The Prayer Of Agur, Part 2: Living In The Sweet Spot Series

The Prayer of Agur, Part 2: Living in the Sweet Spot

INTRO

Good morning! Please turn with me to Proverbs 30. How many were here last week? Or watched online? Awesome. How many of you are doing the Prayer of Agur devotional through YouVersion? Great! Well, once again, we are going to link to that in the YouVersion outline. We also have a link to it on Glynwood’s Facebook page.

How many of you went home and read all of Proverbs 30 including verse 7 – 9: The Prayer of Agur?

How many sincerely meant to read Proverbs 30, but it just slipped your mind?

Thanks for being honest. Grace abounds, and you can make that a goal again this week.

Remember “Goldilocks and the Three Bears”? Do kids still know that story? It’s one of the most famous fairy tales of them all. It’s the story of a juvenile delinquent named Goldilocks who starts a one-girl crime wave against three helpless bears. I mean, we’re talking breaking and entering, vandalism, theft by eating, you name it. I’m actually not even sure what the moral of the story is. But the 19th Century fairy tale did give us a concept we all know and it’s a great place to start our conversation today.

Goldilocks breaks into the house of the three bears and tries three bowls of porridge, one is too hot, one is too cold, and the third is . . . . (say it with me) “juuuuust right.” And, with one misdemeanor count of petty larceny, she finishes it.

Goldilocks tries three chairs. The third one is . . . . “juuuuust right.” She sits and it breaks into pieces. So we can add willful destruction of private property to her rap sheet.

Exhausted from her little crime spree, she finds one bed too hard, one bed too soft, and one is . . . “juuuuust right.” And falls asleep. So… vagrancy.

The three bears come home and discover the damage. And before they can even call Jake from State Farm, the little felon escapes, and the wheels of justice grind to a halt. The end.

But we are left with the two-word worthy goal of how to do life . . . “just right.” Wouldn’t that be wonderful? Food the right temperature. Furniture just comfortable enough. Getting life “just right” – not too much, not too little -- when it comes to the demands of work . . . financial security . . . our emotions and relationships. What if we enjoyed just the right amount of romance. Just the right amount of caution. Or were motivated by just the right amount of ambition.

In review:

Proverbs has 31 chapters. Solomon wrote one through 29. Chapter 31 was written by King Lemuel in which he describes a “wife of noble character.”

But Proverbs 30 is written by a guy that is easily overlooked. His name is Agur. This is the only time he’s mentioned in the entire Bible. His prayer is the only prayer in Proverbs.

Last week we looked at the first six verses of Proverbs 30, and talked about Agur’s humility, how he acknowledged his weaknesses. We also talked about him as a prophet who, through the inspiration of the holy spirit, revealed that God has a divine Son. And we also talked about how Agur affirmed the authority of God’s Word, how in verse 5 he affirmed that every word of the Lord is true, and that God is a shield to those who take refuge in him.

But we saved the best for this week. The buried treasure in Proverbs 30 is the three-verse prayer that delivers a shocking formula for trusting God, discovering his will for our life.

Here it is - and let’s make it our Opening Prayer. If you are physically able, please stand to honor the reading of God’s Word, and let’s say the words of Agur’s prayer out loud:

Two things I ask of you, Lord;

do not refuse me before I die:

Keep falsehood and lies far from me;

give me neither poverty nor riches,

but give me only my daily bread.

Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you

and say, “Who is the Lord?”

Or I may become poor and steal,

and so dishonor the name of my God.

Proverbs 30:7–9 NIV

I’m not going to say, “Would you pray with me, because we just did. But I do pray that the Lord will make his word come alive for you in the next few minutes!

So the first principle we can apply from The Prayer of Agur is to…

1. Be simple with your prayers. Look at verse 7

Two things I ask of you, Lord;

do not refuse me before I die: