Tag: wisdom prayer

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Wisdom Prayer

Unwise Decisions!

Unwise Decisions!

Dear Lord, I pray for wisdom for those who have made unwise decisions. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Saul was waiting for Samuel seven days to arrive, so Samuel could make a sacrifice. Saul grew increasingly impatient because Samuel did not come. Finally, Saul took matters into his own hands, and Saul does the offering himself.

1 Samuel 13:8-14 (ESV) explains the situation and the consequences.

“He waited seven days, the time appointed by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people were scattering from him. So Saul said, ‘Bring the burnt offering here to me, and the peace offerings.’ And he offered the burnt offering. As soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came. And Saul went out to meet him and greet him. Samuel said, ‘What have you done?’ And Saul said, ‘When I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines had mustered at Michmash, I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the favor of the Lord.’ So I forced myself, and offered the burnt offering.’ And Samuel said to Saul, ‘You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the Lord your God, with which he commanded you. For then the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.’”

This one unwise decision to move ahead with the sacrifice without Samuel cost Saul his kingdom.

Ask the Lord to show you what unwise decisions have you made.

Ask the Lord, if it is appropriate, to allow you to make amends.

At the very least, do not continue to make the same or similar unwise decisions.

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Wisdom Prayer

An Enemy of Superior Strength!

An Enemy of Superior Strength!

I pray for wisdom for those who face an enemy of superior strength. In Jesus’ name, amen.

What response do you have when you feel outnumbered?

Do you panic? Would it be rational to hide?

In 1 Samuel 13:1-4 (ESV) we learn Saul becomes king and soon thereafter chooses three thousand men of Israel. Two thousand went with Saul and a thousand went with Jonathan. The rest Saul sent home. Jonathan defeated the garrison of the Philistines that was at Geba. Saul blew a trumpet, and it was said that Saul had defeated the garrison and this made it so “Israel had become a stench to the Philistines.”

1 Samuel 13:5-7 (ESV) tells us how the Philistines responded and how the people of Israel reacted.

“And the Philistines mustered to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen and troops like the sand on the seashore in multitude. They came up and encamped in Michmash, to the east of Beth-aven. When the men of Israel saw that they were in trouble (for the people were hard pressed), the people hid themselves in caves and in holes and in rocks and in tombs and in cisterns, and some Hebrews crossed the fords of the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. Saul was still at Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling.”

Outnumbered, the people of Israel hide.

Yet, we learn later in Scripture, others would prepare to fight.

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Wisdom Prayer

Serve the Lord with All Your Heart!

Serve the Lord with All Your Heart!

Dear Lord, I pray for wisdom for those who do not turn aside from following the Lord, and serve the Lord with all their heart. In Jesus’ name, amen.

At the conclusion of Samuel’s so-called Farewell Address, the people plead with Samuel to pray for them.

His words of wisdom in Samuel 12:19-25 (ESV) offer important guidance and a warning.

“And all the people said to Samuel, ‘Pray for your servants to the Lord your God, that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for ourselves a king.’ And Samuel said to the people, ‘Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty. For the Lord will not forsake his people, for his great name’s sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself. Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you, and I will instruct you in the good and the right way. Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you. But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king.”

The people of Israel knew they had done wrong, yet Samuel tells them to “Do not be afraid.” Even with all of the sin, the Lord was not willing to forsake his people.

Are you a situation where you feel you are beyond forgiveness?

Ask the Lord to forgive. If there was hope for the people of Israel, there is hope for the sinner through faith in Christ.

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Wisdom Prayer

Obey the Voice of the Lord!

Obey the Voice of the Lord!

Dear Lord, I pray for wisdom for those who obey the voice of the Lord. In Jesus’ name, amen.

During his so-called Farewell Address, Samuel warns the people of Israel against disobedience.

In 1 Samuel 12:15-18 (ESV) we see God’s power on display.

“‘But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you and your king. Now therefore stand still and see this great thing that the Lord will do before your eyes. Is it not wheat harvest today? I will call upon the Lord, that he may send thunder and rain. And you shall know and see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the Lord, in asking for yourselves a king.’ So Samuel called upon the Lord, and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day, and all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel.”

The people of Israel were told to obey the Lord or else.

Today, believers need to listen to and obey the voice of the Lord.

Have you been listening?

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Wisdom Prayer

Follow the Lord!

Follow the Lord!

Dear Lord, I pray for wisdom for those who follow the Lord. In Jesus’ name, amen.

As part of Samuel’s Farewell Address, Samuel lets the people of Israel and their new king know what was expected of them.

In 1 Samuel 12:12-14 (ESV) are told what the people of Israel were to do to assure things went well.

“And when you saw that Nahash the king of the Ammonites came against you, you said to me, ‘No, but a king shall reign over us,’ when the Lord your God was your king. And now behold the king whom you have chosen, for whom you have asked; behold, the Lord has set a king over you. If you will fear the Lord and serve him and obey his voice and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, and if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God, it will be well.”

In the passage above, the people of Israel received specific instructions.

In a later passage they will be warned what would happen if they were disobedient.

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Wisdom Prayer

The Lord’s Righteous Deeds!

The Lord’s Righteous Deeds!

Dear Lord, I pray for those who know the Lord’s history of righteous deeds. In Jesus’ name, amen.

In 1 Samuel 12:6-7 (ESV), Samuel continues his Farewell Address, and he starts to plead with the people

“And Samuel said to the people, “The Lord is witness, who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. 7 Now therefore stand still that I may plead with you before the Lord concerning all the righteous deeds of the Lord that he performed for you and for your fathers.”

In 1 Samuel 12:8-11, Samuel starts to make his case.

“When Jacob went into Egypt, and the Egyptians oppressed them, then your fathers cried out to the Lord and the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your fathers out of Egypt and made them dwell in this place. But they forgot the Lord their God. And he sold them into the hand of Sisera, commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab. And they fought against them. And they cried out to the Lord and said, ‘We have sinned, because we have forsaken the Lord and have served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. But now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, that we may serve you.’ And the Lord sent Jerubbaal and Barak and Jephthah and Samuel and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and you lived in safety.”

Thus, there was a period when the people lived in safety.

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