“Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise. But the companion of fools will suffer harm.”
– Proverbs 13:20
What a good, encouraging, wise verse, Proverbs 13:20, that we all need to hear and let it drive us to pray. Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise but the companion of fools will suffer harm. Who we surround ourselves with most, who influences us will have a huge effect on us. And that doesn’t mean don’t ever spend any time with anybody that doesn’t believe the Bible, who is not a worshiper of God, who is not following Jesus. We want to spend time with people and we will through work and our neighborhoods, through exercise, whatever it might be that we participate in in the world. We are around people who are not following Jesus. And we want to be salt and light in the world. We want to be in real, meaningful relationships where we’re pointing others to God’s love and showing God’s love in those relationships.
Let’s pray to the end that we will be surrounded by wise companions who delight in God and His Word.
Self Reflection: Who’s influencing you?
At the same time, we need to evaluate in our lives who is influencing us most? And if someone is influencing us who does not have their hearts attuned to God, His word, His wisdom, then we need to be very, very cautious. Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise. We want to walk alongside wise people. And remember, this is not wisdom according to the world. This is wisdom according to God and His word. Remember, the beginning of wisdom is the fear of God. So we want to walk with people who fear God. We want to be around people who revere God, who follow God, and who worship God. Who know His word and are trying to live according to it by God’s grace.
Proverbs 13:20: Asking God for Wise, Godly Friends
The companion of fools will suffer harm. If we’re not careful in the people who influence us, if our closest companions are people who are not fearing God, walking with God, glorifying God, then that will not lead to good in our lives. So God, we pray, we pray for wise companions. I pray for that for my life, I pray for that for my wife and my kids. I pray for wise companions for them. And I pray for that for each person who is listening to this right now. God, I pray that you would surround them with wise companions. God, we pray that you would help us to be the kind of churches you’ve called us to be. Communities, walking with one another in wisdom, according to your word, spurning one another on toward you.
Asking for Wisdom and Discernment
Lord, we pray that you would surround us and give us the wisdom to discern who is wise around us and to be influenced by them. At the same time, God, we pray that you would guard us from foolish companionship that leads to harm. God, we pray that you would use us as salt and light in the world, to point people to the gospel, to point people to your love in Jesus. To point people to the wisdom that is in your word. God, we pray that you would use us in these ways. At the same time, we pray that as we are in the world, you would help us not to be of the world, not to be influenced by that which does not fear you, influenced by that which is not aligned with your word and the wisdom that comes from it.
Lord, help us to walk with the wise. And to be wise and encouraging others’ lives and we pray that you would help us to avoid foolishness. And we pray that you would provide friendships, and relationships accordingly. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
