Theme: The Fruit Of Your Lips
Memorise: A man’s belly shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth; and with the increase of his lips shall he be filled. – Proverbs 18:20
Read: Proverbs 18:20-21 (KJV)
20 A man’s belly shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth; and with the increase of his lips shall he be filled.
21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.
Bible in One Year: Ezekiel 13-15
MESSAGE:
Many times when you ask people to pray, you expect to hear a roar, only to look up and see that they are either muttering or praying in their hearts. There are certain levels you cannot reach in the Spirit just by praying in your heart. Praise, a powerful weapon of war cannot be used without words. You can pray, meditate and study the Bible quietly, but it is impossible to praise God silently. You have to open your mouth to praise Him. You need words to call upon God in the day of trouble. Psalm 50:15 says:
“And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.”
If I were you, I would not wait until the day of trouble before I call Him, I will call upon Him every day. The Bible says that out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks (Matthew 12:34). If you really have a serious request that is heavy on your heart, you will open your mouth to ask God for a solution. When a doctor is confronted by two patients – one quietly and eloquently explaining his/her symptoms while the other is shouting and screaming in pain, which would be attended to first? The one shouting, of course!
Do you want God to attend to your requests urgently? Then pray out loud. The truth is, you cannot compare the intensity of prayers when you pray in your heart to when you pray out loud.
It is not surprising that majority of gifts of the Holy Spirit have to do with words (1 Corinthians 12:8-10). Six out of nine of the gifts have to do with words. Words are very important; words shape destines and turn things around. You need words to engage in spiritual warfare. Ephesians 6:17 tells us that our Sword of the Spirit is the word of God. I have never seen anyone casting out demons with his mouth closed; you command them with words. Mark 11:23 says that if you have faith and doubt not, you will say to mountains “be removed and cast into the sea” and they will obey you. Mountains obey your words. Use words wisely.
Key Point:
The way you pray will show if you really mean business or not.
Hymn 4: Blessed Assurance, Jesus Is Mine
1. Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
O what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
born of his Spirit, washed in his blood.
Refrain:
This is my story, this is my song,
praising my Savior, all the day long;
this is my story, this is my song,
praising my Savior all the day long.
2. Perfect submission, perfect delight,
visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
angels descending, bring from above
echoes of mercy, whispers of love. [Refrain]
3. Perfect submission, all is at rest,
I in my Savior am happy and blest,
watching and waiting, looking above,
filled with his goodness, lost in his love. [Refrain