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 10
Reflect:
Proverbs 10:14
14The wise store up knowledge,
but the mouth of the fool hastens destruction.
Look at the contrast between the wise and the fool; it couldn’t be starker. The wise store up knowledge, while the fool hastens destruction. They are both moving apart from each other—one moving towards life, the other towards death.
If you treasure something, you guard it, you use it when needed, you understand the value of it, so you want to make sure you spend it wisely. In other words, you store it up for when the time arises. Not so with the fool! The mouth of a fool—or a dope—is imminent ruin! The NLT says, “The babbling of a fool invites disaster.” Babbling has that sense of free-flowing, like a babbling creek. Only, this “babbling” of the fool is rancid water, unpleasant and stale. Bottom line: the mouth of the fool is offensive, nasty, and disagreeable — it’s no good; it only destroys.
We must do our best to think rationally when given opportunities to speak to a particular situation. We don’t need to go around spouting off our opinions; that’s what the fool does. To have the opportunity to speak into someone’s life is a gift, and one that we don’t want to squander. James tells us that we all stumble in many ways, and it’s the tongue that seems to trip us up the most. It’s interesting how something so small can cause a situation to explode if we don’t do our best to tame the tongue. (See James 3)
Response:
“And never let ugly or hateful words come from your mouth, but instead let your words become beautiful gifts that encourage others; do this by speaking words of grace to help them (Ephesians 4:29 TPT). Meditate on this verse today. Determine to use your words wisely today. We should make it our goal to act in love towards those around us, just as God acted in love towards us by sending Jesus to die for our sins.
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 9:10
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.