As life unfolds itself to man, the first lesson he learns is humility.

Every moment of our life, if we can see wisely, contains some fault or error, and asking pardon is just like purifying the heart and washing it white. Only think of the joy of humbling yourself before God! ... humbling yourself before that Spirit, that Ideal, who is the true Father and Mother, on Whose love you can always depend -- it is a spark of His love which expresses itself in the earthly father and mother -- and in whatever manner you humble yourself before Him, it can never be enough. To humble your limited self before His Perfection, that is to deny yourself. Self denial is not renouncing things, it is denying the self, and its first lesson is humility.
This is self-denial: that a man says, 'I am not, Thou art;' or that an artist looking at his picture, says, 'It is Thy work, not mine;' or that a musician, hearing his composition, says, 'It is Thy creation, I do not exist.' That soul then is in a way crucified, and through that crucifixion resurrection comes. There is not the slightest doubt that when man has had enough pain in his life he rises to this great consciousness. But it is not necessary that only pain should be the means. It is the readiness on the part of man to efface his part of consciousness and to efface his own personality, which lifts the veil that hides the spirit of God from the view of man.
As life unfolds itself to man the first lesson it teaches is humility; the first thing that comes to man's vision is his own limitedness. The vaster God appears to him, the smaller he finds himself. This goes on and on until the moment comes when he loses himself in the vision of God.

~~~ "Religious Gatheka 8, Prayer", by Hazrat Inayat Khan (unpublished)