Study 11: What shall I say?

Proverbs 31:26. “She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue.”

Proverbs 1:7. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” This means – the respect and awe of God’s character is the start of us having wisdom. This causes us to obey His instructions, not just because we want to please our Heavenly Father, but because we know it is best for us and our character – in fact our whole person.

Psalm 11:3. Delight in the fear of the Lord.

Psalm 19:9. The fear of the Lord is pure.

Psalm 25:14. Friendship with God is for those who fear Him.

Psalm 33:1-8. Let all the earth fear the Lord.

Psalm 34:9,11. God will teach us to fear the Lord.

Psalm 90:11. For Your wrath is as great as the fear that is due to You.

Psalm 128:1-4. Blessed are all who fear Him.

Psalm 147:11. He delights in those who fear Him

The only way to speak with wisdom is to fill our hearts with the Word of God. James 1:5 says “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt………..”

The person who has wisdom according to Proverbs:

1. Is loyal, Proverbs 3:3.
2. Is kind, Proverbs 3:3.
3. Trusts in the Lord, Proverbs 3:4-5.
4. Puts God first, Proverbs 3:4-5.
5. Turns his back on evil, Proverbs 3:7-8.
6. Knows right from wrong, Proverbs 3:13-15.
7. Listens and learns, Proverbs 4:10-11.
8. Does what is right, Proverbs 4:18-19.
9. Knows where to find knowledge and understanding, Proverbs 8:1-5.
10. Hates pride, arrogance, corruption, and deceit, Proverbs 8:13.
11. Respects and fears God, Proverbs 8:13.
12. Gives good advice and has common sense, Proverbs 8:14-16.
13. Loves correction and is teachable Proverbs 9:7-9.
14. Knows God, Proverbs 9:10.

Benefits of wisdom according to Proverbs:

1. Long, satisfying life, Proverbs 3:1-2.
2. Favour with God and people, Proverbs 3:4-5.
3. Reputation for good judgement, Proverbs 3:4-5.
4. Success, Proverbs 3:6.
5. Health, Vitality, Proverbs 3:7-8.
6. Riches, honour, pleasure, peace, Proverbs 3:16-17.
7. Protection, Proverbs 3:24-26.
8. Riches, honour, Proverbs 8:18.
9. Justice, Proverbs 8:18.
10. Righteousness, Proverbs 8:18.
11. Life, Proverbs 8:35.
12. God’s favour, Proverbs 8:35.
13. Constant learning, Proverbs 9:7-10.
14. Understanding. Proverbs 9:10.

The ‘Joyful Woman’ knew not only that she had to keep her mouth shut at times, as words are so powerful. When she did speak it had to be with the wisdom of God, not with her own bright ideas or opinions.

“The power of death and life is in the tongue” Proverbs 18:21 so we must learn to be in charge of everything we say. It is “out of the abundance of our hearts that we speak”, Matthew 12:34. We have to make sure, that what we have in our hearts in abundance is what is godly and pure.

“Avoid godless chatter because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly” 2 Timothy 2:16. “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in Your sight, 0 Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer” Psalm 19:14. This should be our prayer daily.

We must train ourselves to speak only what God wants us to say, to build others up, never to tear them down. Even if we are in a position to give counsel, to children or friends, we must always remember the positive and be gentle when we say it. If we think like Jesus (Philippians 2:5) then it is possible to speak with kindness and give wise counsel. Here are some pointers to thinking like Christ.

1. Avoid anger and hatred. Matthew 5:21-22
 2. Have right relationships with God and others. Matthew 5:23-26.
 3. Keep our hearts from lusting and be faithful. Matthew 5:27-30
 4. Live out our marriage commitments. Matthew 5:31-32.
5. Avoid casual and irresponsible commitments to God. Matthew 5:33-37.
6. Show mercy and love to others Matthew 5:38-47

God spoke into the ‘empty waste and darkness’ and created the whole world, Genesis 1:1-5 Speech has always been the power tool to create situations.

Jesus spoke everything He did into being, like the healings, feeding of the people, raising from the dead, John 11:14,23,25,26; John 11:40-44. He spoke to demons with authority Mark 5:8-13. He spoke of His death Mark 8:31; Mark 9:30. To walk in healing we have to make sure we speak the Word in faith, moment by moment. The moment we have a symptom and speak it out that establishes the illness, and the focus is increased on the symptoms and the battle becomes harder. The centurion, Matthew 8:5-10 and the woman with the issue of blood, Mark 5:28, knew the power of the Word for healing. Peter walked on water in the power of the Word of Jesus ‘come’, Matthew 14:24-32. He only sank when looking at the symptoms of the storm. Even though he was sinking Jesus still saved him!! This is such an encouragement for us.

We spoke when we were saved, that is how our salvation was (and is) established. “….If you confess with your mouth “Jesus is Lord” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved …….”, Romans 10:8-13. This is how we started out Christian life so we need to walk the journey in the same way, speak and believe, speak and believe!

Zachariah did not speak after he was told that Elizabeth would have a son, he became dumb until after the birth to protect God’s plan, to bring John the Baptist into the world to prepare the way for His Son, Jesus. Luke 1:11,19,20.

The Shunammite woman kept her mouth shut when her God given son died, until Elisha prayed and her son was raised from the dead, 2 Kings 4:8-37.

Whatever we are involved in; life, relationships, work, we need to remember that the power to make it fruitful and successful is right between our teeth.

Share this lesson with a close friend or someone you live with and ask them to help you speak right while you are putting the Word in your heart.

 

Home Challenges for Joyful Woman No:11

Read the list, “The person who has wisdom”

1. Are there any more points that describe you after doing the previous study?

Read the list, “The benefits of wisdom”

2. Which new areas are you believing God for ? Write out the promises here, and ask God for wisdom according to James 1:5-8

3. Read the rest of the notes about the ‘Joyful Woman’ What has challenged you the most?

 

4. Can you see the thread of God’s example of speech and how powerful it is? Can you give an example from your own experience where you found the Word really powerful? If Jesus needed to speak the Word how much more do we!

 

Proverbs 31:15. “She rises while yet it is night and gets spiritual food for her household…”

5. In your opinion what is spiritual food? Who does she feed?

6. Give a few points about how it is possible for us to ‘let not our hearts be troubled’? John 14:1.

7. How do we come to the Father? John 14:6

8. What do we have to do first to enable us to keep His commandments? Then what is the result for us? John 14:15-17

9. In Luke 11:1 we read that Jesus’ disciples asked “How should we pray?” Look at how Jesus replied to them. In Matthew 6:5-15 the picture is made even clearer. There are clearly 4 “Do not’s” and 4 “Do’s” in this short passage. Complete each passage by writing the missing words.

         Do not be like the (verse 5) …………

         Do not (verse 7-8) ………………….

         Do not be like the (verse 7-8) ……….

         Do not (verse 14-15) …………………

               BUT when you pray ……………..

         Do go (verse 6) ……………………..

         Do close the (verse 6) ……………….

         Do forgive (verse 14-15) ………………..

         Do pray to your Father (verse 6) ………

 

10. Give the most important reason for praying in your opinion, and what do you pray for the most?.

 

11. What is the most common tactic that the devil uses to stop you communicating with your Father? What plan has God given you to have victory in this area of your life?

 

12. Read Colossians 1:3-11. Would you like to pray this way for someone on a regular basis?

 

13. What key instruction does Jesus give in His teaching about prayer? John16:16-33

 

14. Consider how Jesus prayed for Himself prior to the Crucifixion. What does it tell you about His relationship with His Father? Also how did He see the job He had done for His Father? John 17:1-5

 

15. Read how Jesus prayed for His disciples. What did He pray specifically? John 17:6-18

 

16. What are you doing personally to enable His prayer to be answered?

 

17. Have you been ‘burdened’ by a situation or person? Could you pray like Jesus prayed and believe the whole power of heaven is going to answer? Can you now cast that burden onto the Lord, and trust Him with it?

 

Memory Verse: “May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent Me and have loved them even as You have loved Me” John 17:23

 

   18.  Answer True or False to the following questions. If you can give verses from the Bible to back up your answer that will help you.