Taming Our Tongue From Sinful Words By Helpful Prayers
How we mind our tongue and pray for a guard over our mouth to speak words that bless
My mouth has gotten me into trouble a lot over the years. It started in second grade and continued on.
I’ve been a smart-mouth, a loud-mouth, a potty mouth, and I’ve mouthed off on occasion.
As a radio broadcaster, instructor and speaker, I’ve had to learn to control my words. On my own, it hasn’t always worked out so well, I need the Lord and pray daily for His control on my speech.
Here is a list in my prayer notebook, perhaps you will find it beneficial
Nine major sins of the tongue
Blessings of proper speech
Six biblical prayers to ask to control our tongue
The mouth is figuratively used for speech or speaking. A mouth has lips and tongue, and the Bible has many things to say about all of those.
Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble. - Proverbs 21:23 ESV
But, says the Bible, no one can tame the tongue (James 3:8). And that it is deadly.
Mind Your Tongue - It carries nine major sins
The Lying Tongue—Lying is one of the things God finds detestable and all liars have their place in the lake of fire (Revelation 21:8). You should also not that the devil is the father of lies.
The Flattering Tongue—God hates flattery (Psalm 12:3-4). As believers, we should never praise others because we want to get something from them.
The Proud Tongue—A proud/boastful tongue is sinful. Proud believers are full od themselves and learn little from anyone else. Psalm 12:3-4 says that God will cut off a proud tongue. Humble yourself when God uplifts you.
The Overused Tongue—Proverbs 10:19 says that the prudent hold their tongues. We are advised tp be persons of fewer words.
The Swift Tongue—This is talking too quick or being too quick to answer without listening. James 1:19 tells us to be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to be angry.
The Backbiting Tongue—Backbiters are those who use their tongues against others when they are absent. If we’re soaked with this habit, we need to change. If you have ever been a vistim of backbiting, don’t backbite back; God will fight for you.
The Gossiping Tongue—Gossip is such a common sin today. God hates a gossiping tongue. Take care not to spread false information against others.
The Cursing Tongue—God hates curing tongues, and people that curse have no place in the Kingdom. In our anger and frustrations, let’s not utter curing words against the other person. Let’s bless those who curse us.
The Piercing Tongue—Do not use your tongue indirectly against someone in an effort to mock them. God hates a tongue that pierces others.
(I don’t know where the above meme originated, but am glad
posted it)May God cleanse all The Nine Sins of The Tongue so that we may glorify Him and treat others well.
Seven Blessings of Proper Speech
Foolish, filthy, course, corrupt quenches the Spirit of God. Proverbs 10 says a babbling fool will come to ruin (v 8).
Here’s seven things we learn about speaking words that bless, edify, build up, and encourage:
v 11-The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life
v 13-On the lips of him who has understanding, wisdom is found,
v 19-whoever restrains his lips is prudent.
v 20-The tongue of the righteous is choice silver;
v 21-The lips of the righteous feed many,
v 31-The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom,
v 32-The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable,
Let’s pursue making our words like this. For as Jesus says “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” (Mark 12:34)
To that end, we pray for our tongue, our words, our speech from the following biblical texts so the words of my mouth would be acceptable (Psalm 19:14)
Nine Biblical Prayers – Praying to tame our tongue
Isaiah 6:5 - Then I said, “Woe to me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, Take the coal O Lord and cleanse my lips (v 7-8).
Psalm 17:3 - I have purposed that my mouth will not transgress.
Psalm 39:1 - I said, “I will guard my ways, that I may not sin with my tongue; I will guard my mouth with a muzzle
Psalm 141:3 - Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips!
Ephesians 4:29 - Let no corrupting talk come out of [my] mouth, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
Ephesians 5:4 - Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving
Ephesians 6:19-20 - pray as Paul: that words may be given to us...in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel...chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.
James 3-3–10 – Keep my tongue from staining the whole body; tame my tongue for me, so that what comes out is blessing and praise
Acts 4:29 - And now, O Lord … give us, your servants, great boldness in preaching your word.
Wrapping Up
Our tongue is evil, untamed, and causes sin in at least nine ways—including flattering, gossiping and cursing. There are blessings from God in speaking properly, like wisdom and life. We must watch carefully the words we say, for they reveal the heart. And we can pray daily for the Lord to guard our speech, so we curse less and bless more.
Final Note: This includes the words we type online!
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Until next time, grace and peace…
Image by Mohamed Hassan from Pixabay