Proverbs – if you haven’t read my thoughts and feelings on the book of proverbs yet, you’ll want to do so here. Otherwise, onward to Proverbs 1! I read a chapter each day, and what follows are my thoughts, prayers, and insight that I feel God has spoken to me each day for how it applies to my life. I won’t go through every verse, but just what stood out most to me for this chapter. It’s kind of look into how I personally read through and study God’s Word. I hope you gain some encouragement and insight from it as well!

1:1-6 – The proverbs of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel, are for:

• learning about wisdom and discipline
• understanding words expressing deep insight
• gaining an intelligently disciplined life
• doing what is right, just, and fair
• endowing with caution to those who don’t think
• endowing young people with knowledge and discretion
• the already wise to hear and learn more still
• one who already understands to gain the ability to counsel well
• understanding proverbs, obscure expressions, and the sayings and riddles of the wise

I broke each ‘benefit’ of Proverbs as outlined by Solomon into bullet points, though they don’t appear in the text as such. But having it as a list makes it easier for me to wrap my head around the promises for this book. Personally, I need ever increasing measures in my life of each of these every day. I just read Proverbs and learn wisdom? And gain understanding? And gain discipline? Definitely sign me up. And the more I read Proverbs, the more I gain all these things. I find myself seeing when I am being foolish, and how to correct myself and act in wisdom and understanding instead. Another quick note, the word understanding here, means an action taken from something you already know. In other words, when you act on the knowledge that you have found in God’s Word, you then have understanding. Sounds a lot like looking into the mirror of God’s Word, and then not forgetting who you are when you walk away, by acting on what the Word has called you to do. Full thoughts on James 1:23-25 here.

1:22 – How long, you whose lives have no purpose, will you love thoughtless living? Wowww. So if I reverse that statement, when I am acting thoughtlessly, my life has no purpose and I am not living out my purpose? Yikes. I don’t want to do that. It is not a bad thing to have plans in life and thoughtfully consider your actions and decisions.

1:32-33 – For the aimless wandering of the thoughtless will kill them, and the smug overconfidence of fools will destroy them; but those who pay attention to me will live securely, untroubled by fear of misfortune. Prayer – God, help me not act thoughtlessly. Help me slow down and not make rash decisions or react without considering my actions and consequences.

1:23 – Repent when I reprove – I will pour out my spirit to you, I will make my words known to you. This is how we gain wisdom, when we hear that little whisper or feel that little nudge to make a change in our life. Not a condemning voice, one that brings shame and guilt and kills confidence, but the voice that empowers us and tells us that we have the ability to make a change. When we follow that voice and take action on that voice, God pours out His spirit on us and makes His words known to us. He gives us wisdom.

1:28 – Then they will call me, but I won’t answer; they will search for me, but won’t find me. Wisdom had been calling out to everyone who would pass by, to come listen to her and learn from her, but no one answered. Wisdom is not something that can be gained overnight. We have to answer the call from wisdom daily. We learn a little bit at a time, and then it grows into something wonderful that sustains us. It’s not that Wisdom does not want to impart her wisdom, but we can’t take crash courses in it. We have to soak in it.

1:29-30 – Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of God, they refused my counsel, and despised my reproof. Prayer – God let me not hate knowledge. Help me always choose to respect you. Let me not refuse your counsel and instruction. I want to learn from what you have for me and gain wisdom.

Friend, all of the above prayers that I prayed for myself, I also pray over you.

Until tomorrow,

– Just a girl pursuing her reflection in the mirror of God’s Word, and inviting you to do the same

Scripture quotations taken from the Complete Jewish Bible,
Copyright © 1998 and 2016 by David H. Stern
Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.