Hi friends and welcome to the Robcast. This is episode 125 and this is part 8 of the wisdom series and this one is called two things I ask of you.

A couple quick things before we get into two things I ask of you. I will be in Chattanooga soon for the second to last stop of the how to be here to her.

And then end of November that would be the 19th is the last how to be here experience in LA and then the tour is done.

So I think there may still be a couple of seats for Chattanooga and there's a couple of seats for LA.

I would love to see you there. It's like all day. It's like a seven or eight hour experience and it's in the round and I'm in the middle and I'm telling you I am telling you so much fun.

Now two things I ask of you. What's interesting about this part eight of this wisdom series is this one is actually a prayer.

Much of what we've been looking at are almost like traditional wisdom sayings. But this one is a prayer and it's in chapter 30 of the book of Proverbs and the first time I was reading through Proverbs thinking about doing this series it just it jumped out at me it jumped out at me actually because of its simplicity.

So I'm going to read the prayer and then I want to take you through one layer and then I want to explore another layer and then another layer.

And I want to talk about the relationship between anxiety and memory and the relationship between stress and history because this in just a few lines this prayer.

For me at least it was so convicting really really really convicting and it raises all these questions about smallness and bitterness and past present future.

So here is the prayer chapter 30 of Proverbs the per goes like this 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 in disown you and say who is the Lord or I may become poor and steel and so dishonor the name of my God.

I know it's not amazing even on first read I was like oh this feels like I could be I could explore this forever so I love that line do not refuse me.

The prayer is two things I ask of you Lord and do not refuse me before I die I love how the prayer isn't polite it's like a demand it's like an urgent demand like this literally I'm going to die at some point before I die you need to give me this.

Prayer is giving expression to your interiors naming that which lies within you so anger rage impatience love care intentions compassion you're furious about something prayer is you give you give it language you want somebody to be healed you give it language you take all of this that sort of boiling within you and you give it expression you name it you are taking it.

You articulate it that's the that's that's one of the powers of prayer and there's this urgency to things I ask of you Lord and do not refuse me before I die I need this right now oftentimes when people ask questions about prayer I'm struck with how when you just ask a few questions for clarifying about what they mean by prayer oftentimes what they're talking about is polite.

It's talking about is polite speech towards the sky you know what I mean it's just this well and and generally it's some sort of transaction you're supposed to you ask for things politely and then you either get them or you don't or what whatever that works but here the prayers like this urgent this urgent desire that comes from deep in the bones essentially the prayer prayer is what do you want like what do you want.

And in the wisdom tradition prayer isn't this nice polite act of speech to the sky it's like this urgent raw there is something I need and I need it right now and do not refuse me and then the first thing because the two things I ask of you those are the that's the prayers two things first one is keep lies for me keep lies and falsehood from me now on first reading I was like oh you know how do I do that.

Help people not to tell me lies help people keep falsehood away from me it's almost like keep those things at a distance so you could read it as others but a lot of scholars read it as self keep lies and falsehood away keep me from telling myself lies keep me from creating it.

Reading all sorts of falsehoods about myself it's a prayer for self awareness and self knowledge it's telling yourself the truth about what's happening think think of all the thousands examples we have around us especially in in popular culture of people becoming deluded telling them things that aren't true or perhaps you've been with people who are putting themselves down they've they've told themselves all sorts of lies either

about their greatness usually the lies are about greatness or about smallness it's these either often it's about the it's an ego that's become bloated or it's a spirit that's been crushed these are the two direction oftentimes the lies the lies tell us the lies tell us that we're nothing or the lies tell us that we're everything and it's like the first thing is the prayer is

the prayer is help me live in truth help me not to tell myself lies or believe lies I want to be aware is essentially the prayer I want self knowledge so two things I ask of you first keep me aware keep my eyes open give me self knowledge and then the second part which

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