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 2:3-6 (NIV)
3 indeed, if you call out for insight
and cry aloud for understanding,
4 and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure,
5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord
and find the knowledge of God.
6 For the Lord gives wisdom;
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
God is the source of all wisdom; wisdom comes from Him alone. But when you read the verse above, it looks kind of different. Look at what the writer says you’re to do: call out, cry aloud, look for it, search for it. So, what gives?
Wisdom’s starting point is God. Period. Wisdom is revealed in His written Word to us. And best of all, His power and wisdom are made available for all through Jesus (see 1 Corinthians 1:18-24). Wisdom is God’s gift to us and the result of diligent searching. It’s by His grace, through faith, that we receive it. Yet this verse reveals the tension and reminds me of a Dallas Willard quote: “Grace is not opposed to effort, it is opposed to earning. Earning is an attitude. Effort is an action.”
To walk the path of wisdom is going to take work—it’s hard! But the truth is, there’s no other path that leads to life. If we’re going to discover truth and wisdom, we’ve got to do the hard work required. We’re not earning the right to walk in wisdom; we’re putting in the effort required.
Respond:
Determine to stay the course today—walk wisdom’s path! I pray that you’d let Paul’s words from 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 motivate you: “Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.” (NLT)
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 16:2
All a person’s ways seem pure to them, but motives are weighed by the Lord.