As I was driving about today, I pondered a great many things. Upon driving past an accident, I prayed in my head for the people involved, not interrupting whatever was going on in the car by speaking out loud. The prayer finished, my mind continued to ponder. Half of me was ashamed that I had not spoken the prayer out loud, while the other half wondered if unverbalized prayers have the same efficacy as prayers which are spoken aloud.
One of the most striking thoughts occurred (and thus the inspiration for this post) at that moment. If humans didn’t have the power of speech, they must be telepathic. That would be interesting because then all prayers would have to be uttered in the head; there would be no speech, thus no way to vocalize any prayers, let alone daily communication with other humans.
I continued thinking how interesting it would be if humans couldn’t speak, intertwined with the slight wonderings if mental prayers were as effective as prayers spoken. It was then I realized the power of a spoken prayer.
Throughout history, from the beginning of time, God has placed a strong emphasis on the spoken word. He could have thought the world into existence. He could have gestured everything into being. He could have physically manipulated the nothingness to create our existence.
But He didn’t…
God chose to use the spoken word to create, to communicate, to command. He spoke light into being and spoke every detail of creation to life. Throughout the Bible, the importance of the spoken word has been emphasized over and over. After the Flood, God scattered all of humanity how? By changing the one common language to many different language. This brought confusion and caused the splitting of humans, categorized by language.
Men lived, died and performed wonderful and atrocious deeds because of the word they had verbally vowed. Instructions commanded to watch what was said and to guard against foolish speaking. The Proverbs speak of the power of the tongue, how life and death are influenced by what is said, and how utterances are an indication of the real person. When Jesus came, He was the Word and that word was “salvation,” Yeshua. Demons were cast out by the mere mention of Jesus’ name. The sick were made whole and the dead were raised, not by the thought of Jesus, but by his words.
Words are important and have more effect on us and our surroundings than we may realize. I believe that there is a power in the spoken word that we do not know anything about. Why? Because it is the method chosen by God to create and to communicate with us, His ultimate creation. And this is why I came to the conclusion that the spoken prayer is more effective than a mentally uttered one, though I do believe God hears all prayers, no matter how they are communicated to Him.
What better way to communicate with you Creator than by using the very tool He himself used to bring all things into being?
I challenge you to think about what you say. Take one day and listen to the things you and others around you say. What if everything said in a joking manner came true? What if every utterance you made actually happened? Simple, trite phrases like, “My leg/ankle/knee/head is killing me,” “I wish I/you were dead,” “I’m going to kill you/him,” “You’re killing me,” “I wish I/you had never been born,” and on and on.
These innocuous phrases are not so innocent. If the Bible is true and life and death are really in the power of the tongue, why would anyone ever speak these things into their own lives or the lives of others?
Ponder this last argument.
Since “life and death are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit of it” and if “as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he” and “from the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks,” could this be the reason we are to think on “whatsoever things are true… honest… just… pure… lovely… of good report… any virtue… any praise.”?
I think so.
Our words are powerful and move in ways we do not understand. Be careful and chose your words wisely.
