A Closed Mouth and Silent Heart – A. W. Tozer

street-art-mouth-300-webby A.W. Tozer

My heart was hot within me; while I was musing, the fire burned. Then I spoke with my tongue…. –Psalm 39:3

Prayer among evangelical Christians is always in danger of degenerating into a glorified gold rush. Almost every book on prayer deals with the “get” element mainly. How to get things we want from God occupies most of the space. Now, we gladly admit that we may ask for and receive specific gifts and benefits in answer to prayer, but we must never forget that the highest kind of prayer is never the making of requests. Prayer at its holiest moment is the entering into God to a place of such blessed union as makes miracles seem tame and remarkable answers to prayer appear something very far short of wonderful by comparison.

Holy men of soberer and quieter times than ours knew well the power of silence. David said, “I was dumb with silence. I held my peace, even from good; and my sorrow was stirred. My heart was hot within me; while I was musing the fire burned; then spoke I with my tongue.” There is a tip here for God’s modern prophets. The heart seldom gets hot while the mouth is open. A closed mouth before God and silent heart are indispensable for the reception of certain kinds of truth. No man is qualified to speak who has not first listened. The Set of the Sail, pp. 14-15

“Lord, teach me to close my mouth. I love to preach; You’ve given me opportunities to teach; I’m called on to dispense advice and counsel. But the sitting in silence before You, with my mouth closed–I don’t do nearly enough of that. Amen.”

Comments

  1. A wise woman spareth her words….this is what the Lord has been constantly saying to me. …
    He wants a dialogue ….and as we listen n hear in prayers. ..we speak in the natural. .
    MAN shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God…

  2. Indeed prayer should be an expression of love to God, not a formula for getting things from Him. Thanks for sharing

  3. The Word says CALL unto me, and lift up your VOICE, and many other references to being vocal in prayer. Bottom line is, there’s a time to speak and a time to refrain from speaking.

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