"The heart of the righteous studieth to answer: but the mouth of the wicked poureth out evil things.
The Lord is far from the wicked: but he heareth the prayer of the righteous.
The light of the eyes rejoiceth the heart: and a good report maketh the bones fat.
The ear that heareth the reproof of life abideth among the wise.
He that refuseth instruction despiseth his own soul: but he that heareth reproof getteth understanding."
Proverbs 15:28-32
This goes along with the idea of watching what we say, and think... probably some of the reason that God hears the prayer of the righteous and is far from the wicked is that first verse... the righteous are studying and working at finding an answer and asking the right questions, and the wicked are asking for things that would often make things worse. Unfortunately, we probably are in both of these camps sometimes, so the goal here is to move more towards what God explains to us is the righteous way, and farther away from what God explains is the wicked way: we need to be less thoughtless in our prayers and really study to find out the answers that we seek. The Lord is not only more likely to answer, but we are more likely to understand an answer when we are engaged with the topic and actively learning about it.
The reproof part is important too. When we think that we have life figured out, it is easy to be blind to our own faults, or to want to blame our mistakes on something or someone else. Faults and mistakes aren't something to be ashamed of, but they are things that we need to own if we are going to be able to improve. When we pray, God is always going to let us know how much he loves us, because he does, more than we can imagine. But sometimes too, he is going to point out that we could and should be doing better in certain areas. It isn't about a guilt trip or making us feel bad... it is so that we can learn and improve, and work on getting it right the next time... moving from the wicked type of actions to the righteous type of actions. :)
We all are learning different lessons at different speeds and with different obstacles in the way, so it's often unwise to reprove others... and maybe that is what the middle verse is about. We don't know the circumstances of other people's lives, so in general we don't know enough to offer judgement or reproof. We leave that to God. But we can totally share an approving look, a compliment, kindness and other positive reinforcement, letting people know when we think they are doing great, and just that we like them. :) It's wise to focus on the positive, but of course when life (God) teaches us a lesson, we should all be listening, and learning.
Today, let's study up in order to get our answers, and to offer answers to others. Let's help other people know they are loved and when they are doing great. And let's listen when we are corrected, and try to learn and grow from that instead of getting grumpy because we aren't perfect yet. :)
The Lord is far from the wicked: but he heareth the prayer of the righteous.
The light of the eyes rejoiceth the heart: and a good report maketh the bones fat.
The ear that heareth the reproof of life abideth among the wise.
He that refuseth instruction despiseth his own soul: but he that heareth reproof getteth understanding."
Proverbs 15:28-32
This goes along with the idea of watching what we say, and think... probably some of the reason that God hears the prayer of the righteous and is far from the wicked is that first verse... the righteous are studying and working at finding an answer and asking the right questions, and the wicked are asking for things that would often make things worse. Unfortunately, we probably are in both of these camps sometimes, so the goal here is to move more towards what God explains to us is the righteous way, and farther away from what God explains is the wicked way: we need to be less thoughtless in our prayers and really study to find out the answers that we seek. The Lord is not only more likely to answer, but we are more likely to understand an answer when we are engaged with the topic and actively learning about it.
The reproof part is important too. When we think that we have life figured out, it is easy to be blind to our own faults, or to want to blame our mistakes on something or someone else. Faults and mistakes aren't something to be ashamed of, but they are things that we need to own if we are going to be able to improve. When we pray, God is always going to let us know how much he loves us, because he does, more than we can imagine. But sometimes too, he is going to point out that we could and should be doing better in certain areas. It isn't about a guilt trip or making us feel bad... it is so that we can learn and improve, and work on getting it right the next time... moving from the wicked type of actions to the righteous type of actions. :)
We all are learning different lessons at different speeds and with different obstacles in the way, so it's often unwise to reprove others... and maybe that is what the middle verse is about. We don't know the circumstances of other people's lives, so in general we don't know enough to offer judgement or reproof. We leave that to God. But we can totally share an approving look, a compliment, kindness and other positive reinforcement, letting people know when we think they are doing great, and just that we like them. :) It's wise to focus on the positive, but of course when life (God) teaches us a lesson, we should all be listening, and learning.
Today, let's study up in order to get our answers, and to offer answers to others. Let's help other people know they are loved and when they are doing great. And let's listen when we are corrected, and try to learn and grow from that instead of getting grumpy because we aren't perfect yet. :)
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