Praying James 3

Heavenly Father, I praise You for the clarity of Your word to us. Often, we overthink what You are telling us. I praise You for giving us the intelligence to be thinkers and to view things independently of what others may try to persuade us to believe. I praise You for letting each of us have a personal relationship with You because You look at our hearts, and our intent and are not confused by our words or actions.  

Holy Spirit Your word says: “Not many should become teachers because you know that we will receive a stricter judgment. For we stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is mature and able to control the whole body. Now if we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we direct their whole bodies. And consider ships: Though very large and driven by fierce winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the Pilot directs. So too, though the tongue is a small part of the body, it boasts great things. Consider how a small fire sets ablaze a large forest.” [James 3:1-5; CSB] 

Holy Spirit help me when I teach to understand the weight of responsibility that is held over me. Let me speak with Your Spirit guiding my tongue. Let me meditate, own, memorize, and dwell on Your word, wisdom, and principles so that the well I draw from to speak will be honoring to You. Let it not speak pride from my heart but from the humility of being in Your constant presence. Let my tongue speak love, grace, mercy, and salvation. Let judgment, evil, and cursing be removed from my speaking, my heart, my thoughts, and my emotions. Let me be extremely careful with the words I use when talking to Your Creation, made in Your image, and the people I speak to.  

Holy Spirit create a full change in my heart and who I am. Let me no longer, envy, desire, or have pride in any wisdom of this world. Instead, through humility, salvation and faith let my heart seek, work for and become full of Your desires, wisdom, meekness, and love so that I thrust off any contamination of this world in my life. “Let me seek wisdom from above which is pure, peace-loving, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without pretense. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who cultivate peace.” [James 3:17&18; CSB] 

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love, he predestined us to be adopted as his sons and daughters through Jesus, in accordance with His pleasure and will—to the praise of His glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him, we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ. In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory. In Jesus’ name, Amen. Ephesians 1:3-14