6.1.19 Praise & Prayer Prompt: Speak Up (But Pray First)

PRAISE & PRAYER PROMPT ••• We all know the saying, “Open mouth, insert foot.”
I’ve been there more times than I can count and often, it’s not so much “Open mouth, insert foot,” as it is, “Open mouth, insert a shoe store.”
We all know what it is to have our mouths work faster than our brains.
It’s completely understandable why James called the tongue “a restless evil, full of deadly poison” in James 3:2-10.
So many problems in the world are caused by restless chatter when the stillness of silence would have been far more beneficial.
The signature verse today comes from Psalm 141:3 and says, “Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips!”
It’s a prayer I pray frequently, paraphrased of course because I’m not as articulate as David.
My version is more like, “Lord, please let me know when to shut up and please don’t let me say something stupid.”
I pray frequently for God to give me the right words…
Whether I’m speaking to someone who has a vastly different set of values than I do…
Or trying to explain something…
Or trying NOT to say what I really want to say…
The words we speak matter and we know that better than ever in our easily-offended society.
And it’s for that reason that so many Christians stay silent.
They don’t know what to say or they are afraid of offending or sounding stupid.
Y’all, God gave us the gift of speech and we need to use it.
But we have to regularly incorporate David’s prayer into our prayer lives.
Left to our own devices, our mouths can get us into trouble.
We need to ask the Holy Spirit to guide our words.
Proverbs 16:4 equates gentle words to a honeycomb while in Colossians 4:6, it says, “Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.”
Salt enhances flavors and Jesus told us we are the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13).
We are meant to use our words to bring peace when there is strife…
To bring healing when there is sorrow…
To bring love when there is hated.
And in Ephesians 4:29, we are told, “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.”
Let’s not be afraid to speak up, but instead, ask our Heavenly Father to guide our words.
Today, as you pray, thank God for the gift of speech and the ability to communicate.
Thank Him that with your voice, you can pray, and lift up praises to Him.
Ask the Holy Spirit to guide every word that you speak that they will be God-honoring, kind, gentle, and a reflection of grace and goodness.