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 4
Reflect:
Proverbs 4:1
1Listen, my sons, to a father’s instruction;
pay attention and gain understanding.
Here’s how The Message states verse 1: “Listen, friends, to some fatherly advice; sit up and take notice so you’ll know how to live. I’m giving you good counsel; don’t let it go in one ear and out the other.” The NLT states the second line like this: “Pay attention and learn good judgment.” When you look at the verse in three different translations, you get a better feel for the father’s passion. Listen. Pay attention. Sit up. Take notice. Learn good judgment. I’ve raised two boys, and I’ve said those very words to my sons!
The father sees the value of discernment and is pleading with his son to let it enter his heart. If the son does, chances are he’ll grow wise and gain understanding. Discernment, the ability to judge rightly, is essential to one’s growth in wisdom. That’s why he wants his son to get it down deep within his heart.
Further down in this proverb, it says, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” We talked about this verse back in May, and how we needed to place a guard on our heart. Well, discernment is one thing that has the proper clearance to enter. It’s something we want to let nest in our heads!
So how do we do it? How do we live and grow in discernment? Here are three ways:
Through prayer: “And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ. (Philippians 1:9-10 ESV)
Through training: “But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.” (Hebrews 5:14 ESV)
Through God’s Word: “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12 ESV)
Respond:
Make it your goal to never stop growing in discernment. Commit to praying, training, and reading God’s word daily.
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.