Day 3
“May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.” – Psalm 19:14
These words have started many a sermon or prayer that I have heard in my life. They are like an ice breaker, a way of loosening up the audience by invoking God’s help in what is about to come. They allow the speaker to take a humble stance before God and the audience that asks, “help me to say the right thing. Not necessarily what the audience wants to hear, but what you, God, know that we all need to hear.”
Just as importantly, opening with this prayer can also be a way of loosening up the speaker by making the same request to God. “Help me not to feed my own ego or promote myself but help me to please you with what I am about to say.”
Of course, the implication in all of this is that saying (and praying) what pleases God can be much more difficult than saying what pleases us. Overlaying all of this is the added difficulty of standing up in front of a person or group of people and not being overwhelmed by the fear of public speaking. No matter how big an audience, welcoming God into that space to be with you can be a real advantage.
Spreading God’s word is not just about us sharing His words and works with other people. It is also about listening to Him and asking God to help us to know what He wants us to do. Our strength in living out these actions comes not from him standing behind us like some kind of beefed-up bodyguard protecting us and getting us out of all the sticky situations that we get ourselves into. Our strength comes from the confidence that we gain by aligning ourselves, our lives and our hearts to what he wants for us.
What Lies Before 