VANITY OF VANITIES

Ecclesiastes Chapter 3

 

“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:” (Verse 1)

Almighty God in Heaven, I acknowledge that Thou didst create me as an eternal being who will never cease to exist. I realize that Thou didst ordain the exact time (season) for my conception and birth to start my eternal existence. I know that Thou didst create me with a specific purpose for my earthly existence. Please enable me to perfectly and completely accomplish Thy Divine Purpose for my earthly existence during the time that I live on this earth under the sun. Convince me that will give me the best life possible. Save me from the awful vanity of failing to do Thy Divine Will for my life under the sun. Save me from the eternal loss I will suffer if I fail to do my Creator God’s Divine Will during this life. Save me from the sinful vanity of living for self. Please work powerfully in my life to enable me to live totally for my Creator God, doing Thy Divine Will for me and accomplishing the exact purpose Thou hast ordained for my life here under the sun. Please clearly guide me to always be doing Thy Divine Will for my life according to the seasons and times Thou hast ordained for each work Thou hast ordained that I do. I pray these things for all other people also.  

“A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;” (Verse 2)

Lord God on High, it is most easy for me to understand that there is a time to be born and a time to die, as I daily see people being born into this earthly life and I also daily see people dying a physical death and thus departing this earthly life. I see how that Thou doest plant us human souls on this earth by our physical birth, and that Thou doest pluck us up from this life by our physical death. Please save me from the vanity of putting far away the day of my own death. Help me to always bear in mind that my life here on earth could end any second now. Please help me to totally trust in Thee, My Creator God, to earnestly seek Thy Guidance daily, and to fully submit myself to Thee for Thee to accomplish the purpose for which Thou didst create me. Help me to fully trust in The Lord Jesus Christ to save me from the eternal punishment of my sins in Hell, and to give me eternal life in Heaven. Save me from the vanity of not preparing for the soon coming time when I will die. I pray that all other human souls on this earth will do these important things also.

“A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;” (Verse 3)

Almighty Jehovah God in the Highest Heavens, I confess that Thou art the One True Living God Who has existed for all eternity past and will exist for all eternity future. That art a Living God Who lives never to ever die. I also confess the important truth that Thou hast created every living being that exists, and that all life is in Thy Hand. All Glory be to the One Living Jehovah God of Israel Who has created all life and Who constantly sustains all life.

Lord God in Heaven, please convince me fully of the certain Truth that Thou doest kill with eternal death in hell fire, all human creatures who reject the Lord Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour. Please have great mercy upon me and prevent me from making decisions in this life on earth (under the sun) that will cause Thee to kill me with eternal death, the second death that the Holy Bible speaks of in Revelation chapter 2:11, chapter 20:6 and 14, and chapter 21:8. Save me from the fatal vanity of not receiving the Lord Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour. Please create within me a heart that will firmly believe on and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and will never waver in that faith in the Saviour of the world. I earnestly pray these weighty, eternal matters for all other people also.

I confess that Thou art a God Who healeth people according to Thy Will. Please help me to cry out in bold, living faith to Thee for healing anytime I or other people around me stand in need of healing. Please help me to always seek my healing first and foremost from God on High, instead of first seeking healing from medical doctors.

Lord God, please keep me ever in the center of Thy Divine Will in order to guide and instruct me of the proper time to break down and of the proper time to build up. Please save me from the vanity of doing these things out of their proper time. I pray these things for all other people also.

“A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;” (Verse 4)

Heavenly Father, please save me from the vanity of weeping when it is time to laugh, and vice versa. Please save me from the vanity of mourning when it is time to dance, and vice versa. Guide me clearly as to when it is time to weep and mourn, and as to when it is time to laugh and dance. I pray these things for all other people also.

“A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;” (Verse 5)

Almighty God, please help me to totally submit my entire being to Thee in order to always be perfectly controlled by Thy Holy Spirit. Please clearly instruct me by Thy Spirit as to when it is time to cast away stones and as to when it is time to gather stones. Please guide me perfectly as to the time to embrace and as to the time to refrain from embracing. Please save me from the vanity of doing these things out of their times and seasons. I pray this for all other people also.

“A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;” (Verse 6)

Lord Jesus, please give me perfect wisdom and guidance about these 4 things written here in verse 6. Also, please teach me the full implication of Thy Scripture in Matthew 16:25. “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.” Lord Jesus, please make me zealously desirous to lose my life for Thy Sake, keeping in mind that Thou gavest Thy Life for all mankind, including me. Save me from the vanity of hoarding my own life’s energies, resources, and time for the purpose of using all them for my own selfish pleasures. Save me from the vanity of getting and keeping earthly and worldly things for the purpose of those things bringing pleasure to me. Please guide me to lose and to cast away everything for Thy Precious Name’s Sake. Convince me that only such a life can bring true happiness, joy, peace, and fulfillment to me. I pray these things for all other people also.

“A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;” (Verse 7)

Almighty God, please always guide me as to the time to rend (tear apart) and as to the time to sew (mend that which is torn). Please help me to always keep silence when it is time to do so, and to speak when it is time to speak. Please help me to study to be quiet, as Thou commandest in 1st Thessalonians 4:11, and to let my words be few, as Thou commandest in Ecclesiastes 5:2. Please save me from the vanity of doing these things out of time. Please save me from the sinful vanity of worshipping my own voice and my own speech. Please save me from the vain desire to always readily vent my own mind and opinions about everything to everyone all the time. Please teach me just how golden silence is at the proper time. “A time to keep silence.” Lord God in Heaven, please help me to clearly discern each time I should keep silent, and please give me the restraint to do so. I pray these things for all other people also.

“A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.” (Verse 8)

Lord God in Heaven, please cause me to love all that Thou lovest, and to hate all that Thou hatest. Help me to hate the evil and to love the good as Thou commandest us in Amos 5:15. Teach me fully about our Lord God being a man of war, as recorded in Exodus 15:3. Guide me to fight the spiritual battles that Thou hast ordained that I fight during my life under the sun. Help me to fight a good fight for Thee and to finish the course Thou hast laid out for me during my life under the sun. Save me from the vanity of being a spiritual coward. I praise Thy Name, that thou art the Prince of Peace, and that Thou givest perfect peace to those who believe on Thy Name. Please help me to fully believe on Thee, fully trust in The Lord Jesus Christ, and thus receive that perfect peace that passeth understanding. Please make me a peacemaker and help me to endeavor to live peaceably among the souls around me. I pray these things for all other people also. I pray for the peace of Jerusalem, for the peace of God’s Chosen Nation Israel, and for the peace of Thy Chosen People, the Israelites. Please fight for Israel and protect the Israelites from all their many enemies. 

“What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth?” (Verse 9)

Almighty God, please intervene in my life for my own good and save me from the vanity of spending my life’s energies, time, and resources labouring for things that are not profitable. Please clearly guide me to always labour in accordance with Thy Divine Will for my life under the sun; always doing the work that is profitable for all eternity. Please reveal to me what great profit is in store for me if I diligently work the work that Thou hast ordained that I work in this short life under the sun. I pray these things for all other people also. By Thy Great Power, please save us all from all vanity.

“I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it.” (Verse 10)

Lord God, please fill me with Thy Divine Spiritual Wisdom for the purpose of learning all Thou wouldest have me to learn from my life’s experiences and from observing the life experiences of other people, especially our experiences of travail and labour during this life under the sun. Please help me to daily be diligent to travail in intercessory prayer to Almighty God for lost souls to be saved. Please help me to make the Biblical record of The Lord Jesus Christ travailing in prayer, my own personal example. Help me to yearn to be like the Lord Jesus in travailing for lost souls. Please help me to always diligently study Thy Holy Bible and apply the wisdom I gain from Thy Scriptures to the wisdom I also gain from observing the travail and labour of mankind here on earth. Please give me this Divine Wisdom I need to avoid a life of vanity under the sun. I pray these things for all other people under the sun also. 

“He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.” (Verse 11)

Almighty God, I acknowledge that Thou art the Creator of all things and that Thou didst create everything perfect and beautiful. Help me to open my heart fully to Thee, for the purpose of Thee setting in my heart the things Thou desirest to be there and for the purpose of Thee removing the things that Thou doest not desire to be in my heart. Please remove all vanity far from my being. Please teach me all the works of God Thou desirest that I know. Please save me from the vanity of pursing the knowledge of good and evil and striving to learn certain things that Thou hast not ordained that I gain knowledge of in this life under the sun. Save me from vain curiosity and from the vanity of being nosey for my sinful self-satisfaction.  

I acknowledge that Thou didst create Adam and Eve in perfection. I acknowledge the Bible Truths that the whole human race became sinful when Eve and then Adam disobeyed Thy One Command to them. I acknowledge that I was born as a sinner with a sinful nature. I acknowledge that a person’s sinful nature is a most ugly thing. So please help me to fully trust in The Lord Jesus Christ, and completely yield and commit myself to The Lord Jesus, for the purpose of Almighty God re-creating me, making me into a new creature, a most beautiful creation of God. Lord God on High, please remake my life into just exactly the good and perfect thing Thou wouldest have it to be. O how I desire that every aspect of my being, become a perfect and most beautiful creation of Almighty God on High, all for Thy Great Glory. So please hear this prayer of mine, Lord God. I pray these things for all other people also.

“I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life.” (Verse 12)

Father God in Heaven, please send Thy Holy Spirit most powerfully into my being to teach me the things that are truly good in God’s Sight. Please save me from the vanity of mistaking bad and evil things for good things. I open my heart to Thee, my Creator God, for Thee to fill my being with the Joy of Thy Holy Spirit, so that I may know what it is to truly rejoice. Please take control of my life to teach me and to enable me to do all the things that are truly good, during my life under the sun. I pray these things for all other people also. Please save us all from all vanity.

“And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God.” (Verse 13)

Lord God, please bring me to a full understanding of the Truth that all good things come from our Creator God. Save me from the vanity of believing that there is any innate good in my degenerate being. Save me from the vanity of believing that I can do any good on my own, in my own power. So, by God’s Almighty Power, please work powerfully in my life to enable me to do good, I pray. Please bring me to a full understanding of the Truth that all my energies and labours are a gift of God, and that all I eat and drink comes from a Gracious God in Heaven. Help me to always remember to give Thee thanks for Thy bountiful blessings to me each time I eat and drink. I pray these things for all other people also.

“I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him.” (Verse 14)

Almighty God in Heaven, please save me from and deliver me from all desires I have to rebel against, struggle against, resist, fight against, and disobey my Creator God. Please fully convince me that all such is wrong and is sinful vanity, and will cause Thee to destroy me eternally if I rebel against Thee. Every creature that fights against our Creator, will of a certainty lose in that battle, and will be turned into Hell. Convince me that Thy Holiness and Thy Righteousness stand forever, and that I must trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and thus have Him become my holiness and righteousness. Please teach me the fear of the Lord, and by Thy Unlimited Power, please change me into a human creature that will serve Thee with fear and trembling. Please make me completely submissive and totally obedient to my Creator God in Heaven. I pray these things for all other people also.

“That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past. (Verse 15)

Lord God, please have mercy on me and save me from the vanity of believing that I could ever change anything that is determined or decreed by Almighty God in Heaven. Please cause me to constantly keep in mind that I am soon to meet Thee in Judgment, at which time Thou wilt require me to give account of all my thoughts, words, and deeds during this life under the sun. Please save me from the vanity of not being prepared to meet Thee in Judgment. Save me from the fatal vanity of not repenting of my sins to my Creator God. Save me from the vanity of not fully trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ. I pray these things for all other people also.

“And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there.” (Verse 16)

Almighty God, please save me from all wickedness and iniquity. Please make me truly upright and righteous. Lord Jesus Christ, please become my Righteousness. Please cause me to stand firmly on my Creator’s side, in favor of true judgment and true righteousness. Please enable me to stand for God against all the wickedness that is in places of judgment on this earth. Please help me to stand for God against all the iniquity in places of righteousness on this earth. “But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.” (I Corinthians 2:15) Lord God in Heaven, by Thy Almighty Power, please make me into a spiritual being who properly discerns and judges all things. I pray these things for all other people also. By Thy Unlimited Power, fight against all the wickedness and iniquity now under the sun, and please completely eradicate it from the face of this earth.

“I said in my heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.” (Verse 17)

Lord Jesus Christ, I need Thy Righteousness. Please cause me to open my heart fully to Thee, for the purpose of Thee eradicating all wickedness from my being and for the purpose of Thee imputing Thy righteousness unto me. Please judge me now to reveal to me and cause me to know all the wickedness that is within my being. Please help me to repent of and to forsake all wickedness. Please help me to live soberly and righteously, knowing that I am to soon face Almighty God in Judgment, and then be judged according to Thy Perfect Righteous and Holy Standard. I pray these things for all other people also.

“I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.” (Verse 18)

Almighty God, please manifest unto me the estate of the sons of men. Please teach me and enable me to see mine own self, mine own estate, my exact condition, as I truly am, in Thy Perfect Sight. Please give me perfect spiritual vision to see all the vanity that is in my heart. Firmly convince me that my heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked, and that I cannot know it by my own comprehension alone. So please give me true spiritual understanding of the nature of my heart and of my being. Please enable me to see myself as the sinful beast that I truly am. Save me from each and every thing that is wrong about me in my present condition. Re-create me into the exact being Thou wouldest have me to be, for Thy Great Glory. I pray these things also for all other people under the sun.

“For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity.” (Verse 19)

Lord God, please help me to always keep in mind that my physical death is a certainty. Convince me that the most important thing I must do in this life under the sun, is to fully trust in my Creator God, the Lord Jesus Christ, in order to have a perfect, never-ending life in God’s Heaven, after my life here on earth (under the sun) ends. Convince me that all is vanity if I fail to be prepared for my physical death, which may come to me at any time. Help me to truly believe that only those who are trusting in Jesus Christ are prepared for death. I pray these things for all other people also.

“All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.” (Verse 20)

Lord Jesus, please firmly plant the Absolute Truth in my mind, that Thou didst form my physical body from the dust of the earth, then breathed the breath of life into me, and thus I became a living soul. Please give me full understanding that tho my body will return to dust when I die, it will await the resurrection day when Thou wilt resurrect my dead body to stand before Thee in Judgment. Please give all people under the sun understanding of these vital Truths.

“Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?” (Verse 21)

Heavenly Father, please teach me how that I am vastly different from animals and beasts in that my spirit goes on living after my body dies. Teach me how that death does not end my existence, as it ends the existence of beasts. Convince me that I am created by Almighty God as an eternal being who will live forever in Heaven or Hell after death ends my life under the sun. Please help me to firmly trust in the Lord Jesus Christ Who is the Way to Heaven. Please make all peoples aware of these things and bring them all to trust in Christ.

“Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion: for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him?” (Verse 22)

Lord Jesus, please show unto me the works Thou hast ordained to be my portion to work for Thee during my life under the sun. Please guide and enable me to zealously work all of that work to its completion before my death. Please help me to greatly rejoice in the work Thou hast for me to do, making it my first and foremost joy in this life.

Lord Jesus Christ, please help me to perfectly obey Thy command in John 6:27. “Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.” Lord Jesus, please guide me to labour for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life. Please give me that meat.

“Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?” (John 6:28) Lord Jesus, please cause me to be most desirous to know what the works of God are. Please teach me what are the works of God, and please make me desirous to work those works.

“Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.” (John 6:29) Lord Jesus Christ, please send God’s Holy Spirit into my heart to convince me that Thou, Jesus Christ, art the One Whom God the Father in Heaven sent for me to believe on. Convince me that to believe on Thee, The Lord Jesus Christ, is to work the works of God the Father in Heaven. Help me right now to fully trust in Thee, The Lord Jesus Christ, as my own personal Lord and Saviour.     

I also pray these things for all other people under the sun. Please have great mercy upon us all and save us all from all vanity. Please turn all hearts of all peoples to trust in the One True and Living God, The Lord Jehovah Jesus Christ. Thank Thee, Heavenly Father, for hearing and answering these prayers in accordance to Thy Divine Will, and for The Lord Jesus Christ’s Precious Name’s Sake. Amen.

(This is the end of Chapter 3 of VANITY OF VANITIES)

 

Chapter 4

             

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