Exodus 4:11-12 (NIV) The Lord said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”

When God appeared to Moses in the burning bush, He told him that He had chosen him to deliver His people from slavery in Egypt. This was shocking news to Moses and he felt totally unqualified to do it. He gave God the excuse that he had a speech impediment that would make it impossible for him to be God’s spokesman (Exodus 4:10). God quickly corrected him and reminded Moses that He is the one that made our mouths and that He can accomplish whatever He wants through us. Then He told him that He would teach him what to say.

Most Christians don’t think about God teaching them what to say. They just speak whatever comes out of their mouths. That’s why there is so much strife in our relationships and in the world. We are a fallen people and many times what comes out of our mouths originates from that fallen nature. If we knew better, we would remember what God told Moses. But even more significantly, Jesus Himself said that He spoke the words that the Father gave Him to speak (John 8:28). What an awesome possibility is available to us as the children of God! We don’t have to be on our own even when we speak. There are many conversations that are sensitive in nature and can go good or bad. Even in our most intimate relationships (our spouse and our children), we need help to communicate words that bring understanding and healing instead of division and strife, which happens many times. Having counseled many people and having experienced the mistakes that I have made in my life in communicating with my loved ones, I see the value of praying and asking the Lord to give us the words that we should speak so that we don’t make a mess of things.

Jesus promised that He would be with us and that He would help us. He even told His disciples not to worry about what to say if they got arrested or were going to be interrogated because it would be given them what to say as the Spirit of the Father would speak through them. In the same way that God taught Moses what to say to Pharoah and to the people of God, He will also teach us what to say when we make it our business to listen. Allow the Lord to teach you what to say in those important moments of communication that we have all throughout our lives. The results will be so incredibly different and productive when we speak the words that the Lord teaches us to say!

Pastor Joey Vazquez