Hollywood Prayer Network On The Pain Of GossipSample

GOSSIP COMES OUT OF THE HEART

"Notice, we never pray for folks we gossip about, and we never gossip about the folk for whom we pray! For prayer is a great deterrent." Leonard Ravenhill

PRAY:  Heavenly Father, I understand that we can know our true selves by examining our hearts. You say in Matthew 15:19 that out of the heart comes evil thoughts. Then you list some horrible things that we think. Then in Psalm 52:4 you tell us that we love every harmful word that we say because we have deceitful tongues! Lord, today I want to get control of my tongue. Sometimes I can be so mad, so silly, or so carefree that I let my tongue say things I would never otherwise say. But I can't blame my tongue, I can just choose to control it. In order to avoid gossip, would Your Holy Spirit give me self-control over my tongue. Thank You for giving me the strength to control everything that comes out of my mouth. Amen and Amen.

REFLECT: These Old Testament and New Testament verses call out two body parts as the problem causing us to sin. "Out of the HEART come evil thoughts" and "You love every harmful word, you deceitful TONGUE!" So, we can blame our body parts or we can take responsibility for everything that comes out of our body. Our body is a Temple and we are in charge of that Temple, so if the Temple is left open, it can attract all kinds of seedy characters wandering in. If the core of the Temple (i.e., our heart) is dirty, or if the front door (i.e., our mouth) is left open, then our hearts and tongues are free to spew out whatever they want. It's our responsibility to close the door and control the thoughts from our hearts and the words from our tongues. We must have self-control so that we don't commit murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, or slander. Our deceitful hearts and tongues love sin, but our souls long for goodness, purity, love, forgiveness, reconciliation, honor, peace, and unity. Surrender control of ALL of your body parts and let Him transform your mind and heart. And, with the help of the Holy Spirit you'll be able to have self-control over your tongue.

ACT:  Whatever time it is in your day right now, since you got up this morning, have you had any evil, mean, selfish, or gossipy thoughts? Have you said any harmful words? If not, praise God and keep going, trying to keep your heart and your tongue pure for the rest of the day. If you have already slipped, then ask forgiveness and pray to start fresh, believing that as of the moment your prayer ends, you are as white as snow and ready to start again. Do this as many times as you need to before the end of today. And as you lie down to sleep, either thank the Lord for a successful day, or ask Him to help you again tomorrow and the next day until you have broken the habit of gossip and you are transformed!