Hammer on Anvil '

"Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few" (Ecclesiastes 5:2).

Have you ever been "hasty in your heart" in talking to God? You know how it is -- you crawl into bed at night and suddenly realize that you have not given God any time that day, so you hurriedly utter some prayers before you drift off to sleep?

Or you approach God at your set "quiet time," and after you do a cursory reading of His Word, you begin your litany of prayer requests for your family and church, and perhaps a few missionaries.

Sound familiar? Sadly, it is all too familiar to me, and I have found it necessary to repent on more than one occasion for my rude and callous behavior before a holy God.

My dear daughter-in-law, Bethany, inspired me to write about this today, because her Facebook post was this very Scripture. As soon as I read it, I was reminded of Matt Redman's song "Let My Words Be Few." Please take the time to give this a listen:



Think about these words the next time you come to God in prayer. Do you approach your spouse or your dearest friends in the same way? If I came to my husband and said, "Okay, I have about 5 minutes, and this is what I need to say," and then got up and left without even giving him the opportunity to interact with me, how do you think that would go over? Communication is a two-way street in human relationships, and it must be the same with God. Prayer is so much more than presenting our laundry list of requests, my friends. Yes, God wants us to bring Him our every need (Philippians 4:6), but He also wants us to stop and listen to what HE has to say. John 10:27 says "My sheep hear My voice," but we will never hear if we don't stop babbling long enough to listen.

It takes stalwart discipline to sit in silence, particularly in this age of technology. If tweeting and texting and Facebook posting and television consume a great deal of your time, perhaps you need to be reminded that those pursuits do not feed you properly. Remember Jesus being tempted in the wilderness in Matthew 4? He had not eaten for 40 days, and Satan tried to tempt Him by saying, "If you are the Son of God, turn these stones into bread." Jesus said, "Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God."

Then, in John 4, at a time when the disciples were encouraging Jesus to eat something, He replied, "I have food to eat that you know nothing about" (vs.32). In verse 34, He went on to say that His "food" was to do His Father's will. He lived and breathed and ATE the will of His Father, and did not care to fritter away His precious time in worldly pursuits.

This week, I encourage you to take stock of how you spend your time. If more of it is spent on worldly pursuits than in God's presence, perhaps you need to make some adjustments. If you can watch 3 hours of television in the evenings, but claim to not have time to pray or read His Word, try keeping the TV off for a week and spend that time seeking God.

Discipline yourself to be silent and listen for His voice, and I guarantee you won't be disappointed.

A work of fiction (see Chapter 1: Wealth and Chapter 2:Relevancy)
This is neither an endorsement of the issue nor a stand against it.  It is a simple reminder that Christ has entrusted you with far greater priorities than the policies of a nation.  Your priorities have eternal significance.  Look to your example, Jesus Christ.  He did not concern himself with the policies of the Roman government even though many of those policies undoubtedly contradicted God’s will.  He made His priority doing God’s work on Earth.  Follow His example.

(See also Chapter 4: Love)