The Prayer of Agur: A 5-Day Devotional by Jay PayleitnerSample

Regarding Lies Coming and Going

Agur’s name can be translated as “collector.” He collected lists and wise thoughts. His prayer in Proverbs 30:7-9 is the only prayer in the book of Proverbs, and still today it has the power to move us out of stress and worry and into the sweet spot of living peaceably in God’s will.

This prayer basically boils down to two requests. We’ll look at the first request today: “Keep falsehoods and lies far from me.”

You can almost hear Agur’s thought process and expanded prayer, as if he’s saying, I know the world is filled with lies, and they trip me up way too often. Father in heaven, please protect my ears from hearing lies that might lead me down the wrong path. And keep my lips from lying so that I might not deceive others.

I think Agur is onto something. Truth matters. Whether it’s input or output, whether we are hearing it or speaking it, there is truth and we can know it. It sets us free. Ignore truth, and bad decisions result. Satan, the father of lies, has been obscuring truth since the Garden of Eden, and we know how that turned out.

An example of disregarding truth comes from Pontius Pilate, the wishy-washy Roman governor of Judea who couldn’t make up his mind about what to do with Jesus. In John 18:37-38, he asks Jesus a series of questions in an attempt to discern whether Jesus had really claimed to be king. Jesus responds, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”

Pilate scoffs, “What is truth?”

Part 1 of Agur’s prayer is a sincere brokenness before the Creator of the universe. Somehow Agur knows the destructive consequences of falsehoods and lies. He recognizes that Satan—even though he is a master deceiver—can’t stand up to virtue and integrity. Agur wants to be on the winning team. That comes from hearing truth, discerning truth, and speaking truth.

Spend some time today thinking about how you are exposed to falsehood and how you are tempted to spread falsehood. Pray with Agur, “Keep falsehoods and lies far from me.”