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 2:2
2 Tune your ears to wisdom,
and concentrate on understanding. (NLT)
“Tune your ears” and “concentrate” describe the necessary actions on the part of the reader.
If the reader is to gain wisdom and understanding, then it’s going to take focused meditation and a rigid discipline over an extended period. When you think about the thought of focused meditation and rigid discipline, does the idea make you want to throw your hands up and quit? I hope not!
To become skilled at something takes work. Think of your job or a hobby—most of us want to become better at these, and so we put work into developing our skill sets so we will become better. The same is true when it comes to our walk with Christ. Remember, we live single-story lives in which the holy and day-to-day things we do coexist simultaneously. We can and should be willing to put the work into becoming skilled in all areas of our lives, including our spiritual lives. And the way we grow in wisdom and understanding is by turning our ears and applying our hearts.
Think of a piano tuner. We use one here at the church. You will hear him hitting each key over and over as he works to get the note just right. He’s done this for years; he’s trained his ear to distinguish each note. With each stroke of the key, he applies tension to the string until the note plays perfectly. Then he moves on to the next string, repeating the process. He didn’t learn to distinguish these notes overnight; he learned them over many years of practice, and now it’s become like second nature to him. He hears the notes and knows when one is off or spot-on.
Wisdom calls each one of us to become skilled, just like the piano tuner who is skilled at distinguishing notes. Many times, Jesus would finish his statements by saying, “He who has ears, let him hear.” It’s like Jesus is telling us, “this is the right wisdom note, listen to it!” Like the great teacher He is, He doesn’t want us to miss the note. He wants to make sure that we’re leaning forward and paying attention. His words should cause us to evaluate what we’re doing and ask ourselves, “Am I striking the same note Jesus is telling me to listen to?” If not, then I need to apply tension to my heart until the note is played right.
Respond:
Choose today to grow in wisdom. Yes, it’s going to take time and effort, but it is well worth the price you’ll have to pay to get it. Decide today to tune your ear to wisdom and apply your concentration on understanding. Ask God to help you have ears to hear 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 23:12
Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to words of knowledge.