Praying right
Don’t shoot off your mouth, or speak before you think.
Don’t be too quick to tell God what you think he wants to hear.
God’s in charge, not you—the less you speak, the better. ~ Ecclesiastes 5:2 (MSG)
Lord, teach us to pray. ~ Luke 11:1 (part)
KEY IDEA:
We need to learn how to pray with well thought-out words.
PRAYER:
Lord, thank you for hearing me when I call to you. I admit, though, that I do not always think before I speak -- even to you. Help me learn to listen more than I speak -- even when I'm praying to you. I know that you are in charge and I am looking forward to the time when it will be clear to everyone that you are in charge of what comes out of my mouth. Amen.
TRANSLATIONS
ABP = Authorized Boydston Paraphrase — my own freestyle biblical adaptation — somewhere between paraphrase, commentary, and sermon
CEB = Common English Bible (©2011, the Common English Bible)
CEV = Contemporary English Version (©1995, American Bible Society)
MSG = The Message (©1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson)
NIRV = New International Reader's Version (©1996, 1998, Biblica)
NIV = New International Version (©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011, Biblica)
NLT = New Living Translation (©1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, Tyndale House Foundation)
