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 6
Reflect:
Proverbs 6:1-5
1 My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor,
if you have shaken hands in pledge for a stranger,
2 you have been trapped by what you said,
ensnared by the words of your mouth.
3 So do this, my son, to free yourself,
since you have fallen into your neighbor’s hands:
Go—to the point of exhaustion—
and give your neighbor no rest!
4 Allow no sleep to your eyes,
no slumber to your eyelids.
5 Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,
like a bird from the snare of the fowler.
The Bible certainly does not forbid loaning or borrowing money. Yet, it clearly warns us that we should pay our debts, not burden others with high-interest loans, and be careful when loaning money because you could lose everything if the loan goes bad. There is a lot to unpack in these verses but, for brevity’s sake, let me sum them up like this: be careful about going into debt! Whether you’re loaning or borrowing, debt can cause you all kinds of trouble.
Debt can enslave us; it can weigh us down. Think about it. We’re making commitments about the future when, in reality, we really have no idea what will happen in the future. There’s an Assyrian sage named Ahiqar who wrote about the weight of debt and he put it like this, “I have hauled sand, and carried salt, but nothing is heavier than debt.”
The wise thing for us to do when it comes to debt is to try and have as little as possible. We should be prepared to work hard to pay off our debts. In fact, as believers, we have an obligation to pay our debts. I want to be really clear in what I’m saying. I am not saying that all debt is bad, including having a mortgage or buying a car. But when we enter into these types of loans, know this: we have an obligation to pay them in full.
Yet there is a debt we will always have and never pay off—it’s the obligation to love one another! (see Romans 13:8) Paul tells us that the debt of love is to remain outstanding always. It’s a debt we can never repay. We only begin to repay this debt when we show the same kind of love that Christ showed us and so graciously pours out on us.
Respond:
Think about the grace Jesus has poured out on you. Thank Him for His goodness and kindness towards you. Now commit to showing that same love to those around you.
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 26:27
Whoever digs a pit will fall into it; if someone rolls a stone, it will roll back on them.