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 14
Reflect:
Proverbs 14:7
7 Stay away from a foolish person;
you will gain no knowledge from his speech.
Wisdom is not only the ability to listen but also the ability to discern who or what to listen to and what to receive or reject! (Akin)
A fool has nothing to offer, and so there’s really no point in developing a close relationship with a fool. Remember, you’re not going to find wisdom on the lips of a fool.
The vice in our proverb is foolishness. What’s valued is good advice. The virtue is discernment. Discernment is a beautiful thing, but we have to be careful with it and make sure that we don’t write people off because they offer a differing opinion that doesn’t align with ours. We don’t want to close our minds to good counsel. However, we do want to be wise.
A good rule of thumb when it comes to discernment is this: Make sure the counsel given is consistent with the Bible. If you do this, you can be reasonably confident that you probably need to listen and consider the advice given. Advice that is contrary to God’s word is a recipe for disaster. It’s foolishness, and we need to stay as far away from that as possible, even if it means that we don’t have relationships with certain individuals.
Two things are crucial for discernment: Jesus and His body—the church. If we’re going to walk in wisdom, we need to have a relationship with Christ and listen to His Words. but we also need brothers and sisters in our lives who can call us out and tell us the truth in love. (Eph 4:15)
Respond:
Ponder the following questions today concerning the voices you’re listening to: Who’s counsel are you looking to, and why? Does their counsel line up with scripture? What role does Jesus, and the body of Christ play in your decisions? How does not listening to good counsel reveal a lack of faith in the Gospel? Is there anything that needs to change?
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 12:11
Those who work their land will have abundant food, but those who chase fantasies have no sense.