Published May 09, 2016
Each
day, my prayer is that of King David found in Psalm 141:3: “Set a guard over my
mouth, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips” (NIV).
Words can be powerful,
as illustrated in James 3:8: “But no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless
evil, full of deadly poison” (NIV).
Contemporary music
artist Hawk Nelson says it best in the popular song, “Words.” A portion of the
lyrics are: “They’ve made me feel like a prisoner, they’ve made me feel set
free; they’ve made me feel like a criminal, made me feel like a king; they’ve
lifted my heart to places I’d never been; and they’ve dragged me down, back to
where I began.
“Words can build you
up, words can break you down, start a fire in your heart or put it out; let my
words be life, let my words be truth, I don’t wanna say a word, unless it
points the world back to You!”
I believe that is what
King David’s prayer is all about — saying nothing that wouldn’t glorify and
point people to Jesus.
We link words together
to form phrases and sentences that often hurt and bring a spirit of gloom
around us.
Across the world there
seems to be a spirit of vocal pessimism. With the 24/7 flow of information, one
wonders if it will ever stop or slow down. There are some who specialize in
tearing down and seeding each conversation with “everything wrong in the
world.” Pessimism, according to Webster’s dictionary, is an “inclination to
emphasize adverse aspects, conditions, and possibilities or to expect the worst
possible outcome.”
Predictions, prophecies and fear have for centuries spelled doom for
Christianity. Recently a friend said, “It’s over. Christianity will be
destroyed.” I sensed fear in his voice and encouraged him to read Christ’s
words in
Matthew
16:18: “Now I say to you that you
are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this
rock I will build my church, and all the powers of Hell will not conquer it”
(NLT).
I have complete
confidence in the Words of God. His promises are secure and never fail.
Christians need to have a resolute heart, trusting in God and telling the
world, “It’s not over until He says so.”
My heart continues to
beat with the passion of telling the world about Christ and providing hope for
the hopeless. I do not believe it is my responsibility to sit gloomily in the
corner and cry that the actions of selected groups are causing the church to
collapse. Let us be the voice “crying out” to a world who doesn’t know Jesus.
Let us engage our culture with the conversation about a Savior and His love and
forgiveness.