No [actual] evil, misfortune, or calamity shall come upon the righteous, but the wicked shall be filled with evil, misfortune, and calamity. (Proverbs Chapter 12, Amplified Bible)
Oh Lord, grant me the wisdom to know and avoid evil, that I may live a righteous life. I urgently need this blessing to avoid the misfortune and calamity that assail me.
For more success, better health, greater happiness, and a finer path to eternity, mine the Book of Proverbs. It is a gold mine of buried wisdom.
Here are some tips that help me:
These are some things that help me. Please feel free to add a comment with tips that work for you.
22 How long, O simple ones [open to evil], will you love being simple? And the scoffers delight in scoffing and [self-confident] fools hate knowledge?
23 If you will turn (repent) and give heed to my reproof, behold, I [Wisdom] will pour out my spirit upon you, I will make my words known to you. (Proverbs 1, Amplified Bible)
I count myself among the simple ones but I do not love it. I do not delight in scoffing. I love knowledge rather than hate it. Even so the knowledge I need often escapes me. So I do repent. I will heed reproof. I want a continual flow of the spirit of wisdom. I want to know her words. The alternative is bone chilling.
24 Because I have called and you have refused [to answer], have stretched out my hand and no man has heeded it,
25 And you treated as nothing all my counsel and would accept none of my reproof,
26 I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when the thing comes that shall cause you terror and panic
27 When your panic comes as a storm and desolation and your calamity comes on as a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you.
28 Then will they call upon me [Wisdom] but I will not answer; they will seek me early and diligently but they will not find me.
29 Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the reverent and worshipful fear of the Lord,
30 Would accept none of my counsel, and despised all my reproof,
31 Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way and be satiated with their own devices.
32 For the backsliding of the simple shall slay them, and the careless ease of [self-confident] fools shall destroy them.
33 But whoso hearkens to me [Wisdom] shall dwell securely and in confident trust and shall be quiet, without fear or dread of evil. (Book of Proverbs, Chapter 1, Amplified Version)
Oh, Lord, please remind me to always give your Wisdom heads up attention and instant obedience.
Proverbs, Chapter 19, Verse 25 (Amplified Bible)
Strike a scoffer, and the simple will learn prudence; reprove a man of understanding, and he will increase in knowledge.
In US society strike a scoffer and you end up in jail. Reprove a man of understanding, and he may take you to court. Foolishness advances. Knowledge retreats. Lord, help me beat the odds. May I accept reproof. May I be a man of understanding, not a scoffing simpleton.
Proverbs, Chapter 14, Verse 6 (Amplified Bible)
A scoffer seeks Wisdom in vain [for his very attitude blinds and deafens him to it], but knowledge is easy to him who [being teachable] understands.
I do know a scoffer or two, but am I one? Don’t want to be blind and deaf to wisdom! Like a pastor I knew once said, “The awful thing about [self] deception is it’s so deceptive.”
Proverbs 24
5 A wise man is strong and is better than a strong man, and a man of knowledge increases and strengthens his power;
6 For by wise counsel you can wage your war, and in an abundance of counselors there is victory and safety.
Lord, lead me to the abundance of counselors I need for victory and safety!
Proverbs 23, Verse 12
Apply your mind to instruction and correction and your ears to words of knowledge.
What’s the best way to put this one into practice?