“Then the king said to me, “What are you requesting?” So I prayed to the God of heaven.” (Nehemiah 2:4, ESV)
Do you know what it means to stick your foot in your mouth? It means to say something that is offensive or dumb.
Think about that idiom. Stick your foot in your mouth? That is a weird image. Have you ever wondered where it came from? I did a search to find the origin of this phrase. The only thing that came up was that it is potentially related to an infectious disease called foot-and-mouth disease. It is found in the mouths of some farm animals and is a nasty thing.
But it certainly provides a vivid image. Nothing good happens when we “stick our foot in our mouth.” All of us have said things we should not have said and would like to take back. We suffered consequences of the words we spoke. Once something is said out-loud, it is hard to take back.
As we continue our look at leadership lessons from Nehemiah, I took notice that Nehemiah prays before he speaks to the king. The world would be a much different place if we prayed before we spoke. We would end up sticking our foot in our mouth much less.
The book of James tells us to be slow to speak.
“Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” (James 1:19–20, ESV)
Praying before we speak does not mean that we have a long and formal prayer. It is as simple as acknowledging God’s presence in the conversation and to ask for his help and guidance. The prayer is in our thoughts. We pray over the words we would speak. Ask that God that your words would be God’s words and reflect his love.
It is a simple formula with powerful results:
Pause -> Pray -> Speak
The words a leader speaks are calculated. And there is no better way to calculate our words than through prayer.
Reflection
- Think of a time that you stuck your foot in your mouth?
- How do you prevent yourself from sticking your foot in your mouth?
Prayer
Lord, may the meditations of my heart and the words of my lips be pleasing in your sight. I sometimes say things I wish I could take back. Help me to reconcile all the times I spoke out of place and hurt others. Fill me with your Holy Spirit that my words would not be my words, but your words. Help me speak words that build up, edify, and encourage. Amen.
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