Heavenly Father, Your Word warns us again and again about the importance of having a godly wife. I pray that my son will heed those warnings. Guard his heart from those who want to steal it away from You. Turn his eyes away from worthless things and focus them on Your commands. Help him to treasure Your Words that he will not be tempted to go astray. Give my son divine discernment and patience, that he will be led by Your Spirit around the pitfalls laid by the enemy of our soul who seeks to trap him in his clutches. Guide him to a woman who loves You with all her heart, soul, mind, and strength, that the two of them would be better together than they could be apart, that 1 + 1 would be 3 squared. Make the two of them a cord of three strands that cannot be easily broken with you that center strand of steel that they will both cling to through good times and bad, plenty and want, sickness and health, until their last day on earth. For Your glory and his good I pray in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen
It’s hard to imagine how much has changed in our world since I began teaching English online in December of 2018. I am so grateful for technology that allows me to have face to face conversations with people who live on the other side of the world, people who don’t live in towns full of churches and radios that freely broadcast Christian media.
Like I said one morning last month to some precious online sisters, “The great thing about living in America isn’t that we’re rich. The great thing about living in America is that we have freedom to worship our great God.” I pray that our nation would be known not for our lavish lifestyle but for our love for the Lord, not for our abundant wealth but for our abundant wisdom, not for our sports and movies and hospitals but for our kindness and integrity and generosity.
The Queen of Sheba blessed the Lord because she was impressed by King Solomon’s wisdom and wealth. I wonder, “Are other nations drawn to know and bless the Lord because of America’s wisdom and wealth?”
Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father, May we use our wealth to point the world to You, rather than to ourselves. Help us to remember that everything we have is a gift from Your abundant goodness. You know all things. You have all wisdom. Solomon’s wisdom didn’t come from books. It came from You. Bless our nation with wisdom. Bless Your children with wisdom, that others might be attracted to know You, the source of wisdom. For the Name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.
Heavenly Father, please forgive us. Forgive us. We have gone astray. We have turned from Your ways. We have forgotten You and chased after false gods. We have worshipped the creature and forsaken the Creator. We have become friends of the world and enemies of the Word. Bring us back to You. Turn our hearts back to You. Hear from Heaven and heal our land. Pour out Your Spirit on us that our hearts might again burn for You. You are worthy and You are good and You are able. Grow our faith, Lord. In the Name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.
Heavenly Father, You are the giver of wisdom and justice for You are the source of them both. You are the fountain from which wisdom and justice flow. All Your ways are right. All Your ways are just and wise. Fill our nation with a love for justice and wisdom. Give our nation’s leaders a holy hunger for wisdom and justice, like You gave to king Solomon. Give our nation’s parents and pastors and teachers a desire for true wisdom and justice that they will lead our nation’s children in Your truth. We pray that as these men and women seek wisdom and justice that they would find it in You and in the pages of Your Word. Teach us, Lord, what justice and wisdom are. Show us what it means to be truly just, what true wisdom is. Grant us discernment to judge between right and wrong, truth and lies, justice and injustice. You are the standard, the plumb line, the truth by which all things and all laws, are measured, and give us a right understanding of who You are and what You have said. In the Name of Jesus Christ, Your Son, we pray. Amen.
David knows he is about to die, so he calls his son, Solomon, to him. What did David say to this son who will be the next king of Israel?
Be strong.
Show yourself a man.
Keep the charge of the Lord your God, walking in His ways and keeping his commands as it is written in the Law of Moses.
Deal wisely and justly with Joab, Barzillai, and Shimei.
Now I’m not (and never will be) the king of a nation but I (like everyone else on the planet) will one day draw my last breath. If today were my last day, what final words would I want to share with my children?
What would I say to my children if today was my last day?
I love you. I’m proud of you. You are a gift to me. I’m so thankful you’re mine. God made YOU on purpose, and He has a purpose for your life. Fear not. He’s not finished yet. God is on His throne. He doesn’t save people because they’re good. They’re not. None of us are. He saves them because He is merciful and has a purpose for them. You are saved by your faith in Jesus Christ, not by your works. (Psalm 139:1-16; Romans 3:10-12; Ephesians 2:8-10; Titus 3:3-8; 1 Timothy 1:12-17; Romans 6:23)
Trust the Lord with all your heart. He is good. He is wise. Turn away from evil and do good. Choose to do the hard things out of love and trust for the Lord. (Proverbs 3:5-7; Deuteronomy 6:5; Matthew 22:37)
Love is both an emotion and an action. Love others as God has loved you. Bear with others. Forgive them, remembering how much God has forgiven you. He loved you while you were yet a sinner, loving you even to the point of death, death on a cross. Remember that love is patient and kind. God is patient and kind with you, and He is calling you to be patient and kind with others. Love is not arrogant, rude, boastful, or envious. Love does not insist on its own way. The Lord of the Universe humbled Himself for you, and He is calling you to humble yourself for Him and His creation. Love never ends. Love endures. Love bears all things. He has loved you with a never-ending love. Love others like that. (Colossians 3:12-13; 1 Corinthians 13:4-8; Philippians 2:1-8; Romans 5:7-8)
Children are a blessing from the Lord. Fill your home with them. Pour into them. Enjoy them. Train them up in the way they should go. Teach them diligently that they, too, will know and love the Lord. (Psalm 127:1-5; Proverbs 22:6; Deuteronomy 6:6-9; Psalm 78:1-8)
So, how about you? If today were your last day, what final words would you want to say to your children and loved ones?
Heavenly Father, How thankful I am for the hope that I have in my Savior, Jesus, who poured out His blood for me. How thankful I am to have the assurance that my last breath here on Earth is just the beginning of eternity with You. I pray that my children and grandchildren will have that assurance. I pray that You will strengthen me to be the mother and grandmother that You want me to be. Give me Your wisdom and lead me in when to speak and when to be silent. Make my words, Your words. Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Make me a beacon pointing my family and my community to Him. For His Honor and for His glory I pray. Amen.
Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem!
The LORD has taken away the judgments against you; he has cleared away your enemies. The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst; you shall never again fear evil.
On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: “Fear not, O Zion; let not your hands grow weak. The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.
– Zephaniah 3:14-17 ESV
Verse 14 tells Zion to rejoice and exult with all her heart, and then verse 17 says that the Lord rejoices and exults over Zion. Rejoice, rejoice. Exult, exult. I understand “rejoice,” but what does “exult” actually mean??? (Am I the only one who doesn’t use or understand this word?)
I looked it up in Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary, as well as Etymology Online and Strong’s Concordance I learned that the English word “exult” comes from the French word “exulter” which means to rejoice exceedingly, or literally to leap about. And I learned that the Hebrew word שָׂמַח śāmaḥ means to rejoice and be glad. Ok, so “exult” means to rejoice!
Exult means to rejoice exceedingly.
So today when I read 1 Kings 1, the word “exalt” jumped out at me, “Now Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, ‘I will be king.’ And he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him” (1 Kings 1:5 ESV) So I was off again to check the dictionary as well as Strong’s Concordance and Etymology Online. According to Merriam-Webster, exalt means to raise in rank, power, or character, to elevate or glorify. It can also mean to raise high or enhance or intensify the activity of something. That specific Hebrew word מִתְנַשֵּׂא miṯnaśśē’ is only used one other place in the Bible, “Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all.” (1 Chronicles 29:11 ESV) In studying the etymology of the word, I latched onto the Latin word root, altus which means high because it reminded me of the word altitude.
Exalt means to elevate, glorify, or lift high.
Jesus and his disciples had quite a lot to say about who exalts whom. I am certain that Jesus would have some harsh words for Adonijah exalting himself as king, getting for himself chariots and horsemen and fifty men to run before him (like his brother Absalom had done before him. (See 2 Samuel 15:1) It reminded me of Proverbs 27:2, “Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger and not your own lips.”
For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. (Luke 14:11 ESV)
So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you” (Hebrews 5:5 ESV)
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. (James 4:10 ESV)
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, (1 Peter 5:6 ESV)
So, I’m asking myself, “What am I exulting in?” and “Who am I exalting, myself or my Lord?”
Heavenly Father, You are the source of my joy. I rejoice in You and the power of Your might. My hope and joy are in YOU. Help me, Father, to exalt YOU, to lift you HIGH, to elevate Your name, to honor You with my life. I pray that I will heed Paul’s words from Philippians 2, that I will do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count other more significant than myself, looking not only for my own interests, but also for the interests of others. For this is the example that Jesus Christ, the God-man, has given to us, that He humbled Himself even to the point of death on a cross. Therefore He was highly exactly and bestowed with the Name that is above every name, that someday ever knee will bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. We lift You high, Father. We exalt You and magnify You for You alone are worthy of our praise. In the Name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.
Teach What is Good 