Watch Your Mouth!

Matthew 6:25-34

A stern warning from any mother to her child is “watch your mouth!” and most of us have been on the receiving end of that warning at least once in our lives. I think that I responded with, “I can’t see my mouth so how can I watch it?” but I only got to do that one time. You can imagine the response.

Jesus gave the cure for anxiety when He told the Jews at the Sermon on the Mount to trust in the Father’s care for them. He showed them the fowls of the air and the lilies of the field, how both are provided for by the heavenly Father, and how they are better than fowl or lilies. His cure was prefaced with a warning, which appears in one form or the other five different times in this passage: “take no thought”. Look at each warning:

“Take no thought for your life…” (Matthew 6:25)
“Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit to his stature?” (Matthew 6:27)
“Why take ye thought for raiment?” (Matthew 6:28)
“Therefore, take not thought, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’.” (Matthew 6:31)
“Take therefore no thought for the morrow…” (Matthew 6:34)

The phrase, “take thought” speaks of being anxious or careful, both of which lead us to stress and fear. It also speaks of our thought life, and what we ponder in our head. How we think of a situation invariably leads to how we deal with that situation. If we think that a situation is hopeless then we act that way, and it leads to hopelessness. Feel negative about everything that happens, and always think the worst and you will probably never be disappointed. Why live that way?

In these five instances, Jesus tells us to think differently about the moments in our lives that are everyday concerns for us. We are to watch how we think about our life, what we will eat, drink or wear (verse 25). We are also not to stress about our physical body (verse 25, 27) or whether or not we are going to have new and stylish clothes (verse 28). We shouldn’t concern ourselves with HOW we are going to get these things either (verse 31). Finally, we need not worry about tomorrow, for it is already taken care of (verse 34).

The most important warning of Jesus is expressed in the phrase, “take no thought, saying”. How do we take possession of our thoughts? We express them, and articulate them with words. The moment we speak out loud what is going through our head then we have put legs on our thought life. Many things will cross your mind, but not all of them belong to you. Aren’t you glad that you are not responsible for every single thought that comes into your head? If someone could see what goes on in there they might think differently of all of us!

When we speak those worries aloud, we take those thoughts and make them our own. Like the old saying, “You can’t keep birds from flying over your head but you don’t have to let them build a nest in your hair”, you can’t keep thoughts out of your head, but you don’t have to own them.

Watch your mouth saint! I don’t mean live in fear that you will say the wrong thing, but don’t articulate those thoughts that are full of doubt and unbelief. Allow Christ’s finished work to filter your thoughts before they hit your tongue. Then we will truly bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5).

 

The Lord’s Prayer

Matthew 6:9-13

The disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray (Luke 11:1), and what we call “The Lord’s Prayer” is part of what resulted from that lesson. We know that He did not intend for us to pray this prayer word for word on a daily basis, for He had just finished saying, “When you pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking” (Matthew 6:7). Instead, Jesus lays out a pattern for prayer, which each believer would do well to follow, for it shows us important insights into what prayer can and should accomplish.

“Our Father which art in heaven” – He is our Father, and we have the right to call Him that. Paul goes so far as to say that we can now call Him, “Abba” which means, “Daddy” (Romans 8:15). This is a privilege of close relationship that we should take advantage of often.

“Hallowed be thy name” – The Greek word for “hallowed” is only used twice in the New Testament, and both times in the Lord’s Prayer. It is more commonly rendered, “sanctify” which is to purify and set apart. This is the equivalent of viewing God as “holy” which means “uncommon”. Our God is a truly uncommon God and should always be viewed as such.

“Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” – God’s kingdom has come in part by the death of Christ on Calvary, so we need never pray that His work be repeated, but His future kingdom is yet to come, so praying for His return is to anticipate as much (Revelation 22:20). His will is what we aim for in our prayers and in our lives, so it should always be sought out when we pray.

“Give us this day our daily bread.” – Jesus is our bread (John 6:35), and if we eat Him, we shall have His life (6:57). Let’s not wait until Sunday service to eat this bread of life, when we can have Him every day.

“And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors” – Having accepted forgiveness of sins by the blood of Jesus, we need never again pray this prayer. We have no debts, for Jesus paid our debts with His life. Under law, forgiveness is based on us having a like spirit of forgiveness, but under grace it is given for Christ’s sake (Ephesians 4:32), and now we forgive not to be forgiven, but because we have been forgiven.

“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” – Temptations are not always opportunities to get us to sin. These types of temptations are actually never from God, as He can tempt no man with evil (James 1:13). Temptations are also testings, which Jesus tells us to pray that we do not have to go through. The Holy Spirit within us teaches us all things (1 John 2:27), so pray that you need not go through the tests of this world.

“For thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.” – Start the prayer with praise, and end it with praise, for He is worthy. Simple acknowledgement of who He is will bring strength into your life, for the Holy Spirit within you will identify you as being His child and a recipient of all of His benefits.