Good morning, Lord Jesus. As I begin my day, I take some time to come away with You -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God. ...
"O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;
for He steadfast love endures forever.
Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,
those He redeemed from trouble
and gathered in from the lands,
from the east and from the west,
from the north and from the south"
(Psalm 107:1-3).
Lord, You are good. And Your love does endure forever. Whatever we face, You are still good. Whatever we go through, Your love still endures -- forever through whatever.
But as Your redeemed, as those You've "redeemed from trouble," as those You've "gathered in" from wherever we've been lost or scattered, at our wits' end or at the ends of the earth, You call us to "say so." Not just think so in our minds. Not just silently pray so in our hearts -- but "say so" with our mouths.
Our words have power. "Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit" (Proverbs 18:21). Out of our mouths can come words of blessing or words of cursing, but You call us to use our words to bless and not curse what You desire to bring forth (James 3:10). When our tongues and our hearts are sanctified by Your Spirit, when we have the mind of Christ, when we speak with heart of our Father, then our words are like Your words -- "they are spirit and they are life" (John 6:3). Then Your words, spoken through our words, change the atmosphere around us.
Come, Holy Spirit. Sanctify our tongues. Anoint us and empower us to "say so." Heavenly Father, teach us how to take our authority in Christ -- as the body of Christ, filled with the Spirit of Christ -- submitted to the will of our Father to speak the words You give us to speak with the responsibility You've entrusted to us (John 12:49). Lord Jesus, You are the Word made Flesh, come express Your Word through our words and our Father's will through what we speak in the authority of Your name (John 1:14). "Let the redeemed of the Lord say so!"
Lord Jesus, You taught us to pray and to say. You said in Your Word, "Have faith in God. Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, 'Be taken up and thrown into the sea,' and if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you. So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours" (Mark 11:22-24). "Let the redeemed of the Lord say so!"
By the power of Your grace at work within us, by the nature and character of Christ being sanctified within us, we are to speak with authority for what needs to be built up and speak with authority to what needs to come down. By the same Spirit that filled the mouth of Jeremiah "to pluck up and to pull down ... to build and to plant," Your Holy Spirit fills our mouths with Your words to speak words of spirit and life in our world (Jeremiah 1:9-10; Ephesians 5:18). Like You did with Isaiah, take a burning coal from the altar of Heaven and touch our lips to sanctify our words (Isaiah 6:6-7). "Let the redeemed of the Lord say so!"
Lord, in Your goodness and in Your steadfast love, we give You thanks and we give You praise. And in our obedience we take our authority and responsibility to be Your good stewards in our world to speak the words we hear You speaking in our hearts and into our world. We are Your "ambassadors" in our world -- "we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making His appeal through us" (2 Corinthians 5:20).
Your Word calls us and commands us, commissions us and empowers us, to take this authority and responsibility, in submission to Your will: "Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received. Whoever speaks must do so as one speaking the very words of God; whoever serves must do so with the strength that God supplies, so that God may be glorified in all things through Jesus Christ. To Him belong the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen!" (1 Peter 4:10-11).
Just has You are teaching us to pray, You are teaching us to say -- with expectant faith, in the authority of Your name, in submission to Your will, in the power of Your words spoken into our world through us. I encourage you to speak as you pray. Prayer walk your neighborhoods and say prayers over the homes and families as you walk. "Let the redeemed of the Lord say so!" In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
My family, may you speak words of spirit and life with a sanctified tongue and sanctified heart in your authority and responsibility as a disciple and ambassador of Christ, from a place of deep intimacy in prayer, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friends!
