The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Fools despise wisdom and instruction.
– Proverbs 1:7
I cannot wait to pray through a different verse from Proverbs in each of the upcoming Pray the Word episodes, and in the process of finding ourselves praying for wisdom, you think about God speaking to Solomon who wrote most of these Proverbs, saying, “What do you want?” As soon as he becomes king, “What do you want?” And Solomon says, “I want wisdom above everything else.” And God is pleased with that request and pleased to give him wisdom. And then, now think about it, verse seven says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,” or wisdom or instruction or prudence or guidance or learning. That’s some of the other words that Proverbs one uses. It all starts with the fear of God.
Proverbs 1:7 teaches that if we want to live wise lives, we will live worshipful lives.
So think about Solomon, not only from the very beginning of his leadership does he ask for wisdom, but from the very beginning of his leadership among God’s people, he built the temple, this place where the glory of God dwells among his people, where people can come and behold God and all of His glory. And so what we see in Solomon’s leadership, don’t miss this, this is… In the beginning, before He gives himself over to foolishness later in his life and leadership, from the very beginning, we see among God’s people the height of worship and wisdom together.
And it’s a clear, powerful picture that if we want to live wise lives, we will live worshipful lives, that the way to live wisely today is to live in the fear of God. And so I just want to encourage you to ask the question today, what does it look like for you to live in the fear of God with a reverence for God, with awe of God, with humility before God? Is your life marked by the fear of God?
Proverbs 1:7 encourages us to live with holy reverence before God.
I want to encourage you to start your day today or start your day tomorrow, maybe even physically getting on your knees before God and saying, “God, I worship you. I revere you for who you are. Help me to live wisely today.” And the fear of the Lord will set you on a path, a trajectory that leads to wisdom. Oh God, we pray for this. We pray that you would help us to live with holy fear of, reverence for, awe of, and humility before you.
God, help us to live lives full of worship from the beginning to the end of our day. Help us to walk, to speak, to think in ways that are centered around you… In ways that honor you and glorify you. And in the process, O God, that you would help us to live wise lives, you would help us to make wise decisions, that you would help us to speak wise words, think wise thoughts, desire wise, good desires.
Oh God, please transform our entire lives to be worshipful and wise. Jesus, we praise you for making this wisdom possible for us by dying on the cross, rising from the grave, ascending to heaven, sending your Spirit, the Spirit of Wisdom, down to us, for your promise, oh God, through Jesus to give us wisdom whenever we ask for it. Jesus, we praise you for making worship and wisdom possible for us in our lives today. Help us to live in it to the full.
Prayer for the Darzi People
God, help us to spread the good news of Jesus… The wisdom of the cross to people around us and to people around the world. We pray for the Darzi people of northern India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal… 1.7 million of them, no known followers of Jesus. Oh God, we pray that you would save them from sin.
Save them from the foolish ways of this world, from deceptive religion. God, draw them to faith in Jesus… To the way, the truth, and the life, to the wisdom that’s found in the cross of Christ. We pray for the spread of the gospel of Jesus to the Darzi people. Help us to live in light of the wisdom of the cross today… Lives of worship and wisdom may both mark our lives today, we pray. In Jesus name, 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.
