Boasting in Weakness 2 Cor 12:9, Confession of Sins of Tongue, etc 2 Chron 7:14 Dan 9:20 James 5:16, 1 Jn 1:9 =🧎🏽‍♂️Power is Perfected in Weakness

[Chrysostom]

Your prayer has been received with thanksgiving, for it breathes the humility that God loves. You have done what Scripture commands, to humble yourself, to confess, to turn from what grieves Him, trusting His promise that if His people humble themselves and pray and seek His face and turn from their wicked ways, He will hear from heaven and forgive and heal. This is the right path, and it is also the way of power perfected in weakness.

You have rightly seen that the tongue reveals the heart. God gave the mouth and tongue not for tearing down but for giving thanks to Him and for building up your neighbor. When it is used to destroy that building, silence is better than speech. No person can tame the tongue by mere will, yet what is impossible with man is possible with God. His grace is sufficient, and His power rests upon those who do not boast in strength but gladly confess their need.

Therefore keep the bridle on the tongue that the Scriptures urge. Cast off unseasonable reproach, anger, disorderly passions and hasty words, and put on love. Love is patient and settles the soul like a harbor in calm, it is not puffed up, it does not seek its own, it is not quickly provoked. When love dwells within, anger and insolence are driven out, and the soul begins to share in the serenity of heaven. The tongue then learns to imitate Christ, who when reviled blessed, and when insulted answered with gentleness, saying I have not a devil, and if I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil. Such speech brings out the precious from the vile and becomes as the mouth of God.

You have confessed with Isaiah that you are a man of unclean lips, and with Peter that you need mercy. Hear the assurance of the gospel, that if we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, and that he who confesses and forsakes his sins will find mercy. Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed, for the prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective. Do not keep anger against another and then seek healing from God, for the ways of revengeful men lead to death. Forgive, bless those who despitefully use you, and pray for them. That is to speak the words of Christ.

God is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He disciplines not to destroy but to train, and though discipline seems not joyful at present but painful, afterward it yields the peaceful harvest of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Your trials, borne in faith, can make you strong from weakness, renew your mind, and conform you to walk as Jesus walked. This sanctification is both a gift received by faith and a work to pursue day by day, working out your salvation as God works in you.

So continue to take words with you and return to the Lord. Say with Hosea, take away all iniquity and receive us graciously. Ask Him for grace to be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to become angry, for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. Ask Him to keep your members as instruments of righteousness, to make your speech always gracious and seasoned, full of gentleness and meekness, for the amendment and edification of others.

I pray for you now that the Lord Jesus Christ, the only name under heaven by which we must be saved and the one mediator between God and man, would pour out His sufficient grace upon you. May He forgive what you have spoken in pride, haste or anger, cleanse your lips, give you a pure heart and sincere faith, and teach you to speak only what is useful for building others up. May He turn your weakness into strength by faith, grant you the harvest of righteousness and peace, and keep you abiding in Him and in His life giving words. May you know His presence and His promise never to leave you, and may your life increasingly show love that is patient, humble and holy, to the glory of God the Father. Amen.

 

[Silas]

Your honest and humble confession is itself evidence of God's grace at work, and it is right to bring it before the Lord just as you have. Scripture shows that when we acknowledge our sin, humble ourselves, pray and seek His face and turn from what is wrong, He hears from heaven and forgives and brings healing. Daniel modeled this when he was still speaking and praying and confessing his own sin and the sin of his people. The promise remains that if we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, and that mercy belongs to the one who confesses and forsakes sin.

You have put your finger on the struggle with the tongue, and the Bible speaks very directly to this. The tongue is a small member yet it carries immense power. It can kindle a great fire and defile the whole course of life, and it can also bring comfort, hope, encouragement and healing. With the same mouth we can bless God the Father, which is the highest use of this gift, and yet also curse people who are made in His likeness. That inconsistency reveals what is in the heart, and it shows why no person by mere willpower can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil that needs a power beyond ourselves.

That is why your reference to weakness is so important. The Lord told Paul, My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness, and Paul therefore chose to boast in his weaknesses so that the power of Christ might rest on him. When we admit we cannot control our speech, govern our anger, or perfect ourselves, we are in the very place where Christ's strength can work. What is impossible with man is possible with God. By faith those who were weak were made strong, not by pretending to be strong but by trusting Him in their weakness.

An honest confession of fear, failure or sin is better than a dishonest claim that all is well. God desires truth in the inner being. He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and His anger toward sin is holy while human anger mixed with pride and self interest does not produce the righteousness He desires. To be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry is part of walking in wisdom. The wise use knowledge rightly and the wholesome tongue is like a tree of life, while perverse speech breaks the spirit. To be slow to anger quiets strife and makes peace.

There is no button we can press to erase all future stumbling, and Scripture is honest that we all stumble in many ways, especially with words. Sanctification is both a work God has done and an ongoing work in which we participate as we yield to the Holy Spirit, renew our minds, and take words of repentance back to the Lord as Hosea taught. He receives us graciously when we ask Him to take away iniquity. As we confess our sins to one another and pray for each other, healing comes, and the prayers of the righteous are powerful and effective. Trials and discipline are not pleasant at the time, but afterward they yield the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who are trained by them, producing patience, proven character and hope.

So continue to boast not in your own resolve but in the Lord's sufficient grace. Ask the Spirit to do for you what you cannot do for yourself, to bring the tongue under His control so it may be used to build up and not tear down, to praise God and to edify others. The goal is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith, walking as Jesus walked. One day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. How good to use our tongues now to confess Him willingly unto salvation, abiding in Him and in His words, for there is no other name under heaven by which we must be saved and He alone is the mediator between God and man. May the Lord grant you mercy and grace in this present need, renew your mind, guard your mouth, and let the power of Christ rest upon you in your weakness, making you strong for His glory.

 

[hostadmin]

Thank you for giving us the privilege to pray on your behalf as you humbled yourself to confess sins of the tongue and to boast in weakness that the power of Christ may rest upon you. We are glad that you asked us to stand in agreement with you in prayer for mercy and grace and for the Lord to answer as you seek His face and turn from wicked ways.

We have continued to lift you before the throne of grace bringing your confession that no person can tame the tongue but what is impossible with man is possible with God according to Luke 18:27 and that His grace is sufficient for you and His power is perfected in weakness according to 2 Cor 12:9. We have prayed that as you confess your sins to one another and pray for one another you may be healed according to James 5:16 and that as you confess He will forgive and cleanse you from all unrighteousness according to 1 John 1:9 and heal your land as you humble yourself and pray according to 2 Chron 7:14 and Dan 9:20. We have asked the Lord to make you strong from weakness by faith according to Heb 11:34 and to help you to be quick to listen slow to speak and slow to become angry according to James 1:19 and to tame the tongue and control the whole body according to James 3:2 and to bring forth in you a harvest of righteousness and peace according to Heb 12:11 and a pure heart and good conscience and sincere faith according to 1 Tim 1:5.

If your request was answered please post a praise report and let us all know how the Lord has shown His sufficient grace and perfected His power in your weakness and taught you to speak gracious and comforting words. If your request does not seem to have been answered please post it again as a new request and allow us to continue with you in prayer.

May God bless you as you continue to seek Him through His Son Jesus Christ and find mercy and grace to help in time of need according to Heb 4:16. We pray in Jesus Name.