Considering what the Prophets Saw
in the Heavens
...
WISDOM IS PERSONIFIED in Proverbs 8, just as was the eternal WORD, the Lógos, in the beginning verses of John’s Gospel. Cannot we see them both as the same? They are both one with the Father, they are both eternal, they were both Agents in the making of the world. John spoke this clearly: And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth—John 1:1 14. 4. Paul said that Christ Jesus, Whom John called the Lógos, is made unto us Wisdom (I Corinthians 1:30 30).
DAY 1—Wisdom makes appeal to our souls.
Does not wisdom call out? Does not understanding raise her voice? On the heights along the way, where the paths meet, she takes her stand; beside the gates leading into the city, at the entrances, she cries aloud: “To you, O men, I call out; I raise
My voice to all mankind. You who are simple (naïve and open-minded), gain prudence; you who are foolish, gain understanding…”—Proverbs 8:1-5 [NIV]New International Version
► LORD, teach me, and these I hold before You, to wait for the understanding Your Wisdom will bring. Too often I’ve been the fool. Even when I thought I was the wise one, it turned out I was under a spirit of deception. I praise You for Your mercy that rescued me from this foolishness.
A wise person will continue throughout life seeking wisdom.
Proverbs 1:5; Proverbs 9:9; Proverbs 12:1
DAY 2—We give our hearts over to listen for the voice of Wisdom.
(Wisdom continues,) “…Listen, for I have worthy things to say; I open My lips to speak what is right. My mouth speaks what is true, for My lips detest wickedness. All the words of My mouth are just; none of them is crooked or perverse.”—Proverbs 8:6-8 [NIV]
► LORD, by Your Spirit tune my spirit to learn all You will teach me. I’m facing things today that are too great for me. My understanding is poor. I need the Wisdom that is born of Your Spirit. Then, please give me the enabling grace to obey what Your Spirit will teach me.
God’s wisdom is perfect.—Psalm 19:7-11
DAY 3—Nothing out-values God’s Wisdom.
(Wisdom continues,) “…My words are plain to anyone with understanding, clear to those who want to learn. Choose My instruction rather than silver, and knowledge over pure gold. For wisdom is far more valuable than rubies. Nothing you desire can be compared with it.”—Proverbs 8:9-11[NLT]New Living Translation
► FATHER, I regret those times when I let greed and dishonesty influence me. Even when I allowed those things to rule me, I knew I was wrong. I wanted to be free, but my principles of life were too low. I praise You for the clean heart and the new way of looking at life that Your are giving me now.
All the things that may be desired are not to be compared with Wisdom.
Job 28:15-19
DAY 4—Learning to Live with Wisdom
“I, Wisdom, live with understanding, and I find much learning and careful thinking. The fear of the Lord is to hate what is sinful. I hate pride, self-love, the way of sin, and lies. I have teaching and wisdom. I have understanding and power. By me kings rule and rulers make laws that are fair. By me rulers rule, and all the princes rule on the earth. I love those who love me, and those who look for me with much desire will find me.”—Proverbs 8:12-17 [NLV]New Life Version
► DEAR FATHER, my desire is that I might live every day with Your Wisdom at work in me. Oh, help me! I sometimes try to think of evil ways to get out of my trouble. Now I renounce this. Let Your Spirit cleanse my spirit of this life. Make me into a person of wisdom.
The Wisdom that God gives is exceedingly high.
Isaiah 55:8,9; Romans 11:33
DAY 5—The Benefits of Wisdom and Where to Find It
(Wisdom continues her appeal to the simple of heart): Riches and honor are with me, enduring wealth and righteousness. My fruit is better than gold, even pure gold, and my yield better than choicest silver. I walk in the way of righteousness In the midst of the paths of justice, to endow those who love me with wealth, that I may fill their treasuries.—Proverbs 8:18-21 [NSAB]New American Standard Bible
► DEAR FATHER, with Your Wisdom make me useful for You in Your Kingdom. Fill me with desire for the wealth Wisdom brings. It’s not gold and silver I desire, but the wealth of wisdom that will enable me to make my life right for You. For this, I give my heart, and my spirit, over to the work of Your Spirit.
When we exalt Wisdom, honor comes.—Proverbs 4:7-9; James 2:5
DAY 6—Wisdom is eternal
“…The LORD possessed Me at the beginning of His way, before His works of old. From everlasting I was established, from the beginning, from the earliest times of the earth. When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no springs abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled, before the hills I was brought forth; while He had not yet made the earth and the fields, nor the first dust of the world.” —Proverbs 8:22-26 [NASB]New American Standard Bible
► PRECIOUS LORD, Please bring forth in us the understanding of how we can come through this trial upon me and my family. What an amazing thing that Your Wisdom has reached all the way from eternity to where we are right now! Oh, how we stand in need of it! Let it all work out to Your glory.
Jesus is the Wisdom by Whom the Lord created the world.
John 1:1-4; Proverbs 3:19; Colossians 1:17
DAY 7—The Lord God delighted in Wisdom when He made the world.
“…I was there when He established the heavens, when He drew the horizon on the oceans. I was there when he set the clouds above, when He established the deep fountains of the earth. I was there when He set the limits of the seas, so they would not spread beyond their boundaries. And when He marked off the earth's foundations, I was the Architect at His side. I was His constant delight, rejoicing always in His presence. And how happy I was with what He created—His wide world and all the human family!”—Proverbs 8:27-31 [NLT]New Living Translation
► FATHER, it is almost more than my little mind can comprehend, but I receive it anyway! The same Wisdom that worked with You in creating the earth is now ready to work in me! …in us! …in the family You have given me! Oh, how we need this precious Gift of Your Spirit!
We who were once separated from God by sin are now reconciled to walk in the wisdom and grace of His Kingdom.—Colossians 1:9-22
DAY 8—The Wisdom that is eternal makes its final appeal to us.
“…So now, O sons, listen to Me, for happy are they who keep My ways. Hear My teaching and be wise. Do not turn away from it. Happy is the man who listens to Me, watching every day at My gates, waiting beside My doors. For he who finds Me finds life, and gets favor from the Lord. But he who misses Me hurts himself. All those who hate Me love death.”—Proverbs 8:32-36 [NLT].
► FATHER, I can hear the call of Wisdom. Never have I felt a greater need for its work in my own life. Please let its power overrule the weak way of thinking and responding that has tried to rule me lately. Oh, LORD! I deeply desire the rule of Your Wisdom, —in me, —in these I hold dear, —in these in our government.
Whoever does evil hates the light of Wisdom.—John 3:19,20
GOD BEGAN His work with the Spirit of Wisdom. It is eternal with Him—a divine Power. When the Prophet Ezekiel beheld his visions, he saw the Spirit at work in the living creatures of heaven with a release of Spirit so powerful it could only be described as fire. With the help of the Holy Spirit, we will spend some days with Ezekiel, and then behold again the holy fire that came on the early believers in Jerusalem in the Upper Room.
DAY 9—Ezekiel had a vision of the fire of God working in the heavens, coming to earth.— On July 31 of my thirtieth year, while I was with the Judean exiles beside the Kebar River in Babylon, the heavens were opened to me, and I saw visions of God. This happened during the fifth year of King Jehoiachin's captivity. The LORD gave a message to me, Ezekiel son of Buzi, a priest, there beside the Kebar River in the land of the Babylonians, and I felt the hand of the LORD take hold of me. As I looked, I saw a great storm coming toward me from the north, driving before it a huge cloud that flashed with lightning and shone with brilliant light. The fire inside the cloud glowed like gleaming amber.—Ezekiel 1:1-4 [NLT]New Living Translation
► LORD, I’m not looking for a vision like the one Ezekiel had. Neither can I fully understand his. But I do see that he saw Your Spirit at work in all living creation. Please let me see Your Spirit working in the lives of these people I know. Whether I see the fire or not, let me see the result of Your Spirit’s fire in them.
When Moses received instructions for building the Lord a dwelling place on earth, he spent forty days in the fire of the Lord.—Exodus 24:15-18
DAY 10—Ezekiel’s vision combined all living creation.
From the center of the cloud came four living beings that looked human, except that each had four faces and two pairs of wings. Their legs were straight like human legs, but their feet were split like calves’ feet and shone like burnished bronze. Beneath each of their wings I could see human hands. The wings of each living being touched the wings of the two beings beside it. The living beings were able to fly in any direction without turning around. —Ezekiel 1:5-9 [NLT]
► FATHER, the vision of Ezekiel is beyond my capacity to grasp its meaning. But, I do know what he saw happening was more powerful than anything earth’s energy could bring forth. Thus, I am learning to look to the heavens. There, I know is a power that can do what Your Kingdom demands on earth. Oh, thank You for drawing me into Your Kingdom! Let me know more of its power.
John beheld God’s Throne in the heavens, surrounded by creatures similar to those Ezekiel beheld.—Revelation 14:1-11
DAY 11—Ezekiel’s vision saw the fire of God working in the heavens, coming to earth. Each had a human face in the front, the face of a lion on the right side, the face of an ox on the left side, and the face of an eagle at the back. Each had two pairs of outstretched wings—one pair stretched out to touch the wings of the living beings on either side of it, and the other pair covered its body. They went in whatever direction the spirit chose, and they moved straight forward in all directions without having to turn around.—Ezekiel 1:10-12 [NLT]New Living Translation
► LORD, we continue with a vision I cannot understand with my mind, but my spirit is beginning to grasp that Ezekiel saw. He was beholding all living creatures moving together by the force of Your Spirit. This is causing me to have a faith that every being— man or beast—must finally move at the direction of Your Spirit. This is giving me new faith as I learn to pray with Your Spirit.
The Prophet Daniel saw earthly principalities represented by animals
that defined their qualities of character.—Daniel 7:1-10
DAY 12—Ezekiel’s vision beheld the glorious activity of heaven giving life and order to all living creatures on earth. The living beings looked like bright coals of fire or brilliant torches, and it looked as though lightning was flashing back and forth among them. And the living beings darted to and fro like flashes of lightning. As I looked at these beings, I saw four wheels on the ground beneath them, one wheel belonging to each. The wheels sparkled as if made of chrysolite. All four wheels looked the same; each wheel had a second wheel turning crosswise within it. —Ezekiel 1:13-15 [NLT]
► FATHER, I know You are in control of everything around me. When I consider that everything in earth is under the rule of Your heavenly Kingdom, it causes my ability to believe You to increase more and more. Thank You for Your work in these lives. The more I know of Your Kingdom, the greater is the peace that grows in my own spirit.
The more we learn of heaven, the more we yearn for its glory.
Daniel 10:5,6; Revelations 4:5; Revelations 10:1; Revelations 18:1
DAY 13—The activity of God’s Spirit reaches farther than our minds can imagine.
—When the four living beings moved, the wheels moved with them. When they flew upward, the wheels went up, too. The Spirit of the four living beings was in the wheels. So wherever the Spirit went, the wheels and the living beings went, too. When the living beings moved, the wheels moved. When the living beings stopped, the wheels stopped. When the living beings flew into the air, the wheels rose up. For the Spirit of the living beings was in the wheels.—Ezekiel 1:19-21[NLT]New Living Translation
► LORD, reading this vision has helped my understanding of how Your work. With more faith, I wait before You. I have an expectancy that You are moving. Even now, you are moving in these I am holding before You. I’m seeing a greater thing than I ever thought would happen. My worry and anxiety is leaving while I watch You at work.
The Master of the whole earth is in control of everything.
Thus, our faith rests in His might—Zechariah 6:1-8
DAY 14—Above all the activity of heaven and earth we see the Throne of the Son of Man. Above the surface over their heads was what looked like a Throne made of blue sapphire. And high above this Throne was a figure whose appearance
► FATHER, there is yet much for me to learn about Your heavenly Kingdom. But, my heart is turning toward it in greater measure than ever. I have begun to see that everything in heaven and in earth is coming under the dominion of Your Son. I am ready for everything in my life to come under His rule now.
In their visions the Prophets saw the reigning Son of Man.
Daniel 10:4-7; Revelation 1:9-17
FOR MOST OF US, the Scriptures used in these “prayer starters” are beyond the grasp of the natural understanding—but not beyond the grasp of our spirits. This is because the Holy Spirit is bringing us into relationship with the eternal Throne of God’s heavenly Kingdom. Now, let this remain with us: On the day of Pentecost, seven weeks after Jesus' resurrection, the believers were meeting together in one place. Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm in the skies above them, and it filled the house where they were meeting. Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them.—Acts 2:1-3 [NLT] God’s work began in the heavens with wisdom—and fire. That continues with the Church.
© Berean Ministries
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