Proverbs Devotional 10.9.20

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 9

Reflect:

For October, I’d like you to simply read slowly through the entire proverb each day. Think about the verses that have stood out to you over this year, the things God has spoken to you about, and the wisdom that was revealed to you. Use this time as a summary review of our time together over the last nine months.

As you read the Proverbs, you’ll notice that they are comprised of different translations. My hope is that doing this will help you to read Proverbs afresh. Following the reading is a short prayer that sums up the proverb. God Bless! 

Proverbs 9 (The Passion Translation)
Wis­dom’s Feast
¹ Wis­dom has built her­self a palace
upon seven pil­lars to keep it se­cure.
² She has made ready a ban­quet feast
and the sac­ri­fice has been killed.
She has min­gled her wine, and the table’s all set.
³ She has sent out her maid­ens, cry­ing out from the high place,
invit­ing every­one to come and eat until they’re full.
⁴ “Who­ever wants to know me and re­ceive my wis­dom,
⁵ come and dine at my table and drink of my wine.
⁶ Lay aside your sim­ple thoughts and leave your paths be­hind.
Agree with my ways, live in my truth,
and right­eous­ness you will find.”
⁷ If you try to cor­rect an ar­ro­gant cynic,
ex­pect an angry in­sult in re­turn.
And if you try to con­front an evil man,
don’t be sur­prised if all you get is a slap in the face!
⁸ So don’t even bother to cor­rect a mocker,
for he’ll only hate you for it.
But go ahead and cor­rect the wise;
they’ll love you even more.
⁹ Teach a wise man what is right
and he’ll grow even wiser.
In­struct the lovers of God
and they’ll learn even more.
¹⁰ The start­ing point for ac­quir­ing wis­dom
is to be con­sumed with awe as you wor­ship Je­ho­vah-God.
To re­ceive the rev­e­la­tion of the Holy One,
you must come to the one who has liv­ing-un­der­stand­ing.
¹¹ Wis­dom will ex­tend your life,
mak­ing every year more fruit­ful than the one be­fore.
¹² So it is to your ad­van­tage to be wise.
But to ig­nore the coun­sel of wis­dom
is to in­vite trou­ble into your life. 

A Spirit Named Fool­ish
¹³ There is a spirit named Fool­ish,
who is bois­ter­ous and brash;
she’s se­duc­tive and rest­less.
¹⁴ And there she sits at the gate­way to the high places,
on her throne over­look­ing the city.
¹⁵ She preaches to all who walk by her
who are clue­less as to what is hap­pen­ing:
¹⁶ “Come home with me.”
She in­vites those who are eas­ily led astray, say­ing,
¹⁷ “Il­licit sex is the best sex of all.
Our se­cret af­fair will be sweeter than all oth­ers.”
¹⁸ Lit­tle do they know when they an­swer her call
that she dwells among the spir­its of the dead,
and all her guests soon be­come cit­i­zens of hell!

Respond:  

Father, I thank you for clearly distinguishing the differences between wisdom in folly in this proverb. Give me eyes to see and learn all wisdom has to teach me. Holy Spirit, help me pay attention to wisdom’s advice; I want to die at wisdom’s table–at Your table! Teach me to be self-disciplined so I can experience the joy of Your blessings. Amen.

 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 24:10