What's That You Say?

I had a thought recently about why some people seem to have every prayer answered and others must wait and be patient. It occurred to me that, even though we may have the best intentions in the world to see healing, or what ever, it's possible that we shoot ourselves in the foot in the process. Yes, God is looking for faith. Yes, He wants us to step out in authority. But perhaps there is something about us that undermines our best efforts. Could it be our mouth?

"With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. Out the of the same mouth proceed blessing and curing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so." James 3:8-9

Most Christians will not take the Lord's name in vain, but what about the rest of the vocabulary? Would you be happy to have the Lord standing next to you all the time? Sometimes our mouths run off and we say things in jest, or in anger, that we really shouldn't.

We are called to be holy, end of story. Thankfully, God knows about our humanity and we don't surprise Him when we mess up. But that's not an excuse to not work at being as holy as possible. I know that I need to be more accountable with what I say.

I'm going to try an experiment. I'm going to consciously watch my mouth and see if it effects answers to prayer. I would really hate to find out that the reason people weren't healed when I prayed for them was because of my stupid mouth. See right there! That's probably not a good thing to say about myself. I am blessed and redeemed by Jesus so I can't say stuff like that. This isn't going to be easy!

I am reminded of someone who asked God why little kids seem to see angels so easily and adults don't. The Lord said it was because the adults had seen to many bad things in their lives. It's possible to recover the innocence, but with a lot of work. I wonder if our words have had the same effect.