Daily Prayer_April 15, 2011

The Word for wisdom:

Proverbs 15:22 (ESV)
Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed.

The Word for inspiration:

Psalm 119:34 (ESV)
Give me understanding, that I may keep your law and observe it with my whole heart.

The Word for encouragement:

1 Peter 2:1-3 (ESV)
¹ So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. ² Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— ³ if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

My observation:

Today's focal passage reminds us of how imperative the bible is in the growth and maturity of believers. The desire for the word of God should be as natural for the believer as babies have for the mother's milk. We should have that same appetite for our heavenly Father's Word. The word of God is essential for nourishing and maturing our spiritual life.

John Bunyan author of the classic Pilgrim's Progress wrote in the cover of his bible, "Either this book will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from this book". If you find that you have lost your appetite for the Father's Word, take some time to inspect your life using the search light of the sins listed in this verse:

1 Peter 2:1 (ESV)
So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander.

Don't permit these sins or any other sins keep you from the Father's Word. Rather, drink regularly and deeply from the Father's Word and it will keep you from sin.

My prayer:

Our Father in heaven, my dear Father, I pray that you will stir up within me a hunger and thirst for your Word. Father, open my eyes to see the danger of not reading your Word, and the blessing of reading and heeding your Word. Father, today, I will write on the tablet of my heart the words that John Bunyan wrote in the cover of his bible, "Either this book will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from this book".

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My blog: Sharing the Word of God Daily
http://www.herbcotton.org
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Proverbs 3:5-6 (HCSB)
⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; ⁶ think about Him in all your ways, and He will guide you on the right paths.