I. Prayer to enter the Lord’s presence:
Be still for a moment. “Lord, I give the day that is now past to you. It is yours. I give the day that is to come to you; help me to see where you are working and to join you there. Speak to me during these moments. I commit them and myself to you.”
II. Prayer of Confession:
“Lord, you are faithful to forgive me and cleanse me of my sin when I confess it to you. I confess my sin(s) of ______________. Thank you for forgiveness.” (1 John 1:9)
III. Prayer of Thanksgiving:
Choose to be thankful, speak out loud of what God has done.
“Thank you, Father, for _________________. Fill my heart and my mouth with gratitude throughout this day.”
IV. Scripture Reflection
Read: Proverbs Chapter 27
Reflect:
Proverbs 27:6
6 Wounds from a friend can be trusted,
but an enemy multiplies kisses.
Wounds from a friend—it sounds counter-intuitive. Why would you want to be wounded by a friend? How much better it would be to receive praises—kisses—from a friend. Yet here in this proverb, the kisses come from an enemy. So what gives?
The idea here is that a true friend—a faithful friend—is one that is willing to speak truth to you, even if that truth comes in the form of a rebuke. The enemy is one who lavishes all kinds of praise on you but doesn’t really care about you. He uses flattery to get on your good side, but in the end, he doesn’t care about you. He may appear to be a friend, but he is far from it! Real friends—the kinds that can be trusted—understand that speaking the truth is always better, even though it may hurt. Why? Because it comes from a heart of love—a genuine desire for the very best for a person.
Think about a dear friend, a heart buddy. Who comes to mind? Now imagine observing them for a while and noticing that they have a tendency to do something that is not good for them. Would you tell them? If your answer is no, then why? It’s an excellent question for us to ask. Most people are not willing to be that honest with others about what they see. I guess sometimes they’re afraid their friend will be angry with them and not want to be their friend anymore. Maybe that’s true. There is always a chance our friends will get mad at what they hear, but isn’t it worth the risk? If we really want the very best for them, wouldn’t we want them to know? What if it were you? You’re the one walking down the wrong path, wouldn’t you want someone to speak truth to you, even if the rebuke stings? Sure you would! To do nothing could lead to your friends rejecting the path of wisdom and turning and following after folly’s lies. It’d be terrible for you not to do anything. Rebukes can serve as life-giving tools. A true friend will take the risk of speaking truth to you, no matter how painful, because you are worth the risk!
Respond:
In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul encourages us to put off falsehoods and speak the truth to each other (Eph. 4:25). Will you heed his call? We all may like to hear people praise us, but the truth is always better.
V. Prayer for others:
Pray specifically for the concerns of your life and the lives of others.
VI. Prayer of commitment:
“Lord God, I commit to love you with all my heart and with all my soul and with all my strength and with all my mind and to love my neighbor as myself. Empower me today to love you and others with everything that I am.” (Luke 10:27)
This Week’s Scripture Memory:
Wisdom calls aloud in the street, she raises her voice in the public squares; at the head of the noisy streets she cries out, in the gateways of the city she makes her speech: “How long will you simple ones love your simple ways? How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge?