Speaking Life

Below are Nicole's thoughts on Chapter 16 of The Power of A Praying Parent by Stormie Omartian. Please know that what we all learn from a study is usually different. Please feel free to share what you've learned in the comment section below this post. We would love to hear from you!

* My son is never going to get better...
* My life is too hard...
* This is not fair and is too much for me to handle....
* My child will never make friends...
* I can't believe our family has to live with autism...

So, the statements above may not be your typical "bad words". However, they are definitely NOT words of life. In other words, they are not words that God wants us to speak into our lives. I believe that what comes out of our mouths effects our lives in so many different ways. I also believe that statements like those listed above can do more harm in our lives than those naughty four letter words. Not saying I'm a fan of using foul language. What I'm saying is that what we speak really truly effects our lives. Therefore, it's important that when we open our mouths and speak, we are speaking in a way that is pleasing to God. So let's take the above statements and speak life into them.

* I know my son has autism and the world is telling me that autism isn't curable. However, I also know that "with God all things are possible."...
* My life may seem hard but "this too shall pass" and God is with me every step of the way...
* No one ever said life was fair. I am a strong person of God and I know that I have so much to learn through this all.
* My child will make some incredible friends one day and he is going to be an awesome best friend to someone.
* Our family has learned so much through autism. We are finding ways to see the blessings through this all.

Isn't this how we want our children to speak? Isn't this what we want from them? To see the best out of every situation. To find the good in the bad. To speak good into everything and about everyone around them. If this is what we want, then we need to lead by example.

Our first step in leading by example needs to be praying. We need to take the time to not only speak the word of life into our children but into ourselves as well. We also should take the time to make sure if we are pouring out to others that we are some how, some where getting poured into. Whether it's church, Bible studies, Bible readings, praying...we need to be fed to make sure the right words are coming out of us.

Below are the points that Stormie made that meant the most to me:
Words have power, and we can either speak life or death into a situation. -p 116
We need to ask God to put a guard over our own mouths as well as the mouths of our child. - p116
Speech that is not godly or not of the Lord, such as "I'm no good," "I wish I was dead," "Life is terrible," "People are horrible," "I'll never be anything special," does not reflect a heart filled with the Holy Spirit. It reflects the work of darkness. And that is exactly what will play itself out on the stage of your child's life if you don't help him monitor what he says. -p 166
The best way to improve speech is to improve the heart. - p 117

Life gets tough. It's hard to remember to speak so positively about things when everything seems to be crashing down all around you. This is when we need to speak life into our situations. Speak positively about what can and will happen in your lives. Remember the good things that have happened and speak about them. This will only help you to teach your child to do the same.

Lord,
I pray that you will help us to remember the good things in life and to not focus on the bad. Help us to see the good things that either have happened or can happen in our lives. Help us lead our children into speaking positively and being full of life. Show us the right words to use in every circumstance we encounter. Guard our mouths as well as our children's mouths from any foul language and negative speaking.
Amen

Bible Verses from Chapter 15
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

A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. -Matthew 12:35

But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned. -Matthew 12:36-37

Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the bones. -Proverbs 16:24

There is one who speaks like the piercings of a sword, but the tongue of the wise promotes health. -Proverbs 12:18