Proverbs Devotional 10.14.20

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 14

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 14 (The Message)
Lady Wis­dom builds a lovely home;
Sir Fool comes along and tears it down brick by brick.

² An hon­est life shows re­spect for God;
a de­gen­er­ate life is a slap in his face.

³ Friv­o­lous talk pro­vokes a de­ri­sive smile;
wise speech evokes noth­ing but re­spect.

⁴ No cat­tle, no crops;
a good har­vest re­quires a strong ox for the plow.

⁵ A true wit­ness never lies;
a false wit­ness makes a busi­ness of it.

⁶ Cyn­ics look high and low for wis­dom—and never find it;
the open-minded find it right on their doorstep!

⁷ Es­cape quickly from the com­pany of fools;
they’re a waste of your time, a waste of your words.

⁸ The wis­dom of the wise keeps life on track;
the fool­ish­ness of fools lands them in the ditch.

⁹ The stu­pid ridicule right and wrong,
but a moral life is a fa­vored life.

¹⁰ The per­son who shuns the bit­ter mo­ments of friends
will be an out­sider at their cel­e­bra­tions.

¹¹ Lives of care­less wrong­do­ing are tum­ble­down shacks;
holy liv­ing builds soar­ing cathe­drals.

^12-13 There’s a way of life that looks harm­less enough;
look again—it leads straight to hell.
Sure, those peo­ple ap­pear to be hav­ing a good time,
but all that laugh­ter will end in heart­break. 

Sift and Weigh Every Word
¹⁴ A mean per­son gets paid back in mean­ness,
a gra­cious per­son in grace.

¹⁵ The gullible be­lieve any­thing they’re told;
the pru­dent sift and weigh every word.

¹⁶ The wise watch their steps and avoid evil;
fools are head­strong and reck­less.

¹⁷ The hot­headed do things they’ll later re­gret;
the cold­hearted get the cold shoul­der.

¹⁸ Fool­ish dream­ers live in a world of il­lu­sion;
wise re­al­ists plant their feet on the ground.

¹⁹ Even­tu­ally, evil will pay trib­ute to good;
the wicked will re­spect God-loyal peo­ple.

²⁰ An un­lucky loser is shunned by all,
but every­one loves a win­ner.

²¹ It’s crim­i­nal to ig­nore a neigh­bor in need,
but com­pas­sion for the poor—what a bless­ing!

²² Isn’t it ob­vi­ous that con­spir­a­tors lose out,
while the thought­ful win love and trust?

²³ Hard work al­ways pays off;
mere talk puts no bread on the table.

²⁴ The wise ac­cu­mu­late wis­dom;
fools get stu­pider by the day.

²⁵ Souls are saved by truth­ful wit­ness
and be­trayed by the spread of lies.

²⁶ The Fear-of-God builds up con­fi­dence,
and makes a world safe for your chil­dren.

²⁷ The Fear-of-God is a spring of liv­ing water
so you won’t go off drink­ing from poi­soned wells.

²⁸ The mark of a good leader is loyal fol­low­ers;
lead­er­ship is noth­ing with­out a fol­low­ing.

²⁹ Slow­ness to anger makes for deep un­der­stand­ing;
a quick-tem­pered per­son stock­piles stu­pid­ity.

³⁰ A sound mind makes for a ro­bust body,
but run­away emo­tions cor­rode the bones.

³¹ You in­sult your Maker when you ex­ploit the pow­er­less;
when you’re kind to the poor, you honor God.

³² The evil of bad peo­ple leaves them out in the cold;
the in­tegrity of good peo­ple cre­ates a safe place for liv­ing.

³³ Lady Wis­dom is at home in an un­der­stand­ing heart—
fools never even get to say hello.

³⁴ God-de­vo­tion makes a coun­try strong;
God-avoid­ance leaves peo­ple weak.

³⁵ Dili­gent work gets a warm com­men­da­tion;
shift­less work earns an angry re­buke.

Respond:

Father, thank You for the salvation we find in Christ Jesus! In Christ is found all wisdom and knowledge. Thank You for the wisdom found in the book of Proverbs. I’m grateful for the many principles and precepts found in Your word. I pray today that You will help me to apply Your wisdom to my life. I pray that I will continue to trust You in all things and not do anything according to my own limited understanding. I want to honor You with all that I do in my life, so give me discernment, keep me from being a fool, empower me to walk the path of wisdom. Please guide my steps. In Jesus’ name, I pray. 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 27:1