VANITY OF VANITIES
Ecclesiastes Chapter 10
“Dead
flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour: so
doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour.” (Verse 1)
Almighty
Jehovah God on High, please have mercy on me and save me from the vanity
of folly. Reveal to me how that just a little folly greatly fouls and
taints a person’s reputation in the eyes of others, like dead flies cause a
good ointment to send forth a stinking savour. Please save me from all
folly and thus save me from sending forth such a stinking savour to others
around me. Please fill me with Thy Perfect Wisdom and Honour and cause me to be
in reputation for wisdom and honour to everyone around me for my benefit and
for Thy Great Glory. I also pray these things for all other souls under
the sun. Please save us all from all folly.
“A
wise man’s heart is at his right hand; but a fool’s heart at his left.” (Verse 2)
Our
Father Who art in Heaven, please have great mercy upon me and save me from the vanity
of being a fool. Please send Thy Holy Spirit into my foolish heart and by Thy
Unlimited Power, please change my foolish heart into a truly and spiritually
wise heart. Please create within me a wise man’s heart and fill it full of
God’s Perfect Wisdom. I stand opposed to my foolish heart, and desire to
forsake all my foolishness. I desire that Almighty God on High give a
wise heart unto me now. I pray these things also for all other souls
under the sun. Save all fools from their vanity of foolishness
and please create within each of them a heart that is truly wise toward their
Creator God.
“Yea
also, when he that is a fool walketh by the way, his wisdom faileth him, and he
saith to every one that he is a fool.” (Verse
3)
Almighty
Lord God in Heaven, please save me from the vanity of broadcasting to
everyone that I am a fool, by saving me from being a fool. Please fill
me with God’s Perfect Wisdom that will never fail me. Daily, as I walk by the
way in this life under the sun, please lead me in paths of righteousness for
Thy Precious Name’s Sake. Make every thought, word, and action of mine, yea,
my entire being to clearly broadcast to everyone around me, that I am a
glorious creature, created by Almighty God and then re-created by living faith
in The Lord Jesus Christ. I also pray these most important things for all
other souls under the sun.
“If
the spirit of the ruler rise up against thee, leave not thy place; for yielding
pacifieth great offences.” (Verse 4)
Lord
Jesus, please help me to daily be led by God’s Holy Spirit and totally
controlled by Thy Holy Spirit. Please clearly show me the times I am to yield
in order to pacify great offences, and make me willing to yield. Please teach
me proper respect for all rulers in authority and help me to always give
them that due respect. Save me from the vanity of selfish stubbornness.
Save me from vainly setting myself against others in vain sinful
pride. I pray these things for all other souls under the sun also. Save
us all, and put us each in our proper place.
“There
is an evil which I have seen under the sun, as an error which proceedeth from
the ruler:” (Verse 5)
Lord Jesus Christ, please make me most spiritually alert. Please save me from the vanity of being spiritually
asleep. Please help me to be aware of all the evil under the sun for the
purpose of not committing that evil myself, for the purpose of not suffering
damage and harm from that evil, and for the purpose of warning others of that
evil. I pray for all rulers that Thou hast placed over all the
souls now under the sun. Please save all earthly rulers from all
error.
“Folly
is set in great dignity, and the rich sit in low place.” (Verse 6)
Almighty
Lord God in Heaven, I pray that Thou wouldest save all souls under the
sun from the vanity of folly. I pray that Thou wouldest save us all
from the sin of setting folly in great dignity. By Thy Unlimited Power, please
tear down and destroy all the folly that is set in great dignity under
the sun. I pray for all rich people, that they be set in the places that
Thou hast ordained for them under the sun, and that all the rich people
would fully trust in their Creator God and not trust in their riches.
“I
have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants upon the
earth.” (Verse 7)
Lord
Jesus, please have mercy on us all and save us from the vanity of
perverseness. Save us from the vanity of falsely promoting lowly
peoples and falsely abasing people of high degree. Cause us all
to truly know, and to be fully convinced, that all
promotion and all abasing comes from Almighty God on High, and save us all
from the vanity of usurping Thy Realm of Authority regarding these
important matters of promoting and demoting souls of men under the sun.
“He
that diggeth a pit shall fall into it; and whoso breaketh an hedge, a serpent
shall bite him.” (Verse 8)
Almighty
God on High, please have mercy upon me and save me from the vanity of
digging pits and setting snares and traps for other souls. Convince me that I
am the one who is most likely to be taken captive by any such devices that I
devise for other people. Please save me from the vanity of meddling in
things that I have absolutely no right to meddle with. Help me to diligently
attend to my own life’s work and affairs under the sun, and not be given to the
vanity of meddling. Please save me from the vanity of being
trouble, a bother, or a nuisance to other people. I pray these things for all
other souls under the sun. Please save us all from these vain
things that destroy souls.
“Whoso
removeth stones shall be hurt therewith; and he that cleaveth wood shall be
endangered thereby.” (Verse 9)
Our
Father which art in Heaven, please daily keep Thy Protecting Hand upon all
of us souls under the sun as we go about our daily labours. Please have great
mercy upon us and keep us safely in Thy Loving Care. Convince us that safety
is of the Lord God on High, and help us all to truly trust our selves into Thy
Loving and Tender Care. Save people from the vanity of tempting The
Lord God by attempting dangerous (even deadly) daredevil stunts because of
their sinfully proud desires to appear great in the eyes of men. Thank Thee for
caring for us all, and for protecting us.
“If
the iron be blunt, and he do not whet the edge, then must he put to more
strength: but wisdom is profitable to direct.” (Verse
10)
Lord
Jesus Christ, I praise Thy Great and Powerful Name because Thou hast been made
unto me Wisdom (I Corinthians 1:30). Help me to truly desire and to fervently
seek all the Divine Wisdom from on High that Thou hast ordained that I
have during my life under the sun. I now earnestly pray that from now on, my
every thought, plan, motive, desire, word, action, and deed will be perfectly
guided and directed by Almighty God’s Wisdom from Heaven. Please help me to
now completely yield my entire being unto Thee, My Creator God, for the
express purpose of Thee perfecting these things in my life. Please save me from
the awfully destructive vanity of speaking and working without first
properly preparing myself both physically and spiritually to do such. Please
help me to always properly prepare the resources, tools, and such with which I
work, in order not to be vainly “chopping with a blunt edged, dull
instrument.” By God’s Almighty Power, please fine-tune everything about my life
and my being, to a keen, sharp edge. Lord Jesus, please make my life most
productive and fruitful for my Creator God’s Great Glory. “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain.” I
also pray these direly important things for all other souls under the
sun.
“Surely
the serpent will bite without enchantment; and a babbler is no better.” (Verse 11)
Almighty
God in Heaven, please save me from the vanity of dabbling with danger
out of vain curiosity, or to feed my sinfully vain pride. May I
gain much Godly Wisdom by observing what a large number of daredevils are
killed or seriously injured while performing dangerous stunts for thrills, for
the applause of crowds, and for money. No matter how earnestly a person
endeavors to “enchant” such dangerous and deadly “serpents” by making use of
every safety device imaginably, still the time comes sooner or later, when that
deadly “serpent” strikes and bites, injuring or killing one or more humans.
Save me from the awful sin of tempting the Lord my God, by purposefully
flirting with danger when there is no reasonable need to do so, but rather
doing such vain foolishness only for the purpose of satisfying my own vain
and sinful pride.
Almighty
Jehovah God in Heaven, protect me and keep me safe from that old serpent the
devil, who desires to strike and bite at me. By God’s Divine Power, please
safely guard me against all the devil’s attacks.
I
also pray that Thou wouldest save me from the vanity of being a babbler,
and from listening to babblers and their much vain speech. I pray these
things for all other souls under the sun.
“The
words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious; but the lips of a fool will swallow
up himself.” (Verse 12)
Lord
God on High, please enable me to fully surrender the control and reign
of my life to Thee, my Creator God, for the purpose of Thee filling my entire
being with Thy Divine Wisdom. Please re-create me, thus making me into a wise
person. Please make my mouth into a wise person’s mouth. Please cause the words
that come forth from my mouth to be gracious in Thy Sight and in the sight of
other people. Please save me from the vanity of being a fool. Please
save me from the vanity of speaking as a fool and from the vanity
of having a fool’s lips. Please convince me that the lips of a fool will
swallow up that foolish person, and totally destroy him or her. I also pray
these vital things for all other souls under the sun.
“The
beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness: and the end of his talk is
mischievous madness.” (Verse 13)
Lord
Jesus Christ, please give me perfect Spiritual discernment to recognize a fool
by discerning that the beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness and
by discerning that the end of his talk is mischievous madness. Save me from the
vanity of being “taken in” (deceived or won over) by any fool’s foolish
speech. And most of all, please save me from being a fool. Please guard
the words of my mouth to prevent them from being foolishness. Please guard my
talk to prevent it from being mischievous madness. Help me to avoid fools in
accordance to Thy Will for my life. I pray these things for all other
souls under the sun. And I now earnestly intercede in prayer for all
fools under the sun. By God’s Great Power, please cause all fools to
repent of their foolishness and to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.
“A
fool also is full of words: a man cannot tell what shall be; and what shall be
after him, who can tell him?” (Verse 14)
Almighty
Jehovah God, please have great mercy on me and set a guard over my lips.
Convince me that one prominent characteristic of a fool is that he is full
of words. Please save me from pride-filled vanity that results in me
being full of words and much speech. Save me from being a fool and please make
me a wise person. I pray these things for all other people also. It is
easy for me to believe the truth that I cannot tell what shall be in the
future. So please help me to completely trust my life and my entire
being into Thy Tender and Faithful Care, my Creator God. Reveal to me, what
peace, calm, and assurance quickly fills the heart of anyone who will totally
trust in The Lord Jesus Christ. I pray that all other souls under the
sun will also do these things.
“The
labour of the foolish wearieth every one of them, because he knoweth not how to
go to the city.” (Verse 15)
Lord
God in Heaven, please save me from the vanity of being foolish. Please
make me wise by God’s Almighty Power, filling me with God’s Divine Wisdom.
Guide me to always work the wise and proper labour that Thou hast
ordained for me during my life under the sun. Please save me from the vanity
of wearying myself by doing the labour of the foolish. Please help me to daily
do Thy Perfect Will for my life. Please establish my goings out and my comings
in. Teach me how to go to the city. Please daily lead me in paths of
righteousness for Thy Precious Name’s Sake. Please guard my daily walk to keep
me in the Center of Thy Divine Will. I pray these things for all other
people under the sun also.
“Woe
to thee, O land, when thy king is a child, and thy princes eat in the morning!”
(Verse 16)
Almighty
Jehovah God, please give us mature government leaders for our land, men of God
that love Thee, who are filled with God’s Wisdom, who are honest and upright,
and who will lead our land in the fear of the Lord. Save us from the woe
pronounced in this verse, the vanity of having young, childish, immature
leaders who lack the ability to lead a land in the way God would have the
peoples of that land to go. Save us from the destructive vanity of
having as government leaders men who make their bellies into their god and thus
live to eat and drink. Save us from the vanity of having such
government leaders whose very nature will bring our land to ruin. May our
land truly be led by and ruled by Almighty God.
“Blessed
art thou, O land, when thy king is the son of nobles, and thy princes eat in
due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness!” (Verse 17)
Lord
God in Heaven, please bless our land by giving us government leaders who are
sons of nobles, and who are themselves of noble character. I pray that all
the government leaders in our land would eat in due season, for strength, and
not for drunkenness. Please save our land from the vanity of having
leaders who do wrong in these things.
“By
much slothfulness the building decayeth; and through idleness of the hands the
house droppeth through.” (Verse 18)
Heavenly
Father, please save me from the sin and vanity of slothfulness. Please
save me from the sin and vanity of idleness. Please make me most
diligent to daily work the works Thou hast ordained for me to do. Create
within me an urgency to work with all my might, for the night is
coming when no man can work. Help me to always wisely redeem the time.
Cause me to do all my work zealously, and to do all my
work as unto the Lord Jesus Christ. Save me from the sin and vanity of
laziness. I pray these things for all other souls under the sun.
“A
feast is made for laughter, and wine maketh merry: but money answereth all
things.” (Verse 19)
Almighty
Lord God, please save me from the vanity of living to feast, eat, drink,
and be merry. Save me from the vanity of feasting, (over
eating for my own selfish sinful pleasure) while many souls under the sun
do not have enough to eat and are starving. Guide me clearly to do Thy Will
regarding giving to people who do not have sufficient food to eat. Save me from
the vanity of drinking wine. Save me from the vanity of living to
laugh and to be merry. Save me from the vanity of loving money because
it answereth all things. Save me from the vanity of living to make all
the money I possibly can, and then vainly enjoying all the things of the
world I can buy with that money. Please have great mercy upon me to save me
from living my life under the sun in vain. I pray these things for all
other souls also.
“Curse not
the king, no not in thy thought; and curse not the rich in thy bedchamber: for
a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell
the matter.” (Verse 20)
Lord
Jesus, please save me from the vanity of thinking and speaking evil of
other souls. Teach me proper respect for those who are in authority over us.
Save me from the sin of cursing them, but rather help me to faithfully pray for
all in authority as Thou commandest us to do. Save me from the sinful vanity
of envying the rich, and thus thinking and speaking evil of them. Save me from
the sin of cursing the rich. Lord Jesus Christ, please cause all rich
people to trust in Thee, to save them from the misery riches bring upon them
during this life under the sun, and to save them from an eternal Hell after
this life.
Please
have mercy on me and help me to guard my thoughts as well as my words. Save me
from sinful thoughts, as well as sinful words. Cause me to ever
be mindful that Thou, an All-Knowing God, doest record all my thoughts
and words for the purpose of judging me one day regarding them. Make me
ever so mindful of that and cause me to serve The Lord God with fear and
trembling. I pray these things for all other souls under the sun. Please
have mercy upon us all and save us all from all vanity.
Thank Thee, Lord God on High, for being so merciful and gracious to us, and
thus hearing and answering our prayers. Amen.
(This is the end of Chapter 10 of VANITY OF
VANITIES)