Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.
– Proverbs 3:5–8
Oh, these are such good verses. There’s a reason why Proverbs 3,5 and 6 are some of the most well-known Proverbs. Just let this soak in. No matter what you are walking through in life, what age or stage you are in life, trust in the Lord with all your heart. Just you live just according to that phrase. It changes everything. To trust in God with all that you are. And don’t lean on your own understanding.
Proverbs 3:5–8 shows the beauty of acknowledging God in every step we take.
We are all prone to lean on our own understanding, our own thoughts. Don’t do it, the Bible says. Do not lean on what you think is best. Trust in God and what he says, what he deems, what he ordains as best. Don’t lean on your own understanding, in all your ways; acknowledge him. Just in everything you do. Walk in communion with God, acknowledging God. Just think if I was walking next to you all day long. I might be a little creepy. But just imagine for illustration’s sake, I or somebody else walking next to you all day long. It would be so weird if you never acknowledged them, if you just ignored them all day long. In your relationship with God, he is with you at every moment. So acknowledge him.
What a picture. Acknowledging him in all your ways and trusting he will make straight your paths. That’s a promise. He will lead you. He will guide you as you acknowledge him all day long, as you’re not wise in your own eyes. Again, not leaning on your own understanding, on your own wisdom. Instead, fearing God, turning away from evil. And God says this will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.
Proverbs 3:5–8 teaches that the path to peace starts with surrender, not self-reliance.
This is what your body needs. This is what your mind needs. What your soul needs is trust in the Lord, fear of the Lord, acknowledgement of the Lord with you all day long and his love for you. And turning away from evil and not operating, living according to your wisdom and not leaning on your own understanding. God, we pray for Proverbs 3:5–8 to mark us today and every day, God help us to trust in you with all our hearts. And even as we pray that we praise you, that you are infinitely trustworthy.
So God, free us from leaning on our own understanding. Help us to turn from our thoughts, to not be wise in our own eyes, to turn from evil at every turn. Instead, God, help us to acknowledge you at every moment, your presence with us, your Word to us, your love for us, your Spirit, your power in us. Help us to acknowledge you all day long. And we pray, trusting, oh God, that you’ll make straight our paths that living like this will be healing for our flesh and refreshment to our bones, to our bodies.
Yes, God, thank you for your Word. Help us to live according to it. And God, help us to spread it. God help us to spread the good news of your love and your grace and your mercy and your trustworthiness and your wisdom. So, to people around us today, help us to encourage people with Who you are.
Prayer for the Ketapang Malay People
And God, help us as your church to spread the good news of who you are to the ends of the earth. We pray specifically today for the Ketapang Malay people of Indonesia. For this people group of 316,000 men, women, and children living in West Kalimantan Province on these Indonesian islands. God, we pray. Please, please, please cause the good news of your grace and your mercy in Jesus, the One whom they can trust with their whole hearts, with their whole lives. God, we pray the good news of Jesus, of redemption, of healing, of eternal refreshment would spread to the Ketapang Malay people. God, please may it be so. We pray all this according to your Word, which we love in Proverbs 3:5–8. In Jesus’ name, amen.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder of Radical, an organization that makes Jesus known among the nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Don’t Hold Back, and How to Read the Bible.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
