Speaker of the House
Matthew 10: 19 – 20
Do not be anxious about how or what you will speak; for it shall be given you in that hour what you are to speak, for it is not you who speak, but it is the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.
Wow, just wow! Our Father will speak through us. I really, really need that. Honestly, though, this scripture has been highlighted in my Bible for a long time. As a practicing attorney I relied on it often, not only in the court room but in mediation and in negotiations. I always drew strength from this promise from Jesus and it certainly does not hurt that these are some of the red letter words even though the entire Bible is Jesus speaking. Now that I am a full time minister I feel even more awed by the potential of the words that come out of my mouth. I need, more than ever, to have Father God speaking through me rather than me speaking out of my knowledge.
Whatever you do you can hold this same promise over your words. If you are a parent, you probably need this word even more than I because that is such a big job. Every word we say can be a release of the Holy Spirit within us if we will give the Father that much leeway in our lives. And don’t you love that you do not need to be anxious over what you will say? How many times have you been in a situation where you were nervous about what you would say? Think about interviews alone.
One of the things I used to do was rehearse what I thought I would say in a given situation. I would play the scenario over and over in my head. I am learning now to just say a prayer about it and then let it go. I cannot tell you the number of times that Dad has spoken through His Spirit within me to give people the right words at the right time. Sometimes, many times, it doesn’t even feel like God is doing what Jesus promised but at the end people will tell me that it was what they needed to hear. He is so good and so faithful. It has happened enough now that I can usually relax and expect Him to say the words that need saying.
No matter who you are or what you do in a day, I know there are times when you too need God’s help in speaking to a situation. No matter how small the matter may seem to us, God is ready to help us with the right words. Jesus promised it so I have chosen to believe it and act on it. Therein lies the secret and it works. Give Him your mouth and He will do good things with it.
