Instructions for Healing

Proverbs chapter 3. Proverbs chapter 3. That's

Proverbs 3 · chapter mention Proverbs 3 · chapter mention

in the middle of your Bible, close to the middle

of your Bible. If you just plop it open, you're

probably going to hit the Psalms. Just keep on

turning a little further. Proverbs chapter 3.

Proverbs 3 · chapter mention

A lot of good wisdom and instruction in Proverbs.

We looked. A couple of weeks ago, Proverbs chapter

Proverbs 3:5

3, verses 5 and 6, I would guess that those are

probably the most popular verses in Proverbs

Proverbs 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3, but there's a lot of really good instruction

here that I thought it was worth us going back

and looking at a couple of more verses. We're

going to just look at two verses today. Proverbs

Proverbs 3:7

chapter 3, verses 7 and 8. You'll notice if you

read the first 12 verses there of Proverbs chapter

Proverbs 3 · chapter mention

3, there's kind of a common theme. Each little

two -verse section there in the 12 verses kind

of could stand alone by itself. Each of these

little two -verse sections, verses 1 and 2, 3

and 4, 5 and 6, 7 and 8, and so on, they offer

a command. We'll see a command at first, and

then we'll see... a consequence after that. And

this is good instruction for us to listen to.

That should not come as a surprise to us that

God's Word is good instruction, but sometimes

we need to be reminded of that. So we will look

at these couple of verses today. We'll read them,

then we'll pray and get started. Proverbs chapter

Proverbs 3:7

3, verses 7 and 8. Don't consider yourself to

be wise. Fear the Lord and turn away from evil.

This will be healing for your body and strengthening

for your bones. Let's pray. God, we thank you

for these two simple verses. We thank you for

these commands that you give us. And I pray,

God, that we would be men and women that follow

these commands. But maybe, dear Lord, we are

not. Maybe if we look at these words today and

think about these words. And pray over them today.

Maybe we do not follow this command. So dear

Lord, I pray that you would help us to examine

ourselves today. Maybe we came into this room

wise in our own eyes. And that's not a good place

for us to be, dear Lord. But sometimes we get

there. And I pray that you help us to be made

aware of that, God. So God, I pray that in these

next few minutes that your Holy Spirit would

be among us. I pray that you would take away

any fear or pride that's within me today, that

I may faithfully preach and teach your word.

Let your Holy Spirit speak to us through these

words, dear Lord, and let your word have an impact

in our hearts today. In Jesus' name I pray it.

Amen. Now, the Bible is certainly full of verses.

that if people would follow them, they would

change the world. There are many verses in there

that are life -changing, that are world -changing.

And this is one of those verses that I would

put on a list. If I were making a list of verses

that would change our world, I would put this

verse on the list. Now, I don't know about the

rest of you guys, but I believe our world needs

to be changed because I don't think our world

is too good. I don't think killing in the streets

and killing in other countries and wars and fighting

and feuding and people hating each other and

lying and cheating and stealing and being greedy

and cheating on your spouse and all these things

that we see running rampant in our world today.

I don't think these things are good. I think

our world would be much better off if it was...

if it was different, if we did the opposites

of those things, if we told the truth, and if

we were men and women of honor and integrity,

if we weren't greedy but we were giving, if we

loved our neighbor as ourselves, if we cherished

our husbands and wives, if we changed from the

way that we so often see in our world, our world

would be a much better place. And I think that

this verse... It's a good verse for us to consider

today because maybe, just maybe, there are some

things in our life that need to change. Now,

it's easy for us to sit here and say, boy, the

world needs to change. Well, we may not can change

the world, but you can start working on yourself.

Now, it's going to take the help of God for any

true change to come in your heart. That's going

to come from the Lord, but you do have some say

in your life and whether you're going to seek

the Lord and whether you're going to allow him

to make that change. And maybe there are not

just some problems in the world around you. Maybe

you are the problem in some way. Maybe some of

your problems stem from your own heart and your

own attitude and your own sinfulness. What does

the scripture say? Do not consider yourself to

be wise. Fear the Lord and turn away from evil.

Now, I think that verse right there is a good

verse. Do not consider yourself to be wise. Do

we ever do that? Do we ever consider ourselves

to be wise? What does that mean? It means that

you think you know it all, that you've got it

figured out. That you're doing everything right,

that you're good, that you're fine, that your

way is the right way and that everybody else's

way is wrong. And you don't need to listen to

what anybody else says because you are wise in

your own eyes. You have determined that you know

everything. And we really begin to see this type

of wisdom flourish in a person when they turn

about 13. That's when that type of wisdom really

begins to flourish. And some of, well, all of

you in here just about have experienced that

time. Some of you are in the midst of your greatest

wisdom ever, or so you think. Now, I remember

when I was first getting into the ministry, Brother

Ernie was so good and he was so humble and he

was so wise, but I was still young enough that

I failed to realize that. And there were a lot

of things that I thought, man, he's just, he's

old -fashioned. I just, there's a... there's

some better way I'd have done that different.

Because I was 30, so I pretty much at that point

from 13 to 30, I'd learned everything there was

to learn, right? But now that I've been in ministry

for a bunch of years, now I think, you know what?

He wasn't as old -fashioned as I thought he was.

You know what I call him now? Wise. Because there

were some things that I thought, boy, this would

be a better way to do it. And now I do some things

the way he did it. Because I said, you know what,

I guess he did know what he was talking about.

Now you guys probably never had any occasion

like that where you were wise in your own eyes.

I remember about three years ago, another example,

I needed to buy a lawnmower. And I had a wise

man who was real wise about lawnmowers and stuff.

And he told me, he said, you need to go. He told

me what lawnmower to get. And I, being wise in

my own eyes, I said, I ain't getting that lawnmower

because that's too expensive, and a cheaper one

will do just as good, and I'm going to get the

cheap one. And he said, you're going to regret

it if you get that cheap one. And I said, well,

it'll be fine. It'll be fine. And so I went and

got the cheap one, and I cut grass with it twice,

and both times I cut grass with it, it tore up.

And I took it back, and I got the one that he

said I should have get to start with. Turns out

there was a little wisdom there, but I was too

wise in my own eyes to listen to anybody else.

When we're too wise in our own eyes, we're also

too wise to listen to the Lord. And that's a

big problem, I think, with a lot of people in

our world today. Because if you know everything,

and as humanity, as humans, if we're able to

do everything, then there's no need for a God.

Why do we need a God? And so there are a lot

of people that have become wise in their own

eyes. And as a result, they do not fear the Lord

as the scripture says. So there's good command

here. Don't consider yourself to be wise. Well,

we see that throughout the scriptures. We see

the same thing in Romans. In Romans chapter 1

Romans 1:22

verse 22. Paul talking here says, claiming to

be wise, they became fools. Now in the context

of what he was saying, he said, look, God should

have been evident to all that if we just look

around that it should be obvious to us just through

creation and the world and all that we see that

there's got to be a creator. And everybody is

without excuse. But there were some who rejected

God. And they thought that they were wise. They

had become wise in their own eyes. But the scripture

says, claiming to be wise, they became fools.

And as you read on a little further, man, that

leads to some bad stuff happening. He begins

to point out that homosexuality is running rampant

among them and all of these sexual perversions

and all of this horrible sinfulness came. Because

they didn't have a need for God, because they

rejected God, because they were wise in their

own eyes, when in reality they were fools and

their foolishness was leading to their destruction.

Now he wrote that in Romans chapter 1. That was

Romans 1 · chapter mention

a long time ago. But guess what? Humanity ain't

got no better. As long as there are human beings,

there will be people who reject God's word. there

will be people who reject the wisdom of God,

that is Jesus Christ. And as a result of that,

they're living in foolishness that leads to their

destruction. Paul talks about even people that

are professing to be Christian teachers in 2

2 Corinthians 10 · chapter mention

Corinthians chapter 10. He says that there are

some who are judging themselves by themselves.

They're comparing themselves to themselves, and

therefore they conclude that they are all right.

Now, we can't judge ourselves by ourselves. You

can't just sit there and make a list of the things

and you say, okay, I think this is good and this

is bad and this is good and this is bad, and

as long as I do these things, I'm going to be

okay. We're not the one who gets to make the

list. We're not the one who gets to set the standards.

And that's what was going on in Paul's situation.

He said, look, there were some who had set a

human standard and they were living by that standard.

And therefore, he says, they were commending

themselves as saying, hey, we've made it. We're

as good as we need to be. Because they had become

wise in their own eyes. So what about us? Are

there ever situations in our life that we become

wise in our own eyes? Maybe some of them are

not as significant like buying a lawnmower. Maybe

there are other times in our life where we consider

ourselves to be wise and we end up living in

foolishness. We consider ourselves to be wise

and we reject the wisdom of someone else that

may be for our benefit. We reject the wisdom

of God's Word. I suspect we all do it at some

point. I expect if anybody in here has ever been

to the doctor, you've done it because you go

to the doctor and the doctor says what's going

on and you say, oh, you don't know what he's

talking about because obviously you know more

than the doctor, right? I mean, he only went

to school for 10 years and practiced for 50 years

and so when he tells you what's wrong, well,

you looked on your phone so obviously you're

an expert now. And so we become wise in our own

eyes in a lot of areas. And that's part of the

problem with our world today, and that's part

of our struggles maybe, is that we become proud

because we know it all. But what does the proverb

say? Don't become wise in your own eyes. Don't

consider yourself wise. Fear the Lord and turn

away from evil. Now, it's sad to say that...

I don't know that there are a lot of people in

our world today that fear the Lord. It's pretty

obvious that there are a lot of people that do

not fear the Lord. Because people would not do

half the things that they do if they feared the

Lord. And maybe, sadly, that's even true for

Christians. Maybe we say we fear the Lord. Maybe

there's some level of fear we have of the Lord.

Maybe even among Christians. We don't really

fear the Lord as we should. In our considering

ourselves to be wise, we've determined, well,

I know God's Word says this, but that was way

back in the day. That's old -fashioned, those

commands. God really didn't mean that. He's really

okay if I do this. Because if I do that other

thing and live according to His commands, that's

going to make me unhappy. And one thing God does

not want is for me to be unhappy. I just know

God does not want that. So therefore, I'm just

going to live in this sin because we don't fear

the Lord and keep His commands. It's easy for

us to test how much we fear the Lord. You can

test how much you fear the Lord by seeing how

long it takes you to repent of the sin you're

living in. If you keep sinning and keep sinning

and don't repent, then guess what? You don't

fear the Lord very much. When we fear the Lord

and we read his words and it really convicts

us and the Holy Spirit convicts us, there needs

to be something in us that says, okay, God, I

have done wrong and I know I've done wrong. And

God, I struggle with this and I want to struggle

with this, so God, would you forgive me? If we

really fear the Lord, there's got to be some

point where that dictates our actions. If we

really fear the Lord and we know the Lord doesn't

want us to do something and that temptation comes,

there has to be some times in our life that we

just say, golly, I can't do this thing I want

to do. I can't say this thing I want to say.

I can't respond in this way. There's times when

it'd be so easy to snap back at somebody. Those

times where the money's on the table that you

could just slide it in your pocket and nobody

would see. Those temptations that are ever before

us, we all have them. And if we really fear the

Lord, then, man, we think twice about those things.

It's not that we don't sin. Sadly, we do. It'd

be great if we had that kind of fear of the Lord,

and we should strive for that. We should have

a fear of the Lord that should dictate our actions

and cause us to want to follow the commands of

God. But we don't see a lot of fear of God in

our world today. And maybe it needs to start

with those who are God's people. Maybe God's

people are living in a way that we've become

lazy and that we've become okay with sin and

we begin to justify it in our own minds and we

begin to turn a blind eye to others who are living

in sin. expecting them to do the same for us.

I won't call out what you're doing if you don't

call out what I'm doing. Besides, what we're

doing is not really the bad stuff, but what that

shows in our life and in our heart is that maybe

we don't fear God. Man, if we were a nation,

if we were a people, if we were a world of people

that feared God, things would be so much different.

People wouldn't lie and cheat and steal and kill.

But people do those things because they've rejected

God and they don't fear God. Don't consider yourself

to be wise. Fear the Lord and turn away from

evil. There's the command. Don't consider yourself

to be wise. Fear the Lord and turn away from

evil. That is good instruction. That is pretty

simple instruction. It's not like most scripture.

It's easy to read something. It's hard to carry

it out. But that's our command in this passage.

Okay, so we have to check ourselves. Have I considered

myself to be wise in some way? Maybe it's in

the ways of God's word and his commands. Maybe

it's just some normal task in my life. Maybe

there's some pride there that's really hindering

me. Maybe I need to humble myself a little bit.

Maybe there's some things going on that God's

revealed to you today, or maybe you need to pray

over these verses and say, okay, God, help me

to see the areas maybe where I have become wise

in my own eyes. Do you fear the Lord? Maybe you

do. Praise God. Do you keep his commands? If

you do, okay, there's a pretty good chance you

fear him. If you don't, maybe you don't really

fear the Lord. Fear the Lord. And turn away from

evil. That's the hard part. Because there are

so many things that feel so good to us. Oh, they

are good. They are tempting. But they are evil.

They are evil. And they are hard for us to turn

away from. Now, everybody in here, your temptations

are all different. And I've said this before.

I'll say it again. It's so easy to look at somebody

else's temptation and say, I don't know why they

just don't stop that. Well, stop for a second

and think about your temptation and say, well,

why don't you just stop that? I don't know why

they don't just stop drinking. They just don't

drink anymore. Well, I don't know why you don't

stop drinking coffee or why you don't stop eating

donuts or why you don't stop smoking cigarettes

or why you don't quit doing the things that you

do. We all have these temptations. We all have

these things that may not always be good for

us. Why don't we just quit them? Because our

vices are not that easy to quit. I mean, I know

because my natural practitioner has told me how

bad sugars are. I know how bad they are. I know

the effects of those things. But guess what I

still do? You know what I did last night right

before I got into bed? I opened me a brand new

pack of fudge -dipped Oreos. And a coffee with

two spoonfuls of sugar and ate it right before

I went to bed. Now, I know that that's not good

for me, so y 'all are saying, well, why don't

you just stop? Because it tastes good. It tastes

good. I like it. And so every day, I say, well,

I'm not going to eat any more sweets. And guess

what I do the next day? I go to the store and

I buy some fudge -dipped Oreos, a pack of Kit

Kats, whatever it is. Scripture says we need

to flee from evil. But oftentimes the evil, the

things that aren't good for us, that aren't healthy

for us, are not that easy to flee from. We are

like a bug being drawn to one of those lights.

Man, it's just sucking us in like a tractor beam.

And so it really takes us seeking God and saying,

okay, God, deliver me from evil. Lead me not

into temptation, but deliver me from the evil

one, dear Lord. I don't want to give in to it,

but I got news for you. Or I think, I'm young,

I don't know. But I think that as long as we

live, that temptations will ever be before us.

I don't think we'll ever get to a point that

we will outgrow that. That we'll just, like,

okay, I'm 75, no more temptations. Nope, I don't

think it works that way. And so there's always

that temptation before us. But man, there's good

instruction here to flee from evil. So we need

to pray, God, help me to flee from evil. Dear

Lord, I know these things are bad, but God, these

temptations are strong. I don't want to do these

things, and sometimes our flesh is stronger than

our spirit. Paul talks about that in Romans.

It's reality. Sometimes there are things that

we know that we shouldn't do, that we don't want

to do. It's like a war waging within us, and

sometimes our flesh wins. Well, praise the Lord

that there is forgiveness. We don't want to just

continue to live in sin willy -nilly, but...

But God knows that we're going to fail, and even

when we do fail, there is forgiveness in that.

So maybe this is good instruction for us today.

Maybe you have been fleeing from evil, but maybe

you've just been running right into it. Sometimes

we just get so caught up in our sin and our stress

and our whatever it is, our addictions, and we

just run into that evil and we just come... running

back into it and running back into it and running

back into it. And maybe we just need to pause

today and say, okay, God, I'm tired of running

into evil. I want to flee from it. Well, if we

would just do these things, these three commands

that we see here, don't consider yourself to

be wise, fear the Lord, turn away from evil.

How much better would our life be? How much better

would our world be? Those are the commands that

we see in this particular couple of verses. Listen

to what the next verse says. Listen to what the

consequence is. This will be healing for your

body and strengthening for your bones. Now, I

don't think, I think it's a symbolic language.

I don't think he's necessarily speaking just

physically here. Not to say that there's not

some physical benefit that occurs when we change

our lifestyle. I mean, if we're fleeing the evil

and we're proud and we're living for ourself

and we're living on the edge and we're doing

all these evil things, then it does have an effect

on us physically. It will affect us. And so certainly

following the commands of God and trying to live

right is going to affect you positively physically

in some ways, but I think that this is symbolic

of something much deeper. I think the healing

that's being spoken of here is not just, okay,

you're going to just feel better in your body.

I think he's saying your whole inner being, everything

within you, your soul, your whole, who you are,

there's going to be a sense of healing and a

sense of peace that's going to come when you

live for the Lord. My translation says this will

be healing for your body. Some of your translations

say this will be healing for your navel, which

is kind of a weird thing to say. Like, what is

he talking about there? That's what makes me

think he's not specifically saying, okay, there's

a problem with your navel, and if you do these

things, that's going to be healed. I think it's

symbolic language. It's the center of you. It's

the center of life. You're in your mother's womb.

You're right there at the navel. It's who you

are. It's your life. There's going to be healing

for your life if you would follow the commands

of God. Now, the opposite is also true. It doesn't

say it, but the opposite is true. That if we

do consider ourselves to be wise, if we don't

fear the Lord and we do run to evil, then it's

going to bring just all kind of troubles in our

life. It's going to bring all kind of anguish

in our life. It's going to destroy us inwardly.

I mean, we're not going to get any rest. We're

just not going to get any peace. And that's why

he gives this command. And maybe some of us,

if we're honest, we look at this and we say,

yeah, I have been wise in my own eyes. And I

have not feared the Lord the way I should. And

I have run to evil way quicker and way more often

than I should have. And I don't want to do that

anymore. Well, praise the Lord. If we see words

like this, God's word, and they convict us, then

let's do what they say. And ask God to help us

to do what they say. Because that's what we really

need is healing for our bodies, is healing for

our souls. The scripture says of Jesus, the coming

Messiah in Isaiah, that by his wounds we are

healed. Not just in a physical sense. Yeah, God

heals us sometimes physically. We pray for people,

and man, God has done miracles. We've seen people

that the doctor said there's no chance, and you

pray for them, and they're healed. And there's

people the doctor says, oh, they're not going

to make it another week. And 40 years later,

they're still going strong. We've seen God work,

and we've seen physical healing. That certainly

is something that God does, but he heals us in

so much deeper of a way. That when Jesus Christ

came, he didn't just come so we could say, okay,

God, you know, heal my toe. It hurts. I stumped

it. He came so that he could heal our sinfulness.

So that we could be washed as white as snow.

If we would just seek him, if we would call out

to him, that he'd bring healing to us. Maybe

there's some of you today that are sitting in

this room or some of you that are watching online.

And man, you just, you feel sick, spiritually

sick. Same way you do if you eat too much sugar

and the things that your natural practitioner

tells you not to eat. You feel it in your body

and we feel it in our spirit. When we don't follow

the commands of God's word, we feel it in our

spirit. We feel unhealthy. And what we do in

the real world is we don't actually want to do

anything about it. So we just go to the doctor

and say, could you just give me a pill? I don't

actually want to change my lifestyle. I just

want to do the same horrible things I've been

doing. Could you just give me a pill so that

I can just keep doing this junk? And they do,

and then that pill makes us feel bad. And then

we say, well, could you just give me another

pill? But that's not healing us. And the only

way that we can be healed is through Jesus Christ.

That's the only way spiritually we can be healed.

There's no easy way out. It's not like, oh, I'm

going to keep doing all these evil things, and

I'm going to keep going to church, and I'll put

a little extra money in the plate, and I'll sing

in the choir, and these things are just going

to make me feel good enough that I can keep doing

the evil, and I'll just keep getting by. But

there's no healing in that. We feel it in our

soul. We feel that burden and that pain, and

we just feel spiritually sick. But the cure to

that is Jesus Christ. That's God's wisdom. Don't

consider yourself to be wise. What does Scripture

say that wisdom is? Jesus Christ and the cross

crucified and resurrected. That's wisdom. That's

healing. That's healing for our bones, it says.

That's healing to our core. That's the kind of

healing some of you need today. You're just tired

of being sick. You're tired of being worn down.

You're tired of being burdened. You're tired

of giving in to the sin. You're tired. And you

just want to be restored. You want to be made

new. You want to be made whole. You need to be

healed. And you can be made healed if you follow

the commands of God. The command, don't consider

yourself to be wise. Fear the Lord and flee from

evil. We follow that command. The consequence,

God's going to bring healing. to you. We see

God talk about this throughout scripture that

he wants to bring healing to his people. Sometimes

we see it in a very physical sense. Sometimes

we physically see it. We see it a lot. Old Testament,

New Testament, God healing people. But the kind

of healing that God really desires to do in your

life is so much deeper than that. If you would

only seek out and call on him today. If we as

Christians would seek God and call on him today,

if people in our world would seek him and call

out to him today, there'd be healing in our land.

We see in 2 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles 7, verse

2 Chronicles 7:14

14, God says here, if my people who are called

by my name, will humble themselves and pray and

seek my face and turn from their wicked ways,

then I will hear from heaven and I will forgive

their sin and I will heal their land. Man, do

we got some lands in our world that need to be

healed today? We got some lands that need to

be healed today. But notice who this verse is

to. He doesn't just say if all the people of

the planet would call out to me, which, man,

maybe they will. That'd be great. God certainly

would be glad to see that happen. But where does

it start? He says, if my people who are called

by my name. It starts with you and I that are

Christians. Those of us who have trusted in Jesus

Christ. It starts with us. It starts with us

recognizing if we become wise in our own eyes

and we've stopped fearing the Lord because Lord

knows that God's people Israel did that a lot

of times. Man, they considered their self to

be wise a lot. God delivered them out of Egypt.

Man, it was all good. They were slaves for a

long time. He delivered them out. And how wise

were they? They were so wise that as soon as

they got out, they said, hey, let's make a God.

The God that got us out of Egypt, let's make

it with all the gold that we got. That's how

wise they were. They didn't have any fear for

God. And man, they suffered a lot of bad consequences

because they did consider themselves to be wise

and they didn't fear the Lord. Man, God was still

patient with them and God was still commanding

them. Even in 2 Chronicles, he was still saying,

boy, if my people who are called by my name would

seek me, I'd forgive their sins and I'd heal

their land. I thank God. It's still the same

God today. I know this verse was to Israel back

in the day. I get that. But I think people today,

who are God's people, if they would call out

to him, he still heals our prayers. He still

forgives our sins. And he still brings healing

to our bodies, to our souls. One more scripture.

Jeremiah chapter 17, verse 14. Listen to this

Jeremiah 17:14

prayer. Of Jeremiah. Heal me Lord. And I will

be healed. Save me and I will be saved. For you.

Are my praise. What a simple. Simple prayer.

Maybe that needs to be our prayer today. Jeremiah

boy. He was right up in the middle of it. God's

people were. Pretty bad. He's telling them God's

word. But in the midst of that, Jeremiah takes

this moment not to say, God, all these people

around me are bad. Our world is bad. It's falling

apart because of all these evil people. In the

midst of all that he's saying, he takes a moment

in this verse and he says, heal me, Lord, and

I will be healed. Save me, Lord. Maybe that needs

to be our prayer today. Maybe there's some repentance

that needs to take place today. Maybe today God

has humbled us through his word. We say, oh man,

I've considered myself to be wise for far too

long. And God, I haven't feared you. But God,

I repent. I humble myself before you, dear Lord.

I stand in fear in your presence, God. And God,

I don't want to flee from you anymore and run

to evil. God, I want to flee from evil and run

to you. And the scripture says that if we would

do that, God will bring healing to us. Let's

pray. God, we thank you for these words. We thank

you for this command today. We thank you for

the beautiful promise that accompanies it, dear

Lord. That if we would seek you and humble ourselves

before you, dear Lord, and run to you, God, that

we would experience healing in our lives. Dear

Lord, maybe there's some today and... And they

have rejected you. They have heard about you.

And they have just totally rejected your word,

the truth of your word. And they have rejected

Jesus Christ. They have considered themselves

to be wise in their own eyes, dear Lord. They

have never seen a need for you or even acknowledged

your existence. But God, maybe there was something

in your word today. Maybe in some way your Holy

Spirit has pricked them. And God, maybe you're

working in their heart right now. I pray, dear

Lord, that they would repent, that they would

turn from their sin, that they would ask you

to forgive them now, dear Lord. That they would

know that the only wisdom that there is in this

world is Jesus Christ. That's the only wisdom

that's going to give them peace and deliverance,

dear Lord. So I pray, God, that you would help

that person to humble themselves before you today.

Follow Jesus Christ. God, maybe there are some

in this room today and they're yours and they

have trusted you. But maybe they're just in a

bad spot in their life. And maybe they have become

a little proud, dear Lord. And they have really

taught themselves to be wise. And man, they have

stumbled because of it. Maybe, dear Lord, there

are some of us in here and we just have not really

feared you. We just... have made you into something

that Scripture says you're not, dear Lord. We've

kind of tried to make and mold you into the God

we want you to be. But God, we have to read your

word and what it says is what it means and what

it says is what is true, dear Lord. And what

it says of you is true, God. So forgive us if

we have not feared you and humbled ourselves

before you. God, maybe there are some that have

really been struggling with with evil, with temptation,

with that sinful desire in their life. God, maybe

they've just been running to it too many times.

I pray, God, today that you would help them just

to stop running, to just turn around and run

the other direction, dear Lord, that they would

run toward you. God, I pray for healing today.

There are some, dear Lord, And in their spirit,

they are just sick and they are tired and they

are worn out. I pray, God, today that they would

just humble themselves before you, that they

would seek you, that they would call out to you.

That they would find healing in their souls today.

That they would find healing in their hearts

today. And I ask these things in Jesus' name.

Amen.