***Listen To Audio Version: Closer than a Brother Audio 578
Today’s Devotional Scripture: 24 A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.
- Proverbs 18:24 KJV
The Message For Today (June 25, 2026):
***Listen To Audio Version: Closer than a Brother Audio 578
We live in a generation that is surrounded by people, but lonely. We go places, we have functions. We are the most connected generation in history, but loneliness is a constant companion for so many. This scripture shows us that a person who has many friends must show himself friendly. So the relationships that we form intentionally, that we reach out for, that we cultivate are our outward responsibility.
The heart to be willing to reach out, to make connections, and to show yourself friendly so that you can begin to connect, and so that we can begin to have relationships that are real, that are true, is the beginning of wisdom. Here in the Book of Wisdom, we see in Proverbs 18:24, a simple guideline to establishing healthy relationships.
Being surrounded by friends but not being friendly is closing the door to the connection that we all need and crave. Having many connections and remaining cold and keeping up a wall for lack of trust or because you’ve been harmed before is what stifles growth. It stifles relationships. It holds us back.
To not be able to let go, to walk through, to heal, and to come out ready to love and to try again, stalls our growth emotionally, spiritually, and physically, and will affect our decisions very deeply. So connection is healing. Friendship is an open door, and we have the choice to walk through it every day.
We have the choice to cultivate connections, to reach out to our fellow man or fellow woman, and just bring the love that God has put in our hearts to the table.
Now, this does not mean allow people to hurt you. This does not mean repeat cycles of pain and toxicity. This does not mean to allow the person who has shown you who they are to come back in to do more harm. None of that applies here.
Take Hold and Cultivate Connections
What this means is to take hold of the opportunity to create relationships, to cultivate connections, to be the change that we all desire to see in the world. To be connected, to be loving, to be kind. It seems that in the light of what has happened in the last six years, the massive amount of isolation and being alone that we’ve experienced, and that some of us are just beginning to heal from, has caused a lot of pain.
It caused an entire mindset. And it seems like everyone is angrier, frustrated, less patient, less tolerant, and it’s evident everywhere: in the driving, in the communities, and in the grocery store. People are just angry. And being the light is difficult because how do you balance being the light with preserving your peace from the chaos of those who may not be healed, and maybe even the chaos of your own history, your own past mistakes?
This scripture is the guideline: that a man that hath many friends, that is surrounded and connected and has a large network of people that they call friends, is a person who is friendly, who shows himself to be friendly, who makes the overtures, makes the connection, and is real and is open and is available.
But then the scripture goes deeper in the second part, when it says: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. There are many relationships and many friends that we can have in our circle. But there is a friend, there is one, maybe two, that stick closer than a brother that we’ve had and that we’ve known for decades, that we can trust with our very beings. This friend that sticks closer than a brother, this friend is one of many. This is sort of the inner courts of our lives.
When establishing these relationships, knowing who to trust, vetting their hearts, vetting their minds, and ensuring that you’re creating these beautiful relationships is so important. We have the capacity, and we have it by prayer, by the Holy Spirit, by observing and being careful, that we come together and create relationships that are loving, that are supportive, and that are reciprocal.
Supportive and connected.
Simply because support is necessary. It’s very important. Connectivity is important. Our hearts crave connection. We were made for one another. And deep, intimate relationships are what carry us through the hard times, to know that we are not alone. Yes, the Lord is always with us.
He’s always there, a constant companion, dwelling within us, guiding us, loving us, comforting us in times of trials. But the Lord made us for each other. Man, woman, sister, friend, cousin, brother; relationships are a part of our currency. They are a part of how we connect with people. They are a part of our emotional balance and well-being, and the lack of them is often painful.
Being surrounded by people and feeling alone is painful. Feeling different, feeling abnormal, feeling as if you’re the odd person out, it can truly weigh on you. And so I pray that this scripture shows us tonight, this morning, this afternoon, wherever you are, that it’s okay to establish healthy relationships. It’s okay to be the connector, to reach out. And even if the door closes and the door closes, and it closes again, keep going.
It’s worth it to get that one yes, that one open door, that one person who is ready to create real and lasting relationships; to meet, to connect, to be, to love, to empower one another, to be free. It is worth it to press, it’s worth it to put your best foot out, and it’s worth it to trust the Lord in the development of new relationships.
Closing Devotional Prayer
My prayer for you:
Father, I thank you right now that the mighty woman of God is now stepping into a new season. I thank you, O God, that you are God in the midst. I pray, Lord, that every wall between the mighty woman of God and strong relationships, secure relationships, let it break.
Every wall between her and the future that you have for her, the relationships that will cultivate her environment, her network, and her net worth. Her value not just in money or in connections, but in knowing who she has in her life. Knowing that she has someone walking with her in the natural, as well as having you, God, in the Spirit.
I thank you, Lord God, that the enemy is no longer keeping her isolated or alone. And that even if she’s surrounded by people but feels overlooked or feels out of place, feels discordant, I pray, O God, that you will bring the woman of God into the proper environment. One where, O God, you set her to put her feet on solid ground.
There’ll be seasons where you may call the woman of God to go and do unusual things and to stand alone and to stand out there on her own for a season. But rarely is that meant to be for a lifetime. So I thank you for the grace. I thank you for the glory. I thank you for the ease. I thank you for the sudden shift in the name of Jesus.
Have your way over the mighty woman of God in establishing relationships and creating those deep, deep connections over time, with trust, where she has a friend who is closer than a brother. One who is almost like family, chosen family, chosen hearts to walk this walk with the mighty woman of God.
I’m praying for her, and I’m praying for her relationships, each and every one, that she and her friendship circle will be blessed, that she and her close, intimate connections will be blessed. For you are the Lord our God. And so, Lord, I thank you, and I pray in Jesus’ mighty name. Amen.
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