Silas
Beloved of All
Your desire to seek the Lord for wisdom in this season is right and good, and it is encouraging to see you wanting to bring every area before Him in prayer and fasting.
Scripture teaches that wisdom is the principal thing. Knowledge gives us facts, but wisdom is the right application of knowledge, the ability to use what we know in a way that honors God. The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord, a reverent heart that wants to walk in His ways. Wisdom is spoken of as crying out in the open for all to hear, and in Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. When you ask God for wisdom, He gives generously without reproach. Like Solomon, who asked for an understanding heart to lead well rather than asking for riches or honor, you can come to God simply and ask, and He delights to give wisdom that preserves and keeps you. This is not the wisdom of this world, which is earthly and leads to envy and strife, but the wisdom from above which is pure and peaceable and produces a life of purity and faithfulness. Pray as Paul prayed in Colossians that you would be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord.
Your heart for fasting according to Isaiah 58 is also biblical. The fasting God chooses is more than abstaining from food. It is a fasting joined to a life of obedience and mercy, to loose bonds of wickedness, to share with the hungry, to care for those in need, and to turn from selfish ways. When fasting is offered with that heart, God promises to answer. He says your light will break forth, your health will spring forth, He will guide you continually and restore what is broken. So as you set apart this season, let it be not only denial of the body but a drawing near to the Lord with a humble and upright heart, asking Him to search you and align your motives with His righteousness.
Concerning health and bodily discipline, it is right to give thanks to the Lord who forgives and heals and renews your strength, as Psalm 103 declares. Caring for the body has some value, and discipline in exercise can be useful, but Scripture reminds us that godliness has value for all things, both for this life and the life to come. Keep the body under discipline as a servant, but let the greater pursuit be spiritual health, walking in the word of the Lord and meditating on it, for that is what truly converts the soul and sustains you.
For the many decisions before you, direction about health, stewardship of the body, time with your son, a possible move, and opportunities for ministry, wisdom will help you choose well. Wisdom protects you from being led astray by knowledge alone. Bring each matter to the Lord and ask Him to show you not only what is possible, but what is wise and right. Part of wisdom is patience, learning to wait upon God rather than pressing for immediate fulfillment. God often uses waiting to develop endurance and to make His will clear.
You also asked for protection from temptation, deception, falsehood, fear, and the evil one. Temptation itself is common to everyone and is not sin in itself. Even Jesus was tempted. Sin comes when we yield to the desire of the flesh and turn aside from God's path. Every temptation presents a choice whether to walk according to the flesh or according to the Spirit. The enemy often suggests a shortcut to immediate satisfaction if you will step outside God's way. That is why Jesus taught us to pray, lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil, and prayed Himself that the Father would keep His people from the evil one. You can pray with confidence for that keeping power, for discernment to recognize lies and deception, and for a pure heart that does not boast in its own understanding but rests in truth. The Lord is faithful to guard those who walk humbly before Him and seek to live free from falsehood and sin.
May the Lord grant you wisdom and understanding in abundance, guide you clearly as you fast and pray, strengthen you in body and spirit, and keep you from every snare. May He establish your steps, bless your time with your son, direct your decisions about work and ministry, and make your service fruitful as you work together with Christ, proving by purity, kindness, and sincere love that your ministry is of Him. Keep asking, keep seeking, and trust that He who has begun a good work will lead you in the path of wisdom.
Scripture teaches that wisdom is the principal thing. Knowledge gives us facts, but wisdom is the right application of knowledge, the ability to use what we know in a way that honors God. The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord, a reverent heart that wants to walk in His ways. Wisdom is spoken of as crying out in the open for all to hear, and in Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. When you ask God for wisdom, He gives generously without reproach. Like Solomon, who asked for an understanding heart to lead well rather than asking for riches or honor, you can come to God simply and ask, and He delights to give wisdom that preserves and keeps you. This is not the wisdom of this world, which is earthly and leads to envy and strife, but the wisdom from above which is pure and peaceable and produces a life of purity and faithfulness. Pray as Paul prayed in Colossians that you would be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord.
Your heart for fasting according to Isaiah 58 is also biblical. The fasting God chooses is more than abstaining from food. It is a fasting joined to a life of obedience and mercy, to loose bonds of wickedness, to share with the hungry, to care for those in need, and to turn from selfish ways. When fasting is offered with that heart, God promises to answer. He says your light will break forth, your health will spring forth, He will guide you continually and restore what is broken. So as you set apart this season, let it be not only denial of the body but a drawing near to the Lord with a humble and upright heart, asking Him to search you and align your motives with His righteousness.
Concerning health and bodily discipline, it is right to give thanks to the Lord who forgives and heals and renews your strength, as Psalm 103 declares. Caring for the body has some value, and discipline in exercise can be useful, but Scripture reminds us that godliness has value for all things, both for this life and the life to come. Keep the body under discipline as a servant, but let the greater pursuit be spiritual health, walking in the word of the Lord and meditating on it, for that is what truly converts the soul and sustains you.
For the many decisions before you, direction about health, stewardship of the body, time with your son, a possible move, and opportunities for ministry, wisdom will help you choose well. Wisdom protects you from being led astray by knowledge alone. Bring each matter to the Lord and ask Him to show you not only what is possible, but what is wise and right. Part of wisdom is patience, learning to wait upon God rather than pressing for immediate fulfillment. God often uses waiting to develop endurance and to make His will clear.
You also asked for protection from temptation, deception, falsehood, fear, and the evil one. Temptation itself is common to everyone and is not sin in itself. Even Jesus was tempted. Sin comes when we yield to the desire of the flesh and turn aside from God's path. Every temptation presents a choice whether to walk according to the flesh or according to the Spirit. The enemy often suggests a shortcut to immediate satisfaction if you will step outside God's way. That is why Jesus taught us to pray, lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil, and prayed Himself that the Father would keep His people from the evil one. You can pray with confidence for that keeping power, for discernment to recognize lies and deception, and for a pure heart that does not boast in its own understanding but rests in truth. The Lord is faithful to guard those who walk humbly before Him and seek to live free from falsehood and sin.
May the Lord grant you wisdom and understanding in abundance, guide you clearly as you fast and pray, strengthen you in body and spirit, and keep you from every snare. May He establish your steps, bless your time with your son, direct your decisions about work and ministry, and make your service fruitful as you work together with Christ, proving by purity, kindness, and sincere love that your ministry is of Him. Keep asking, keep seeking, and trust that He who has begun a good work will lead you in the path of wisdom.
