Some Friends Make You Wise

“Be friends with those who are wise, and you will become wise. Choose fools to be your friends, and you will have trouble.”
‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭13:20‬ ‭
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You can pray three times a day and read your Bible everyday but if you hang around "fools you will have trouble." It says if you want to be wise, you have to be friends with those who are wise. Today may be a good day to analyze your friendships.

Do you feel amazed that you have a few friends that are God-given? Are these friends running after the Lord? Do they hold you accountable to prayer and Bible study? Do they say what you want to hear or do they point you to the Word and say what the Word says? Do they really pray for you if you ask them?

I have been very fortunate to have friends that have a lot of wisdom...very fortunate. These friends were a gift from God. But I am positive that God has a plan and purpose for everyone to have these friendships in our lives. If you long for one good friend like this, not a perfect friend but a wretched sinner just like you that is saved by grace, ask God for this. Pray until He answered your prayer.

Do Not Fear the Lion's Den

“Daniel always prayed to God three times every day. Three times every day, he bowed down on his knees to pray and praise God. Even though Daniel heard about the new law, he still went to his house to pray. He went up to the upper room of his house and opened the windows that faced toward Jerusalem. Then Daniel bowed down on his knees and prayed just as he always had done.”
‭‭Daniel‬ ‭6:10‬ ‭ERV‬‬

I always love the end of September because I am reading one of the most incredible books...Daniel. If you have not read the book of Daniel recently, it would be a good idea to read it before the November election. The prayer he prays for his nation in chapter 9 should be our prayer for America right now.

I am always intrigued by what it says about him in chapter 6. It says that Daniel "always prayed three times every day." Always...prayed...everyday. It says that he "prayed just as he always had done." Yes, there was a new law that says if you pray to another God, you would be thrown in the lion's den. But he prayed as he had always done on his knees. He prayed with intentionality and intensity. He prayed at specific times. It was marked on his calendar.

I am not going to let us off the hook. Is there any reason why we can't pray with intentionality every single day? But do we make up a hundred reasons why we did not find the time all day? And then we wonder why we face our lion's den with crippling fear. Daniel faced the lion's den with confidence because he spent three times everyday in prayer. I want to be like that, don't you? If someone asks Daniel about his prayer life, he would be able to tell the specific times that he prayed each day. Can you and I do that?

Go back and read the book of Daniel and you will not be surprised that he was always respected and there was "never found any fault in him." Kings sought his wisdom. When the lion's den story was written, he had been praying for many years. He did not start yesterday. When you start earnestly carving out time to pray, go at it for a lifetime and look back after 10, 20,30 or 40 years. You will face any lion's den with confidence.

I don't know what lion's I will face today. Starting my day with prayer will give me the strength to face the lion. Another way to look at starting my day with prayer is this...if I skip this morning with talking to God, am I assuming that I can provide all the strength and wisdom that I need for today?