Radonezh and many others.

Of course, the most powerful prayer against pride and conceit, saving and protecting from these destructive feelings, is addressed to Jesus Christ.

How to pray to Jesus?

You can pray to the Lord both in the temple and outside the church walls. There are no restrictions on how one should turn to Him for help. This means that the prayer can be said in one’s own words, close and understandable to the one who turns to the Lord.

A prayer for humility, depriving of pride, cleansing the soul from sin, could be like this:

“Lord Jesus, Savior of human souls! Great passion-bearer and lamb, who gave himself up to be tortured for people! Do not leave me, slave (proper name) alone with temptations, help me overcome the demonic machinations. Accept my life, Lord, illuminate it and give my soul humility! Enlighten my mind and deliver it from evil thoughts. Lord, do not allow me, the slave (proper name), to fall into sin and doubt. Don’t let us forget that everything comes from You. And it returns to You. Forgive me, Lord, for my sins, involuntary and committed in a clouded mind. Protect my soul from the evil one and from all evil. Save and preserve my soul, Lord! Amen. »

Although there are no restrictions on where and when you can pray in Orthodoxy, you should ask for deliverance from the sin of pride in church. The church environment is conducive to prayer; it helps people tune in to the right mood, clear their thoughts of all unnecessary and vain things, and realize their sins and mistakes.

How to pray to the saints?

The prayer from pride with which saints are addressed is not a magical ritual or a magic spell. This is the daily spiritual work of a person, which requires sincere repentance, firm faith and a desire to change, to get rid of sin and the tendency towards it.

A prayer addressed to John of Kronstadt could be like this:

“Holy Father, patron, who cares for people’s worries and great helper, John! Help me, a slave (proper name), for I am sinful and weak. Teach how to pacify rage and anger, not fall into pride and find true, but not false, humility. Do not allow me, slave (proper name), to stray from the path given by the Lord. Help me find enlightenment and get rid of the demonic temptations sent by the evil one! Forgive me, Father, my sins and show me the way to redemption, have mercy on me and bless me. Amen. »

You can pray to Saint Alexei like this:

“Man of God, holy saint of the Lord, Alexey! Teach me humility and meekness, show me how to avoid anger and pride, guide and enlighten me on the path of life. Do not let me fall into sin and deliver me from temptation. Help me, Saint Alexey! Amen. »

A prayer addressed to Sergius of Radonezh may sound like this:

“Reverend mentor and saint of the Lord, Saint Sergius! Teach me to love my enemies and forgive my neighbors. Direct them to deeds pleasing to the Lord, do not allow them to do what came from the evil one. Help me cleanse my soul from worldly filth, allow me to know the will of God. Forgive my sins and bless me for good deeds. Amen. »

Prayer for vanity thoughts

Lord, do not let me dream of myself as being the best of any of the people, but think of myself as the worst of all and not condemn anyone, but judge myself strictly. Amen.

Out of pride

Prayer to the Holy Reverend Alexy,
man of God

Oh, great servant of Christ, holy man of God Alexis, your soul stands in Heaven before the Throne of the Lord, and on the earth given to you from above by grace, perform various miracles! Look mercifully at the people standing before your holy icon, tenderly praying and asking for your help and intercession. Stretch out your honest hand in prayer to the Lord God, and ask us from Him for forgiveness of our sins, voluntary and involuntary, healing for the afflicted, intercession for the afflicted, consolation for the grieving, ambulance for the needy, and for all who honor your peaceful and Christian death and a good answer to the Last Thing. Judgment of Christ. To her, servant of God, do not disgrace our hope, which we place in you according to God and the Mother of God, but be our helper and protector for salvation, so that through your prayers we have received grace and mercy from the Lord, let us glorify the love of mankind of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, glorified in the Trinity and the worshiped God, and your holy intercession, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.

Venerable Arseny the Great
They pray to him for the gift of humility

Oh, sacred head, earthly angel, heavenly man, silence to the zealot, silence to the lover, reverend and God-bearing Father Arseny! We fall down and pray: pray to the Lord God and our Savior Jesus Christ, that He may grant to us, His sinful and unworthy servants, all His good gifts for spiritual salvation: rightful faith, good hope, unfeigned love, unshakable piety, Christ-consistent wisdom, and all virtues commanded by Him in the Holy Gospel; May we be imitators of your godly life and, together with you, may we be worthy to receive eternal salvation and inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. Hey, servant of God! Do not despise us, but help us, through your heavenly intercession, to end our temporary life in a pious manner, to have a good, peaceful and shameless end, the acceptance and bliss of heaven, so that we may glorify the love of mankind and generosity in the Trinity of the glorified and worshiped God, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and yours holy intercession, forever and ever. Amen.

Prayer in the despair of beings

Master, Lord of heaven and earth, King of the ages! Deign to open the door of repentance for me, for in pain of heart I pray to You, the True God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Light of the world. Look upon many with Your compassion and accept my prayer; do not turn him away, but forgive me, who have fallen into many sins. Incline Your ear to my prayer and forgive me all the evil that I have done, defeated by my will. For I seek peace and do not find it, because my conscience does not forgive me. I am waiting for peace, but there is no peace in me because of the deep multitude of my iniquities. Hear, Lord, my heart crying out to You, do not look at my evil deeds, but look at the illness of my soul and hasten to heal me, who is cruelly wounded. Give me time to repent for the sake of the grace of Thy love for mankind, and deliver me from dishonest deeds, and do not measure me according to Thy righteousness, and do not reward me with what is worthy of my deeds, so that I do not perish completely. Hear, O Lord, me, who am in despair; for I, deprived of any readiness and any thought to correct myself, fall before Your compassions: have mercy on me, cast down to the ground and condemned for my sins. Call me, Master, captive and held by my evil deeds and bound, as it were, with chains. For You alone know how to resolve prisoners, heal wounds unknown to anyone, which only You know, who know the secret, and therefore in all my evil illnesses I call only You - the Physician of all those who suffer, the Door of those who weep outside, the Path of the lost, the Light of the darkened, the Redeemer of the prisoners, always cutting the right hand

His own and holding back His anger, prepared for sinners, but for the sake of great love for mankind, giving time for repentance. Shine upon me the light of Your face, O Master, who has fallen sorely, quick in mercy and slow in punishment. And by Your compassion, stretch out your hand to me and raise me from the pit of my iniquities. For You are our only God, who does not rejoice at the destruction of sinners and does not turn away Your face from those who pray to You with tears. Hear, O Lord, the voice of Your servant crying out to You, and show Your light on me, deprived of light, and grant me grace, so that I, who have no hope, always hope for Your help and power. Turn my cry, O Lord, into joy for me, tear apart the sackcloth and gird me with joy. And deign that I may rest from my evening affairs, and may I enjoy my morning rest, like Thy chosen ones, O Lord, from whom sickness, sorrow and sighing have fled, and may the door of Thy Kingdom be opened to me, so that I may enter with those who enjoy the light of Thy face, O Lord, that I may receive eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

Prayer for the Conversion of the Lost

Lord Jesus Christ, our God! Accept from us, Your unworthy servants, this earnest prayer and, having forgiven us all our sins, remember all our enemies who hate and offend us, and do not reward them according to their deeds, but according to Your great mercy, convert them: the unfaithful to orthodoxy and piety , the faithful should avoid evil and do good. By Your omnipotent strength, graciously deliver us all and Your Holy Church from all evil. Our Fatherland from the fierce atheists and liberate their authorities. But Your faithful servants, who cry out to You day and night in grief and sorrow, hear the much-painful cry, O Our Much-Merciful God, and bring their life out of incorruption. Grant peace and silence, love and affirmation and speedy reconciliation to Your people, You have redeemed them with Your honest Blood. But even to those who have departed from You and those who do not seek You, be revealed, so that not a single one of them will perish, but all of them will be saved and come to the mind of truth, so that all of them, in unanimity and in unceasing love, will glorify Your Most Honorable Name, patiently, kindly Lord, in forever and ever. Amen.

How to Pray for Those Who Offend Us

The soul cannot have peace unless it prays for its enemies. The soul, taught to pray from the grace of God, loves and pities every creature, and especially man, for whom the Lord suffered on the cross and his soul ached for all of us.

The Lord taught me to love my enemies. Without the grace of God we cannot love our enemies, but the Holy Spirit teaches love, and then we will feel sorry even for the demons: we have lost humility and love for God.

I beg you, try it. Whoever insults you or dishonors you, or takes away what is yours, or persecutes the Church, then pray to the Lord, saying:

“Lord, we are all Your creation; have pity on Your servants and turn them to repentance,” and then you will tangibly carry grace in your soul. First, force your heart to love your enemies, and the Lord, seeing your good desire, will help you in everything, and experience itself will show you. But whoever thinks evil about his enemies does not have the love of God, and he does not know God.

If you pray for your enemies, peace will come to you; and when you love your enemies, then know that the grace of God lives in you, great, but not yet perfect, but sufficient for salvation. And if you revile your enemies, it means that an evil spirit lives in you and brings evil thoughts into your heart, for, as the Lord said, evil or good thoughts come from the heart.

A good person thinks: everyone who strays from the truth perishes, and therefore one feels sorry for him. And whoever has not been taught love by the Holy Spirit will, of course, not pray for his enemies. He who is taught love from the Holy Spirit grieves all his life for people who are not saved, and sheds many tears for the people, and the grace of God gives him the strength to love his enemies.

If you do not have love, then at least do not revile or curse them; and this will be better; and if someone curses and scolds, an evil spirit clearly lives in him, and if he does not repent, then after death he will go to where the evil spirits reside. May the Lord deliver every soul from such trouble.

Understand. It's that simple. I feel sorry for those people who do not know God or go against God; the heart aches for them, and tears flow from the eyes. We clearly see both heaven and torment: we know it through the Holy Spirit. So the Lord said: The Kingdom of God is within you(Luke 17:21). So from here eternal life begins; and eternal torment begins from here.

Also, your faith can be greatly strengthened by stories of people who received answers to their prayers. After reading at least one story, your faith will be strengthened, and your prayer will be completely different. You will find stories of people in this section:

Prayer against pride

Oh, my God and my Father, I turn to You in prayer and ask, in the name of Jesus Christ, help me get rid of pride. You know, my God, how sometimes pride creeps into the heart and blinds a person so much that even obvious things become difficult to accept. Lord, I know that pride does not come from you, and I do not want to be proud and blind.

Lord, before the devil was proud, because of this he rebelled against God and was expelled to earth. Lord, remove pride from me, I do not want to be ashamed before You, for in Your Word it is written:

“When pride comes, so does shame; but with the humble comes wisdom” (Prov. 11:2).

Lord, You know how people, having achieved something in life, easily fall into pride, they think that it is their merit and begin to look at others arrogantly. Lord, deliver me from this. I am nobody and nothing before You. By your grace I live on this earth, You are the Master of my life, You give me the opportunity to live and work for Your glory. Lord, help me remember this and never elevate myself above others, but, on the contrary, consider others higher than myself.

In the name of Jesus Christ, I bind all pride and command you, get out of me! From today I will forget what it is, and pride will never touch my heart. I don't want to die because of her:

“Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall” (Prov. 16:18)

In the name of Jesus Christ, I completely renounce all pride and refuse to think that I am doing anything myself. You do all this, Lord, I am nobody, I am just an instrument in Your hands.

And by Your mercy, I cope with this or that task that You give me. I declare I am immune to this pride.

In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen!

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