September 16 – What is God teaching you?

“Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure.” – Proverbs 4:26

Scripture reading: Proverbs 3:1-12

Every day, I like to make a list of things that need to be accomplished. It feels great to put a check mark beside a task I’ve completed and have the satisfaction that I am closer to completing the tasks for the day. Here’s the problem, Bible reading and prayer can easily become a task to be check marked, perhaps forgotten as soon as it is completed, as you go on with your day.

A good accountability partner might ask you weekly, what God your Father is teaching you? All that Bible reading and time spent in prayer must be leading you somewhere. Directed by the Holy Spirit, prayer times are not one-sided conversations. When believers pray, they engage in dialogue with the Almighty. When you read a Psalm as a prayer, it is God speaking to you. When you recite it, take His gift of words, and pray these back to Him in petition, praise, or pleading.

The LORD your God invites you to ponder your ways. Are you laser focused on following Jesus? Are you treating God like a vending machine: insert prayer and expect what you prayed for? Or are you humbling yourself before the One Who Lives in Unapproachable Light? The times you spend reading Scripture, listening to sermons, and being in prayer, along with the circumstances of your life, are being used by the Holy Spirit to instruct you in godliness. So, what is God teaching you? Ask your accountability partner. When asked, be prepared to respond.

Suggestions for prayer

Pray that God will, by His Spirit, help you to pause and really reflect on the Bible passages you’ve been reading and meditate on what it is that God is showing you.

Rev. Richard T. Vander Vaart and his wife Carolyn are now in their seventh year living in Moncton, NB. with Redemption Prison Ministry as a pastor in the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church of Canada. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. This devotional is made available by the Nearer To God Devotional team, who also make available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com