COURAGEOUS PRAYER: WORDS & MEDITATIONS ACCEPTABLE
Ps. 19:14
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR
1. Jeannie Gibbs was trying to have her mother’s phone disconnected, but the customer-service rep told her that since the account was in her dad’s name, he’d have to be the one to put in the request.
2. The fact that he’d been dead for 40 years didn’t sway her. Then a solution hit Jeannie: “If I stop paying the bill, you can turn off the service, right?” “Well, yes,” she said reluctantly. “But that would ruin his credit!”
3. I appreciate the fact of people wanting their reputation to stay good, even after death! In fact, that’s along the line of my message tonight.
B. TEXT
“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer” Psalm 19:14, NKJV.
C. THESIS
1. David was a man of tremendous courage, not only on the battle field, but in the spiritual realm. He prayed prayers I would never have considered praying to God, because I’m aware of my shortcomings. Examples of David’s prayers?
a. Psalm 139:23-24; “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me...” [would YOU pray that?]
b. Psalm 26:2, “Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; try my mind and my heart” NKJV.
c. 2 Sam. 22:21, “The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness; According to the cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me.” Wow!!
2. In Ps. 19:14, David asked for two humanly impossible things: perfect words and perfect thoughts. Some will say, “Hold it! David only asked for ‘acceptable’ ones.”
3. Yes – but we’re talking about acceptable IN GOD’S SIGHT. This is the God who said, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” Mt. 5:48.
4. Would YOU ever expect to attain perfection in your words and thoughts? Well, David did! He set his sights high and intended to gain those heights. That’s part of the reason David was ‘a man after God’s own heart.’
5. So we’re going to look at the two areas David specified, their difficulties, and the things we must do if we would reach these heights. The title of this message is, “Courageous Prayer; Words & Meditations Acceptable.”
I. THE WORDS OF MY MOUTH
A. IMPOSSIBILITY OF HAVING PERFECT WORDS
1. “The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, but NO HUMAN BEING CAN TAME THE TONGUE. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. James 3:6-8.
2. We've put a man on the moon and on the ocean floor; we've harnessed the forces of the atom, yet we haven't conquered our tongue!
3. HUMOR
a. A young man was sent to Socrates to learn to be an orator. On being introduced to the philosopher, he talked so incessantly that Socrates asks for a double fee.
b. "But why are you charging me double?" asked the young man. "Because," replied the great orator, "I see I must teach you two sciences; the one, how to hold your tongue, and the other, how to speak. And the first is generally more difficult.”
4. David’s solution in the difficulty: “I will put a muzzle on my mouth" Psalm 39:1. Even Moses failed in this area -- He didn't enter the promised land because "he spoke unadvisedly with his lips" Psalm 106:32-33.
B. HOW WE CAN CONTROL OUR WORDS
1. Talk less. "Think twice and talk once."
a. We would all cringe at the thought of a mouth full of gravel. Think of the pain and discomfort! But a stone in the mouth can actually be desirable -- at least that seems to be true for the cranes that inhabit the Taurus Mountains of southern Turkey.
b. These cranes tend to cackle a lot, especially while flying. All that noise gets the attention of Eagles, who swoop down and seize them for a meal. The experienced cranes avoid this
thread by picking up stones large enough to fill their mouths. This prevents them from cackling -- and from becoming lunch for the Eagles.
c. People have a problem with their mouths too. The writer of Proverbs said, "He who guards his lips guards his life" (13:3, NIV1984).
2. Identify and stop destructive speech.
3. Concentrate on edifying and blessing those you're with.
4. Prov. 18:21 says that “Death and life are in the power of the tongue . . .” How? Words can stir people to commit murder.
5. Eph. 4:29, “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” This kind of speech is acceptable to God!
II. THE MEDITATION OF MY HEART
A. THE BATTLE FOR THE MIND
1. When you become saved, your spirit is “born again.” You are “quickened together with Christ;” you become a New Creature in Christ. But your soul, which contains the mind, will, and emotions, still needs to be reprogrammed and redirected.
2. That’s why Paul said, “...put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires [and] be made new in the attitude of your minds; and put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” Eph. 4:22-24.
3. Paul saw this as a primary task. You must get more input from God/the Bible than you’re getting from the world – or you’re losing ground.
4. “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy —think about such things.” Phip. 4:8.
5. The fact that Paul commanded us to control our thoughts clearly means it’s within our power to do so.
B. BE CONFORMED OR BE TRANSFORMED
1. Paul said, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” Rom. 12:2.
2. Our minds are like computers. We’ve entered/ copied to it a lot of bad information and bad responses. Even after salvation those old memories and responses easily return.
3. We must create a new data base of good thoughts and actions and replace the old data with one new ones.
4. MEMORIZE SCRIPTURE. We must saturate our minds with Scripture. Pick out key scriptures that speak to your life and memorize them. Ps. 119:11 says, “I have hidden Your Word in my heart that I might not sin against God.”
5. BLOCK & REPLACE BAD THOUGHTS. When you catch yourself thinking an unhealthy thought, stop it & quote a Scripture as a replacement thought. Or sing a Christian song until the errant thought has been pushed out.
6. As you keep doing this, moment by moment, day by day, the normal course of your mind will be altered to a new course closer to God and His thoughts.
C. ILLUS.: SUM OF THOUGHTS EQUALS A LIFE
1. In Natural Bridge Caverns near San Antonio are beautiful stalagmites and stalactites. They are rock pillars formed over thousands of years.
2. A single drop of water found its way from the surface to the roof of the cave and dropped, leaving a tiny amount of sediment. Each succeeding drop added further imperceptible amounts until an icicle began to form.
3. After thousands of years, they became massive pillars of stone, the accumulation of millions of drops!
4. The average person has 10,000 thoughts a day. Those thoughts, like drops, accumulate and solidify to form a monument of our lives, whether good or bad.
5. If we police our thoughts and only allow pure and worthy thoughts, the “pillar” of our accumulated thought-life will be a beautiful, jeweled column. If we let pride, jealousy, discord, and selfishness dominate our thoughts, the “pillar” of our accumulated thought-life will be a condensation of poison, bitterness, and toxic substances, unworthy to occupy heaven’s fair country.
III. OUR GOAL: TO BE ACCEPTABLE BEFORE GOD
A. THE GREEK WORD (LXX) FOR “ACCEPTABLE”
1. In the Septuagint, the Greek version of the O.T. translated by the Jews 300 years before Christ, the word used for “acceptable” in Ps. 19:14 is eu-dok-ian, and its root word is dok-eo, “to please.”
2. This is the same root word used in 2 Tim. 2:15 where Paul says, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one APPROVED (dok-imos), a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.”
3. There is a difference between the words; in Psalm 19:14 David HOPES his words and thoughts please God. In 2 Tim. 2:15, Paul speaks of the Christian who has been tested and HAS BEEN found to be pleasing to God; they’ve passed the test.
B. JOY ON THE DAY OF TESTING
1. If an object or a person is “approved,” it means it’s been tested and found genuine. This word was used of the testing of metals; when they were found to be genuine gold, or silver, or bronze – their worth was verified and established.
2. We Christians attempt to perfect our lives because we know that a day of judging will come, when the Great Refiner will test the metal of our lives.
3. Paul describes it in 1 Cor. 3:12-15, “If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.”
4. Paul told us that WE play the major role in how our lives turn out on that Day. Many will be ashamed on that day. Like Joshua, I say, “But as for me & my house – we will serve the Lord.”
5. Let’s take David’s challenge seriously. “Let us PURIFY OURSELVES from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God” 2 Cor. 7:1.
6. “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer” Psalm 19:14, NKJV.
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION
1. After spending months writing his book, “The French Revolution,” Thomas Carlyle took his [only] manuscript to his friend John Stuart Mill for his comments.
2. Mill passed the manuscript on to a lady named Mrs. Chapman, who read it by the fireplace on the evening of March 5, 1834. Before she went to bed that night, she laid the manuscript on the mantle.
3. Early the next morning the servant girl came to clean the room and to start the fire in the fireplace. Not knowing what the papers were, the servant used the manuscript as fuel to kindle the fire. The work of months was burned up in a matter of seconds.
4. Some Christians spend their entire lives on earth building with wood, hay, and straw. At the judgment seat of Christ, many people’s work will go up in flames. They will be admitted into heaven, but will be saved “as through fire” (1 Cor. 3:15). (Kent Crockett, Making Today Count for Eternity, Sisters, OR: Multnomah Publishers, 2001, p. 85)
B. THE CALL
1. Do you want your life to be pleasing and acceptable to the Lord? It all begins with your governing your thoughts and your words. Take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, 2 Cor. 10:5. Do like David and muzzle your mouth!
2. Will you stand and pray with me the prayer David prayed in Psalm 19:14? Let’s say it together: “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer” Psalm 19:14, NKJV.
3. Let’s close with the Sinner’s Prayer for those who want to make sure of their salvation. How many of you want to be included in that prayer? PRAYER.
