What is meant by being 'poor in spirit?' or 'humble in spirit?'
'Poor in spirit' is the opposite of arrogance, dominance, forceful, egotistical haughtiness, self-centered self-sufficiency that thinks we have no need for God and treats God as irrelevant.
Poor in spirit means we understand a profound truth about ourselves - that we rely on God for our life, our being, our very existence, consciousness, - even continued existence into the heavenly.
To truly experience spiritual poverty, we must come before God humble enough to accept God's guidance, acknowledging our spiritual smallness before God and casting our being on God's great grace, knowing our insignificance, and relying always on God, placing our trust completely on God.