Sweet Words

 

SWEET WORDS

By: Julie Souza Bradley Lilly

“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” – 1 Thessalonians‬ ‭5:11‬ ‭NIV‬‬

My eyes opened this morning with a tinge of dread at what the day might hold. It has been a challenging few months, and I had started to feel like nothing would ever change. 

I finished praying and picked up my phone, and there I found a single sentence that changed everything.  The message was from someone I didn’t even know, but their encouraging words put hope back in my heart.

Words can be so powerful.  We may not be able to hold them in our hands, but they are tools of creation nonetheless.  In the beginning God spoke everything into being with mere words.  And made in His image, we have been given a similar power to create with our words, as well.  

Scripture cautions us, “With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be.” – James‬ ‭3:9-10‬ ‭NIV‬‬

We can partner with God in creating life, or partner with Satan in creating death.  And whether life or death, the fruit of our words will one day be returned to us multiplied.  What a joyful or terrifying thought, depending on our choice.

Father, we don’t want to be fools.  We align ourselves with Your will and blessing.  Stop us short of speaking in agreement with Satan’s agenda.  Teach us to use the power entrusted to us for good and not for evil.

Lord, anoint our words with mercy and grace.  Touch our lips with an abundance of kindness, compassion and love.  In the Name of Jesus, we ask that our speech would be empowered by Your Spirit, to fill broken and hurting hearts with hope.  

Lord, give us Your heart to love lavishly.  And use us to spread encouragement and Your sweet words of blessing with those You send our way — even with our enemies.  In Jesus’ Name ❤️

https://www.facebook.com/Prayers-of-a-Ragamuffin-Warrior-171515087035441/



 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A City On A Hill

Image
A CITY ON A HILL By:  Julie Souza Bradley Lilly “You are light for the world. A city cannot be hidden when it is located on a hill. No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket. Instead, everyone who lights a lamp puts it on a lamp stand. Then its light shines on everyone in the house.” – Matthew‬ ‭5:14-15‬ ‭GW‬‬ And I saw thousands of souls struggling in a churning sea.  Under the darkness of a moonless sky, without a boat, they were tossed.  Beneath them sharks swam, nipping at heels, eliciting sharp cries from those who flailed.  It caused them to cling to their neighbor, pushing them to submerge, sputter and gasp.  Exhaustion, chaos and hopelessness hovered over the waters like a mist, obscuring the small points of light that seeped out from around the boarded windows of the nearby city on a hill.  The city on a hill—a beacon of hope to those drowning, contained behind windows shuttered with fear. Lord, we see chaos all around us —man’s inhumanity to man— fear, anxiet
Read more

Paul’s Handkerchief Prayer

Image
Good morning, my friend!  Good morning, Father! “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” - Deuteronomy 31:6 Lord, we don’t have to be the only one in a room to feel alone.  We can be in a coliseum full of people and still feel lonely.  We feel alone in our skin.  You encourage us to not forsake meeting together as a church (Hebrews 10:25), but it is the internal companionship that keeps us from feeling loneliness in that packed coliseum. Father, I lift my friend.  Your Word says that where two or more are gathered in Your Name, You are there in the midst of them.  So Lord, as in Acts 19:12 when Paul sent a blessed handkerchief to the sick and they were healed, likewise, across time and space I take hands with Your precious child.  Together we bow before You and admit we need You.  We invite Your presence.  If they feel lonely or alone today, in their life or in
Read more

Beauty Among the Ashes

Image
Good morning, my friend!  Good morning, Father!   “I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that   I would see the goodness of the Lord in  the land of the living.   Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage,   And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord!” - Psalm 27:13-14 Father, we thank You that with You all things are possible.  All around us there are financial troubles, poverty, disease, depression, anxiety, divorces, confusion, disappointment, illness, loss, pain and grief.  The list goes on and on.  People are suffering, Father, and are clinging to the last vestiges of hope.   Lord, I lift up my friend.  You know precisely what weighs on their mind today, and which troubling thoughts strike fear in their heart.  Long seasons of struggle bring with them weariness and discouragement.  I cry out to You on their behalf, Lord.  You are able.  We ask for miracles.  Nothing is too difficult for You.  We ask that You take what the enemy intended for evil
Read more