Father,
There are many, many
exhortations in Your Word urging us to become wise. In different ways You call
us to gain insight into life, to understand what's going on. In this You call
us away from a world that is filled with foolishness which leads to death.
We hear these
exhortations, and we want to comply with Your call. But it is clear to us that,
left to our own resources, becoming wise will never happen. And so, we appeal
to You. We know that because You are a very gracious God You have made many,
many promises to us. You have promised Yourself to us when it comes to our need
of wisdom. So, Father, we ask that You would keep Your promise. We ask that You
would work in us, individually and as a church, so that we would become wiser
than what we now are.
But, Father, we also
know that it isn't enough just to ask. Your Word also directs us to action.
There are things that we need to do and things that we need to stop doing. But
we are weak and our sin is strong. So, again, we appeal to You, Father. Grant to
us, by Your Spirit, what we need to overcome the obstacles that keep us from
becoming as wise as we might. Grant us the discipline and endurance to continue
to work at what we need to so that we will become wise.
We ask for this
wisdom, Father, not primarily for our own benefit. We ask for this because we
want to do better and better when it comes to living as Your children in this
evil world. We want our lives to glorify You. So, grant our requests for the
sake of Your own Name.
Thank You, Father,
that we can be assured that this is something that You are going to do. You are
going to make us wise. We can be assured of this because we are praying
according to Your will. We are praying through Christ our Lord. And we are
praying by the power of the Spirit who walks among us. So, we look forward to
how this growth in wisdom will show. Amen.