Prayer A to Z

Acquire wisdom! Acquire understanding!

Do not forget nor turn away from the words of my mouth.

6 “Do not forsake her, and she will guard you;

Love her, and she will watch over you.

7 “The beginning of wisdom is: Acquire wisdom;

And with all your acquiring, get understanding.

8 “Prize her, and she will exalt you;

She will honor you if you embrace her.

9 “She will place on your head a garland of grace;

She will present you with a crown of beauty (Prov. 4:5-9).

If you do not abandon wisdom, if you instead love her, prize her, and embraced her, she will guard you, exalt you and honor you.

God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, 2 in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. 3 And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high (Heb. 1:1-4).

8 Things God has given to us in His Son

1 He has spoken to us in His Son.

2 He appointed His Son to be the heir of all things.

3 Through His Son He made the world (the ages).

4 Jesus is the radiance of God’s glory.

5 Jesus is the exact representation of God’s nature.

A cold evening sky.

A squirrel in my backyard.

My backyard after a good snowfall.

The start of a winter walk.

Creek still unfrozen.

I was really inspired by a sports article I read in my newspaper today—all about how our quarterback, Kirk Cousins plans on using his comeback victory to share his Christian faith. Ya, in case you weren’t aware, our Minnesota Vikings got the all-time NFL record for a comeback victory. They were down 33 to 0 against the Colts at the half, but in the second half they somewhat miraculously got 39 points and held the Colts to just three points. The final score was Viking 39, Colts 36.

It turns out that the last comeback victory was led by Buffalo’s quarterback Frank Reich, against the Houston Oilers in 1993, and he is a Christian just as Kirk Cousins is! Well, the article tells how he has encouraged Cousins to use his comeback victory to share his faith just as he has been doing in the last thirty years.

I pray…

My son, let them [wisdom and understanding] not vanish from your sight;

Keep sound wisdom and discretion,

22 So they will be life to your soul

And adornment to your neck.

23 Then you will walk in your way securely

And your foot will not stumble (Prov. 3:21-23).

Sound wisdom and discretion are tightly tied together. If you walk with discretion you will be secure and not stumble.

The Lord by wisdom founded the earth,

By understanding He established the heavens.

20 By His knowledge the deeps were broken up

And the skies drip with dew (Prov. 3:19-20).

God created everything by wisdom; By His knowledge and understanding He knew exactly how to do it.

Long life is in her right hand;

In her left hand are riches and honor.

17 Her ways are pleasant ways

And all her paths are peace.

18 She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her,

And happy are all who hold her fast (Prov. 3:16-18).

Here are some of the blessings of wisdom:

• Long life
• Riches and honor from God
• Pleasant ways (life)
• Peace in life
• Abundant life and happiness

I’ll start with a few complaints. Aside from an aggravating health situation, the weather here in Minnesota is most unpleasant. It’s dark, cloudy, humid, cold, and dreary. I don’t mind it being cold, but I like a sunny day. God, please give me a sunny day!

Respect for Marriage Act

Is that an oxymoron? If I didn’t know what it was I would praise it. Marriage is a beautiful thing. And though I am divorced, I still believe it is good—as is all of God’s creation. But this Respect for Marriage Act is a farce. It is telling us that we have to respect the so-called marriage between people of the same gender. Well, I don’t! True marriage is only between a man and a woman. Anything else is a perversion and is dishonoring of their bodies; they are changing the truth into a lie, and are changing what is…

How blessed is the man who finds wisdom

And the man who gains understanding.

14 For her profit is better than the profit of silver

And her gain better than fine gold.

15 She is more precious than jewels;

And nothing you desire compares with her (Prov. 3:13-15).

• Wisdom is tied to understanding; you can’t separate the two.
• Wisdom is something you look for and hopefully find and then are blessed with.
• The blessing of wisdom is better than anything earthly of this world.

 [When wisdom comes to you it] will enter your heart

And knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;

Discretion will guard you,

Understanding will watch over you,

12 To deliver you from the way of evil,

From the man who speaks perverse things;

13 From those who leave the paths of uprightness

To walk in the ways of darkness (Prov. 2:10-13).

If you are wise, your soul will be pleased with God’s knowledge. If you are wise, discretion will guard you and understanding will watch over you and deliver you from evil.