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 2
Reflect:
Proverbs 2:16-17
16 Wisdom will save you also from the adulterous woman,
from the wayward woman with her seductive words,
17 who has left the partner of her youth
and ignored the covenant she made before God.
Wisdom protects us from being seduced by the ways of the world. We live in a time when sexual morals have loosened. Things like marriage, gender, and sexuality have been turned upside down. It’s as though anything goes. Physical and psychological pleasure trumps everything. Pleasure at any cost is the goal. In the end, all that has been pursued in the sexual revolution has only led to brokenness. And rather than thinking there might be something wrong with this whole idea of sexual freedom, there seems to be a doubling down on the idea! Don’t buy into this idea. It only leads to brokenness and, in the end, death.
Pleasure has become the dominant idol, and the world worships at its feet. Here it manifests itself as the adulterous woman. Her words are seductive, playing on our emotions, trying to pull us away with her smooth talk. Not only does she work within our thoughts, but she works through our eyes as well. Pornography is only a click away and, once opened, an individual is flooded with images designed to capture the mind and lead us down the path of the adulterous woman: a way that leads to death!
But we as Christ-followers can praise God for wisdom—the wisdom that God has freely given to those who choose to walk in its ways. Wisdom serves as a shield and a guard to deliver us from life’s temptations. God’s gift of wisdom allows us to walk in the ways of the good and keep to the paths of the righteous. His boundaries are life-giving! What a wonderful gift God has given to us!
Respond:
Will you walk on the path of wisdom? Choose today not to let the adulterous woman’s seduction capture you. Instead, be captured by Christ’s love for you; soak in it today.
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:
Proverbs 31:30
Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.