5 Verses to Pray that will Bless Your Conversations
I’ve thought a lot about words lately. How you and I can use them to bless and grow a relationship or how easily they can erode the edges of a friendship or marriage until there’s nothing left.
I’m not an advocate of the word police. I don’t believe in safe-spaces and I’m a long-standing proponent of the 1st Amendment.
But…
I also know words matter.
Scripture says they hold the power of life and death.
Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it and indulge it will eat its fruit and bear the consequences of their words. Proverbs 18:21 (AMP)
I hate living out consequences if I can avoid them. So today, I’m turning to God in prayer . . . asking Him to forgive my past and guide my future as I choose my words in light of His grace that I might give Him glory.
5 Verses to Pray that will Bless Your Conversations
1 Peter 3:10–11
“If you want to enjoy life and see many happy days, keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling lies. Turn away from evil and do good. Search for peace, and work to maintain it.” (NLT)
Father, forgive me. It’s so hard to control what I say. I can be so quick to complain and lash out in anger. The world tells me lying is normal. Everyone does it. Everyone bends the truth to make life easier, don’t they? But Your Word clearly tells me to speak the truth in love and avoid using my words to speak evil . . . even if I’m repeating something spoken by someone else. Help me! I want to enjoy many happy days free of the consequences of foolishly spoken words. By Your grace.
Proverbs 15:1,4
A gentle answer deflects anger, but harsh words make tempers flare. Gentle words are a tree of life; a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit. (NLT)
Lord, make my words gentle. Give me the self-control I need to choose my words carefully when I’m angry. To speak with words that work toward unity and understanding. Words that offer life, realizing people make assumptions about who You are based on the way Your children act and speak. Please forgive me for the times my words have hurt and with Your help, I will forgive those whose words have hurt me. Fill me with Your Spirit and make my words gentle and kind.
James 1:19–22
Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires. So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls.
But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. (NLT)
Father, forgive me. I fail at this so often. I’m quick to jump to conclusions before listening and I say words I would like to breathe back in. I fail to avoid the things I should and allow those I shouldn’t. Like Paul, I don’t do the good I want to do and I do those things I don’t want to do. (Romans 7:15–17) I need You, Father. I need Your mercy and grace, and I need Your strength and courage. Help me, Father, for Jesus sake.
Colossians 4:5–6
Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone. (NLT)
Lord, make me winsome for You. My heart’s desire is to show people the greatness of Your love. Give me words that will give You glory . . . words that will help people who don’t know You have a desire to learn more about Your amazing grace and unfailing love.
Psalm 141:3
Lord, help me control my tongue; help me be careful about what I say. (NCV)
And Lord, I ask that You will make me sensitive to Your guidance. Bless me with wisdom to know when to control my tongue and the strength I need to obey. By the power of Your Holy Spirit help me to be careful with the words I say, in Jesus name and for Your glory. Amen.
I believe words may be the most challenging part of our Jesus following journey. No matter how hard I try, I can’t come close to controlling my words without God’s help. I need His forgiveness when I fail, His Word to know the truth and prayer to receive His power.
What a blessing to have a Father who loves us so much, He cares about the details of our words.
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It was the James verse about controlling our tongues that pushed me into the kingdom of God back when I was a teen. Even then I knew that I couldn’t do this on my own. And I love the concept of praying in advance that my words will be honoring to God. Another great post, Deb!
Amen, Michele! Only with God’s help!! Thank you so much for your faithful encouragement! Blessings!
“May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.” Psalm 19:14
Thanks for these prayers today, Deb! Have a blessed weekend!
Oh, I love that verse. I know so many pastors who begin each message with it. You enjoy a blessing-filled weekend as well!!
I find myself in the midst of one of the most difficult situations of my life, and I can’t tell you how perfectly timed this post is for the wisdom of how to use my voice going forward. All of these scriptures are going into my “Speak with Grace and Authority” notebook. Such a joy to be here every week Deb!
Crystal, I’m so sorry you’re going through a difficult season right now! Prayers for God’s wisdom and a heart of understanding.
Crystal, I’m so sorry! I’m asking God to give you His perfect peace and exactly the right words when it’s time to speak. God bless you, my friend!
Oh, Deb, this is so true! Our words are either constructing or demolishing, no neutral grounds! Let no unwholesome talk come from our mouths but only that which is helpful for building others up ACCORDING TO THEIR NEEDS (Ephesians 4:29). Such a powerfully hard verse but not impossible with Christ. Thank you for the reminder!
Thank you for sharing my post and for this community!!
Whew, “no unwholesome talk!” I always need help with that one. And then when I stop to think about the unwholesome talk I entertain between television, social media, and random conversations. I need His help, direction, and strength to guard my input and output of words. Blessings!!
May God give us a greater revelation of the power behind words. Praying that prayer with you, Deb. Yes, in Jesus’ name!
as one of many words, i always need these verses and prayers. thanks, deb.
fav is Colossians – what and how we say things matters for eternity – someone else’s.
Me too, Sue! Me too!! Have a blessing-filled weekend!
All verses I know, but don’t make part of my daily life, so I’m adding them to my prayer journal.
Words matter. I couldn’t agree more, Deb. I’ve agonized over words that were spoken to me, and words that I’ve spoken to others. I sometimes wish that our words had an expiration date so we could start over with a clean slate. 🙂
Great post that we all need to read and take to heart, at least for me. Wow, is it easy to get into trouble with our words! Thank you so much for these wonderful reminders from our Father. He sure knows what is best!
I love the beautiful message behind this, words definitely do matter and it’s important we be mindful of what we speak or think.
The tongue … what a convicting subject! I need to read these verses on a regular basis. Thanks for another convicting, biblically sound post. Thanks, too, for hosting.
Yes, words are so powerful. Have you ever read the book, The Power of a Woman’s Words by Sharon Jaynes? It is an excellent book. Thank you for the key bible verses to combat our words.
Deb- thank you for this reminder. Our tongue has huge importance. We can speak death or life with it.
I always enjoy your wisdom and inspiration!
Such good wisdom for all relationships, Deb. I had a ‘date’ with a friend last night who was seeking advice from me. I was praying all day that my ‘advice’ would honor God. It is so good to allow Him to speak through us, hey?
Thanks for sharing your wisdom on Grace and Truth.
I think your advice is good for guarding your tongue, but I was puzzled by the very first part, regarding “word police”, stating that you don’t believe in safe spaces (one wonders why, since, if you follow all of the scripture advice, you are describing safe space behavior. Then, you politicize this by stating you uphold First Admenvment rights. I must speak out, because in the last weeks, we have seen those political words used to justify discrimination and hate. I also notice a lot of pop-ups, links, etc, pleas to like your FB, so wonder if by those political remarks, you are playing to a certain crowd?
I hope you get a lot of likes, but, please stop politicizing Scripture, please use your skills to draw people together. Safe spaces are for Christians, also, and for all people of compassion who live by the Golden Rule, not the rule of gold.
Oh, Margaret, The last thing in the world I ever intend is to politicize Scripture. Week in and week out I point my readers to ways we can love God and others. When I made those statements about “word police, safe spaces, and the 1st Amendment” I guess I was thinking more about government and authoritarian regulations over dialogue. I truly believe if we listen to one another with kindness and compassion we’d discover ways to come together. That’s my prayer anyway. And if speech is regulated, will sharing the Word of God be considered “hate speech?”
The situation in our country makes me really sad. My goal here is to point my readers to loving one another in ways that glorify God and thank Him for all He’s done for us.
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and giving me an opportunity to clarify this. God bless you! I hope you’ll consider visiting Counting My Blessings again.
Thank you for your reply- i don’t mean to divide or judge. I will visit your site, because the Scripture- based content is wonderful.