Proverbs Devotional 10.15.20

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 15

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 15 (Contemporary English Version)

A kind an­swer soothes angry feel­ings,
but harsh words stir them up.
² Words of wis­dom come from the wise,
but fools speak fool­ish­ness.

³ The Lord sees every­thing, whether good or bad.
⁴ Kind words are good med­i­cine,
but de­ceit­ful words can re­ally hurt.
⁵ Don’t be a fool and dis­obey your par­ents.
Be smart! Ac­cept cor­rec­tion.
⁶ Good peo­ple be­come wealthy,
but those who are evil will lose what they have.
⁷ Words of wis­dom make good sense;
the thoughts of a fool make no sense at all.

⁸ The Lord is dis­gusted by gifts from the wicked,
but it makes him happy when his peo­ple pray.
⁹ The Lord is dis­gusted with all who do wrong,
but he loves every­one who does right.
¹⁰ If you turn from the right way, you will be pun­ished;
if you refuse cor­rec­tion, you will die.

¹¹ If the Lord can see every­thing in the world of the dead,
he can see in our hearts.
¹² Those who sneer at oth­ers don’t like to be cor­rected,
and they won’t ask help from some­one with sense.
¹³ Hap­pi­ness makes you smile; sor­row can crush you.
¹⁴ Any­one with good sense is eager to learn more,
but fools are hun­gry for fool­ish­ness.

¹⁵ The poor have a hard life,
but being con­tent is as good as an end­less feast.
¹⁶ It’s bet­ter to obey the Lord and have only a lit­tle,
than to be very rich and ter­ri­bly con­fused.
¹⁷ A sim­ple meal with love is bet­ter than a feast where there is ha­tred.

¹⁸ Los­ing your tem­per causes a lot of trou­ble,
but stay­ing calm set­tles ar­gu­ments.
¹⁹ Being lazy is like walk­ing in a thorn patch,
but every­one who does right walks on a smooth road.
²⁰ Chil­dren with good sense make their par­ents happy,
but fool­ish chil­dren are hate­ful to them.
²¹ Stu­pid­ity brings hap­pi­ness to sense­less fools,
but every­one with good sense fol­lows the straight path.

²² With­out good ad­vice every­thing goes wrong—
it takes care­ful plan­ning for things to go right.
²³ Giv­ing the right an­swer at the right time makes every­one happy.
²⁴ All who are wise fol­low a road that leads up­ward to life and away from death.

²⁵ The Lord de­stroys the homes of those who are proud,
but he pro­tects the prop­erty of wid­ows.
²⁶ The Lord hates evil thoughts, but kind words please him.
²⁷ Being greedy causes trou­ble for your fam­ily,
but you pro­tect your­self by re­fus­ing bribes.
²⁸ Good peo­ple think be­fore they an­swer,
but the wicked speak evil with­out ever think­ing.

²⁹ The Lord never even hears the prayers of the wicked,
but he an­swers the prayers of all who obey him.
³⁰ A friendly smile makes you happy,
and good news makes you feel strong.
³¹ Healthy cor­rec­tion is good, and if you ac­cept it, you will be wise.
³² You hurt only your­self by re­ject­ing in­struc­tion,
but it makes good sense to ac­cept it.
³³ Show­ing re­spect to the Lord will make you wise,
and being hum­ble will bring honor to you.

Respond:

Father, help me walk in wisdom today. I want You to hear my prayers and answer me. I know that to walk the path of folly and determine what is right on my own is foolishness. I only hurt myself and those around me when I act in such ways. Forgive me for my folly. Strengthen me to walk wisdom’s path. I humbly come before You; I want to bring honor to Your name. I pray this in Jesus’ name. 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