VANITY OF VANITIES
Ecclesiastes Chapter 2
“I
said in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy
pleasure: and, behold, this also is vanity. (Verse 1)
Almighty
Holy and Righteous Jehovah God in the Highest Heavens, please have mercy on me
and save me from the vanity of communing with mine own heart for the
purpose of trying to discern right and wrong. Please firmly convince me
that my heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can
know it? (Jeremiah 17:9) Please save me, Lord, from the vanity of communing
with my deceitful and desperately wicked heart in order to have it instruct me
in what I do. Instead, help me to constantly cry out to my Creator God for Thee
to lead me in paths of Righteousness in accordance to Thy Holy Bible’s
Teachings for Thy Holy Name’s Sake. Then, help me to perceive and understand
Thy Perfect Guidance, and to wholly follow it.
Lord
God, cause me to know without any doubt, that living for earthly and worldly
mirth and pleasure is totally vain. Teach me how that the
person who liveth in worldly pleasure is dead while he or she liveth. Please
convince me fully of that important truth. Then, please show great mercy unto
me and by Thy Unlimited, Almighty Power, save me from the disaster of living
for earthly and worldly mirth and pleasure while in this life under the sun.
Almighty
God, teach me how that Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour,
and power from the life I live here on earth: because Thou hast created me for
Thy pleasure. (Revelation 4:11) So please teach me that living for my
Creator God is the one and only thing that will bring any true
pleasure, fulfillment, and meaningful life to me at all during my short
life under the sun.
So
please help me to make obedience to my Creator God my one and only joy in
this life under the sun. Please teach me Thy Way perfectly, O Lord God,
and help me to follow Thee wholly.
I
pray these things for all other people under the sun also.
“I
said of laughter, It is mad: and of mirth, What doeth it?” (Verse 2)
Holy
Father in Heaven, open my spiritual eyes to fully see and to understand that
Thou hast set wise King Solomon’s life’s experiences before me in Thy Holy
Scriptures as lessons directed personally to me from God on High. Thou
hast set King Solomon’s words of Divine Wisdom before me for the purpose of
saving me from living a life of vanity here and now under the sun.
Please enable me to open my heart fully to Thee, My Creator God, for the
purpose of allowing Thee to work unrestrained in my life to save me from
the destruction that will come upon me if I live a vain life while on
this earth.
Convince
me of the truth that worldly laughter and mirth are mad and that they are totally
unprofitable in making my life better. Help me to seriously ponder wise King
Solomon’s most important question here concerning laughter and mirth, “What doeth it?” Teach me fully how that the
answer is, that it is not profitable. But rather, it dries up my spirit, making
my spirit and soul ever so thirsty and unsatisfied. Teach me how that only
Spiritual things of God can satisfy my being. Please create within me a heart
that desires to seek the things of God only. I pray these things for all other
people also.
“I
sought in mine heart to give myself unto wine, yet acquainting mine heart with
wisdom; and to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was that good for the
sons of men, which they should do under the heaven all the days of their
life.” (Verse 3)
Heavenly
Father, create within me a heart totally desirous to give myself wholly
to Thee, My Creator God. Save me from the destructive vanity of giving
myself to wine and strong drink, knowing that such indulgence destroys a
person. Please acquaint me with the Spiritual Wisdom Thou hast deemed
profitable for me. Please teach me, from King Solomon’s God-given Wisdom
recorded in Thy Holy Bible, that which is good for me and for all the sons of
men under the heaven. Help me to daily put God’s Pure Wisdom to practice in my
life for all my few remaining days under the sun and to always do that, which
is good for me. Save me from the vanity of folly, I plead. I pray this
for all other people also.
“I
made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards:” (Verse 4)
Almighty
God in Heaven, please save me from the vanity of seeking great things
for myself. (Jeremiah 45:5) Make me desirous to decrease and to let Jesus
Christ increase in my life. Make me desirous to work the exact work that
Thou hast ordained for me during my life under the sun. Save me from the vanity
of failing to do and to complete that Creator-ordained work ordained by Thee
for me personally. Please save me from the vanity of building
anything that it is not Thy Will that I build. Please order my life’s
priorities for me. Please teach me the wisdom of me personally planting,
cultivating, and harvesting the food necessary daily to sustain my physical
life here under the sun. I pray these things for all other people also.
“I
made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kind of
fruits:” (Verse 5)
Lord
God, teach me the wisdom and security of me personally growing my
necessary food as Thou didst ordain that Adam and Eve do upon creating them,
instead of depending on the devil’s world’s system of buying and selling to
obtain my physical necessities of life. Save me from the vanity of being
dependent on the world, the devil’s kingdom. I pray this for all other people
under the sun also.
“I
made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees:”
(Verse 6)
Lord Jesus Christ, Thou Creator God Who made all
things that are made, I praise and worship Thee and give Thee most sincere
thanks, for creating water and all other things that are necessary to sustain
my physical life. Thank Thee, Lord, that I daily have clean drinking water
sufficient for my body’s needs. Please help the people under the sun who lack
sufficient, clean drinking water, and please provide for them.
“I
got me servants and maidens, and had servants born in my house; also I had
great possessions of great and small cattle above all that were in Jerusalem
before me: (Verse 7)
Lord God Jehovah, please save me from the vanity of being desirous to rule over other people and to have them under my authority. Please create within me the heart of a servant, making me desirous to serve other people under the sun, just as the Lord Jesus Christ did while on earth. Please save me from the vanity of being desirous to have great possessions in this life. Help me to fervently desire first and foremost to have the Lord Jesus Christ, the Greatest Treasure there is. Help me to carefully listen to the great wisdom of King Solomon here, as he teaches what he found to be good for the sons of men, which they should do under the heaven all the days of their life. I pray these things for all other people too.
“I gathered me also silver
and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces: I gat me men
singers and women singers, and the delights of the sons of men, as musical
instruments, and that of all sorts.” (Verse
8)
Almighty God in Heaven, I confess that nothing is impossible with Thee. I now cry out to Thee to have great mercy upon me and to save me from the most destructive vanity of living for money, loving money, and worshipping money during my life under the sun. Convince me firmly that the love of money is the root of all evil, and that people who covet it err from true faith in their Creator God and pierce themselves thru with many sorrows. Please cause me to flee those things; and instead to follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, and meekness. (I Timothy 6:10-11) Save me from the vanity of chasing after earthly and worldly treasures. Help me instead, to seek to the utmost and to search most diligently for the true, Spiritual, everlasting Riches and Treasures that are hid in the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord God, convince me that “they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition,” as Thy Holy Scriptures teach in I Timothy 6:9. Thus I earnestly pray to my Creator God to save me from the vanity of desiring to be rich and thus having that temptation and snare, and its many foolish and hurtful lusts drown me in destruction and perdition.
Lord God, I also pray for Thee to save me from the vanity of loving earthly and worldly music. Help me instead to sing praises to my Creator God all day, every day. I pray these things for all other people also.
“So I was great, and
increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom
remained with me.” (Verse 9)
Almighty Jehovah God, I cry out to Thee to have
mercy upon me and to save me from the destructive vanity of seeking to
be great and seeking great things for myself. Please give me the spiritual desire
to obey and give me the godly ability to obey Thy gravely important
command in Jeremiah 45:5. “And seekest thou great
things for thyself? seek them not.”
Lord God, I now open my heart fully to Thee, calling upon Thy Holy Spirit to come into my heart and life, and to create within me a burning desire for my own self to decrease, and thus to allow the Lord Jesus Christ to increase in my life; always remembering Thy important Scripture in John 3:30. “He (Christ) must increase, but I must decrease.” Please create within my being, perfect humility that will greatly glorify Thee, my Creator God.
Heavenly Father, I pray in the Name of the Lord
Jesus Christ for Thee to give me all the Spiritual Wisdom that Thou hast
ordained for me to obtain during this life under the sun. And I pray that
Spiritual Wisdom from Heaven will remain with me for all my days under the sun.
Help me to totally yield to and fully obey Thy wisdom in order
for Thee to perfect my way during my life under the sun. By Thy
Unlimited Power, please enable me to obey all Thy Words of great spiritual
wisdom in Proverbs 4:4-10. “Let thine heart retain my
words: keep my commandments, and live. Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it
not; neither decline from the words of my mouth. Forsake her not, and she shall
preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee. Wisdom is the principal
thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. Exalt
her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost
embrace her. She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of
glory shall she deliver to thee. Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; and
the years of thy life shall be many.”
I also pray all these things for all other people under the sun.
“And whatsoever mine eyes
desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my
heart rejoiced in all my labour: and this was my portion of all my labour.” (Verse 10)
Lord God, please save me from the vanity of desiring the things mine eyes lust after. Save me from the vanity of the lust of the eyes. Please save me from the vanity of having a selfish heart filled with lusts and selfish desires. Please teach me proper and godly temperance in all things, especially the things my human flesh deems to be good. Please teach me, in accordance with Thy Divine Will for me, to be estranged periodically even from upright and proper lusts that well up in me. Habitual restraint and estrangement glorifies Thee and saves me from becoming enslaved by those lusts. I pray these things for all other people also. Save us all from all vanity.
“Then I looked on all the
works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do:
and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit
under the sun.” (Verse 11)
Almighty Lord God, please send Thy Holy Spirit powerfully upon me right now to teach me all that Thou hast deemed that I learn from wise King Solomon’s experiences that are recorded in Thy Holy Scriptures. Reveal unto me the Absolute Truth that if I labour only for things of this present life on earth, that it will all be vanity and vexation of spirit. Convince me that there is no spiritual and eternal profit in labouring for things pertaining only to this present life. Please give me far-reaching Spiritual vision, dear Lord. Please guide me to labour for the things that endure forever. I pray these things for all other people also.
“And I turned myself to
behold wisdom, and madness, and folly: for what can the man do that cometh
after the king? even that which has been already done.” (Verse 12)
Lord God in Heaven, please give me clear Spiritual Vision to behold, perceive, learn, and obey the Pure Spiritual Wisdom that comes from Almighty God. Please save me from the vanity of madness. Please save me from the vanity of folly. Tho many great kings and many great people of renown have come before me, please convince me that the life’s work that Thou has specifically ordained for me under the sun is just as important as the works of anyone else. Save me from the vanity of comparing myself to great people. Save me from the vanity of striving to be like great people. Save me from the vanity of feeling my life to be unimportant because I am not great. Please help me to keep my mind focused upon my Creator God and help me to wholly follow Thy Guidance to me, and to fully obey Thee, following Thee where so ever Thou leadest me, no matter how humble and lowly that path may be. I pray these things for all other people also.
“Then I saw that wisdom
excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness.” (Verse 13)
Gracious Lord God, please save me from the vanity of pursuing folly. Please give me an earnest desire to seek and to get godly wisdom and understanding. Please set me free from all spiritual darkness. Please deliver me from all powers of darkness and bring me into the glorious and bright kingdom of Thy Dear Son, The Lord Jesus Christ, Who is the Light of the world. Save me from the vanity of walking in spiritual darkness. Please lead and guide me to walk in the Light, just as the Lord Jesus Christ is Light. I pray these things for all other people also.
“The wise man’s eyes are in
his head; but the fool walketh in darkness: and I myself perceived also that
one event happeneth to them all.” (Verse 14)
Almighty Lord God in Heaven, please help me to surrender my entire being totally to Thee, in order for Thee to make me into a truly wise person. Please give me eyes to perceive True Wisdom. Please save me from the vanity of being a fool. Please save me from the vanity of walking in darkness. Save me from the vanity of shunning thoughts of death. Please cause me to ever soberly and gravely think on the fact that the time of my death is steadily drawing closer, and that it could occur at any time. Please save me from the vanity of not preparing for death. Please save me from the vanity of not preparing to meet my Creator God in Judgment. Please create within me a heart that is repentant of my sins toward my Creator God. Please create within my heart, faith to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world. I pray these things for all other people also. Please save us all from all vanity, Lord, I pray.
“Then said I in my heart, As
it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth even to me; and why was I then more
wise? Then I said in my heart, that this also is vanity.” (Verse 15)
Lord God, please cause me to fully acknowledge in my heart that death is coming to me, just as death comes to all people. Please teach me how that it is totally vain for me to live for this life only, and thus not be prepared to meet my Creator God in Judgment after I die. Please save me from the vanity and the foolishness of rejecting the Lord Jesus Christ as my Saviour. Please save me from the vanity of an unrepentant heart. Please save me from the vanity of not seeking my Lord God while He may be found. I pray this for all other people also.
“For there is no remembrance
of the wise more than of the fool for ever; seeing that which now is in the
days to come shall all be forgotten. And how dieth the wise man? as the fool. (Verse 16)
Almighty God in Heaven, I acknowledge that death is no respecter of persons, and that death comes to the wise and to the foolish alike. Help me to now set my affections on heavenly things above, instead of on earthly and worldly things that are presently all around me and make up so much of my life on this earth. Save me from the vanity of being entangled in the cares of this life under the sun. Convince me that the worldly and earthly things that now are, will one day be all forgotten. Convince me that Spiritual and Heavenly things abide forever, and that if I will now live for those eternal things, then I also will abide forever. I pray these direly important matters for all other people also.
“Therefore I hated life;
because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me: for all
is vanity and vexation of spirit.” (Verse
17)
Lord God Jehovah, please have mercy on me and save me from the vanity of not loving the Lord Jesus Christ with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. Teach me how that Christ Himself is Life, Eternal Life, and that by trusting in Him as my Lord and Saviour, I will live forever. Please help me to do all the work that Thou hast ordained that I do in this life, under the sun. Tho that work be grievous, help me to make the Joy of the Lord Jesus Christ my Strength. Help me to do all my work and everything I do, as doing it unto The Lord Jesus Christ. Thank Thee, Lord Jesus, that Thou hast promised us, that as our days are (under the sun) so shall our strength be. I claim that promise, and pray that all other people under the sun will claim it also.
“Yea, I hated all my labour
which I had taken under the sun: because I should leave it unto the man that
shall be after me.” (Verse 18)
Almighty God, guide me in all my labour that I do in this life under the sun. Help me to labour for the meat that perisheth not, but rather endureth unto everlasting life. (John 6:27) Help me to labour for my Creator God. Save me from the vanity of loving the world and the things of the world. Create within me a fervent desire to labour for things that are eternal. Please help me to totally trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, and from now on, to fight a good fight as a soldier of Christ in the great spiritual battle presently being fought on this earth, under the sun. Help me to finish my course, completing the work that Thou hast ordained for my life on earth. Help me to not be unduly concerned about things that I cannot put into effect or cannot change, such as the works and actions of the generation that will follow me. I pray these things for all other people also.
“And who knoweth whether he
shall be a wise man or a fool? yet shall he have rule over all my labour
wherein I have laboured, and wherein I have shewed myself wise under the sun.
This is also vanity. (Verse 19)
Lord Jehovah God in Heaven, please make me fully aware of the grave duty I have to Thee, My Creator God, to train up my sons and daughters in the right way that Thou hast ordained that they go. Help me to train them to be wise sons and daughters. Please give me the wisdom to train them not to be fools. May their entire lives glorify Thee, and may they rule wisely over all their lot. Please help me, and all my children, to show ourselves wise in all our labours and in all that over which we have rule in this life under the sun. Save all my family from all vanity. I pray these things for all other people also.
“Therefore I went about to
cause my heart to despair of all the labour which I took under the sun.” (Verse 20)
Father God in Heaven, please save me from the vanity of despair and from the misery of despair. Convince me that it is not necessary at all, for me to live in despair during this vain life under the sun. Please guide me to do the things that will bring true fulfillment and true eternal hope to my being, instead of doing the things that will bring despair to me. I pray this for all other people also.
“For there is a man whose
labour is in wisdom, and in knowledge, and in equity; yet to a man that hath
not laboured therein shall he leave it for his portion. This also is vanity
and a great evil.” (Verse 21)
Heavenly Father, please help me to labour diligently in True Wisdom and True Knowledge that comes from above. Please help me to make my ways equal and fair to all people. Please make me fully aware of the grave responsibility I have toward all people who are under my authority, to teach them and to train them to labour in True Wisdom and in True Knowledge, and to make all their ways fair and equal. Please save me from the vanity and the great evil of not doing so. I pray these things for all other people also.
“For what hath man of all
his labour, and of the vexation of his heart, wherein he hath laboured under
the sun.” (Verse 22)
Almighty God, please guide me to do the work that brings me a full reward, full satisfaction, and full joy; not only in this life, but also brings a full reward and joy for all eternity after this short life under the sun soon comes to an end. Please save me from the vexation of my heart, and from all vanity. Please lead me into the most Spiritually rich life that totally fulfills my being. Please take me to a mountain top experience of knowing True Love, Joy, and Peace in this life. Please eradicate all vanity from my being. I pray these things for all other people also.
“For all his days are
sorrows, and his travail grief; yea, his heart taketh not rest in the night.
This is also vanity.” (Verse 23)
Lord God in Heaven, please work within me godly sorrow that bringeth about true repentance toward Thee, my Creator God and that leads me to put my trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world. Teach me how that Thou art the God of all comfort, and that by fully trusting in the One True God, I can have all sufficient comfort in all my daily sorrows, travail, and grief during my life under the sun. Convince me that Thy Unlimited Grace is always sufficient for all my needs, if only I will trust in Thee and thus receive that Grace. Thy Holy Bible teaches us that Thou givest Thy beloved sleep. (Psalms 127:2) Please receive me and make me into one of Thy dear beloved children, and give me sound sleep and rest each night after my daily labour under the sun in this present life of sorrows, travail and grief. Save me from all vanity, please. I pray these things for all other people also.
“There is nothing better for
a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul
enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God.” (Verse 24)
Almighty Lord God in Heaven, my Creator, help me to yield my entire being totally to Thee, for the purpose of Thee creating within me a heart that is fully willing and most desirous to receive everything that comes from Thy Hand. Please teach me to eat and to drink in temperance and for the nourishment of my body that Thou hast created, and not to eat and drink to the lust of the flesh for my own pleasure only. Each time that I eat and drink, please remind me to first give Thee thanks for the food and drink Thou hast provided to sustain my physical body in this life under the sun. May all my daily labours be the good and godly labour that Thou hast ordained for me during my life under the sun. Thus I will receive the most satisfaction from all my labours during this life. I pray these things for all other people also. Have mercy on us all and guide us into Thy Perfect Will, thus saving us from all vanity.
“For who can eat, or who
else can hasten hereunto, more than I?” (Verse
25)
Lord Jehovah God, please save me from the vanity and awfully destructive sin of making my belly my god by living to eat and drink. Guide and train me to always eat and drink temperately of the most healthy foods that Thou hast created for the purpose of nourishing my physical body. Save me from eating and drinking that which harms and destroys my body. Save me from the vanity of hastening to eat. Teach me the physical and spiritual benefits and blessings of fasting from time to time to rest my digestive system and to cleanse and revitalize my body. I pray these things for all other people also.
“For God giveth to a man
that is good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he
giveth travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that is good
before God. This also is vanity and vexation of spirit.” (Verse 26)
Almighty God, please cause me to open my heart to Thee, for the purpose of receiving every good thing from Above that is Thy Divine Will to give me. Please save me from the vanity and folly of refusing any of Thy Great Mercies and Graces that Thou hast in store for me. Convince me that they are mine, free for the taking, if only I will become obedient to Thee. Please help me to do that. Please fill my being with Thy Divine Wisdom, Knowledge, and Joy. Please have mercy on me a sinner, and save me from sinning. Save me from the travail that comes to a sinful person during this life. Save me from receiving sin’s eternal punishment after this life, in the never-ending fires of Hell. Save me from the vanity of sinning, and thus gathering and heaping up the never-ending misery and sufferings that come from sinning. I pray these things for all other people also. Please hear and answer them for the Lord Jesus Christ’s Precious Name’s Sake. And I humbly thank Thee and praise Thee, Lord God on High, for hearing and answering these prayers of mine. Amen.
(This is the end of Chapter 2 of VANITY OF VANITIES)
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