Monday night, 9pm. I was praying on the phone with a friend. We took a minute to just wait on the Lord. Was there anything He wanted to say to us.
I think it is a good habit to see if He has anything to say. Often I’ve just rushed in with my laundry list of prayer requests. However, I do find it a little more profitable to wait and hear what is on His heart.
“SILENCE!!!!!”
That was an unusual response. LOL!!! (Has God ever surprised you in prayer?!?!?!).
After a long pause, I heard the Lord again speak to my heart in a much quieter tone, “Silence to all the chaos. Silence to all the confusion. Silence.”
The noise of chaos fills our minds and our airwaves every day. Everyone has an opinion. Everyone is trying to be heard. To get their point across. Soundbites rule the day. I once had a Sunday school teacher who made sure we all knew: “Opinions are like armpits. Everyone has them and sometimes they smell.”
So back to prayer we went armed with the weapon of silence. We asked the Lord to silence the lies of the enemy. To expose the works of darkness with the Light of His truth.
Tuesday morning as I was preparing for the Daily HOPE broadcast I read the passage for the day, Isaiah 54, from the New Living Translation. To my amazement, we were talking about silencing the voice of the accuser. (feel free to click on the Youtube link below to join in the prayer. https://youtu.be/RZdO1bi4lxw. )
“But in that coming day no weapon turned against you will succeed. You will silence every voice raised up to accuse you. These benefits are enjoyed by the servants of the LORD; their vindication will come from me. I, the LORD, have spoken! ” Isaiah 54:17 NLT
Over the last few months, I’ve caught myself mulling over the voices in my head. That tickertape that repeats in my mind. And most of the time it is not helpful! More than once, I catch my thoughts – and they are not pure, peaceable, of good report, praiseworthy. They are nasty, vile, filled with venom and hate.
Instead of just letting the tape loop in my brain, I am learning to SILENCE the voice of the accuser. I take my thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5. “We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ.”
I refuse to rent space in my brain to the lies of the enemy. I don’t want to magnify the plans of the enemy by letting them fill my mind and my heart. I want to silence them and replacing them with God’s truth. I use Paul’s list in Philippians 4:8,9 as a guideline for my thoughts. “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is pure, and honorable, and right and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me – everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.”
Friend, I encourage and implore you to take some time today and silence the voices in your own head. Are they thoughts that lead you closer to Jesus? Or are they standing in opposition to His word? Do they compel you to love? Or do they defy and destroy Christ in you, the Hope of Glory? Learn to wield the weapon of silence.
