When you pray, go into your [most] private room, and, closing the door, pray to your Father, Who is in secret; and your Father, Who sees in secret, will reward you in the open. ~Matthew 6:6 (AMP)
Not many of us can claim to be good at keeping things quiet that should be kept quiet. Jesus indicates in Matthew 6:6 that what we pray about is between us and God and does not always need to be broadcast as a display for others. We all want to hear from God, yet the moment He does tell us anything, we cannot wait to tell others what He has said. Sometimes before the revelation has been made to us in full. Maybe that is all right for the most part, but there are times when things between us and God should just be kept between us and God. One of the greatest traps of the enemy is to find ourselves in a position of taking glory for ourselves that belongs to God and we know all the glory belongs to God! We are created to display God’s glory in the earth, not to glorify ourselves. We are told in Acts 17:25 “He Himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.” (NIV) When was the last time you gave breath to someone? So, the truth of the matter is we really have no glory in and of ourselves. The Lord said we are a city on a hill. We are a light in this dark world, but it’s not our own light that we are displaying. It’s the light of Christ.
Joseph had a dream that his father and brothers would someday bow down to him, and that was definitely a prophetic dream from the Lord, but some might agree it was foolishness that prompted him to tell the entire family about it. After he did it wasn't long before a spirit of jealousy ran rampant in the hearts of his brothers, and they ended up putting Joseph in a well and leaving him for dead. The bible teaches us where there is jealousy there is every other evil work. It could have been Joseph's foolishness of indiscretion that God had to work out of Joseph before He could trust him with the responsibilities that the Lord had in mind for him. Very often our unwillingness to keep quiet is a sign of immaturity. It is important for us to remember that there is a reason why the Lord gave us two ears and only one mouth. He tells us in James 1:19 to listen much and speak little. He really couldn’t get more to the point than that. We might see more of God’s blessings manifested in our lives if we could learn to discern the difference between what to talk about and what to keep quiet about. Just like you and me, God will reveal more to those He is able to trust. Let us learn to hold things in our heart until we are confident God is ready for the world to know. He warns us in Proverbs 10:19 “When there are many words, sin is unavoidable, but the one who controls his lips is wise.” (HCSB) So be careful of what comes out of your mouth today, especially if your emotions are stirred up. You cannot stick your foot in a closed mouth!
My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry ~James 1:19 (NIV)
Have you ever struggled with over-communicating?
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