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In the tradition of Catholic spiritual theology, the central principle surrounds the omnipotence of God.Â
Fr. Lorenzo Scupoli, author of the Spiritual Combat, states a two-fold principle that is foundational to one's spiritual life, i.e., knowledge of God's Greatness and knowledge of our own nothingness. "You clearly and distinctly see, then, from what I have said, that the essence of the spiritual life does not lie in any of those things to which I have alluded. It consists in nothing else but the knowledge of the Divine Goodness and Greatness, of our own nothingness, and proneness to all evil; in the love of God and the hatred of self; in entire subjection not only to God Himself, but for the love of Him, to all creatures; in giving up our own will, and in completely resigning ourselves to the Divine Pleasure; moreover, in willing and doing all this with no other wish or aim than the glory and honour of God, the fulfilment of His Will because it is His Will, and because He deserves to be served and loved."
From this, we are bound to continually supplicate God, with whom nothing is impossible. Any sort of self-reliance gets stripped from us by the frequent failures that the prideful are subjected to, "Pride goeth before destruction, And an haughty spirit before a fall." (Prov. 16:18)