This is a continuation of my previous thoughts about our nation being POW’s-Prisoners of Words.
Because of the tumultuous atmosphere that has been created in our nation by words that are divisive, we live in an environment of unrest.
A short while ago, I posted on Facebook the thought that I believe that the Body of Christ does not fully realize that it MUST intercede at this time for this nation. If you are a true believer in Jesus Christ, then you should understand the necessity of prayerfully interceding for this nation and its leadership.
However, I fear, that many believers are POW’s in this nation. They are prisoners of words. They have been incarcerated mentally making it difficult, if not impossible, for them, and/or the Body of Christ to focus on meaningful intercessory prayer because they are mentally distracted by the words that they are repeatedly exposed too, especially the excessive political rhetoric.
How is an individual freed from this mental incarceration? The simple answer is to focus on Christ; but the rehabilitation can be difficult. I know from personal experience. I have been deeply involved in listening to the daily diatribe against our administration and our government avidly participating in voicing verbal criticisms. To be blunt, I have ‘bad-mouthed’ the President and our elected officials criticizing their conduct and behavior. Over a period of time, I discovered that what I was doing was affecting me negatively, and I was becoming a POW (Prisoner of Words). I listened to the talk show hosts, watched the news, and sporadically read the print media.
I really believed that I had a rational grip on what I was absorbing and understood the truth and error of the issues. Little did I realize the imprisoning effect that it was having on me.
Graciously, the Lord confronted me with my sin of speaking against those in authority over me. Having been forgiven, He freed me from my mental state of incarceration. The first thing that I had to do was to ‘turn off’ the numerous voices that I was listening too, and listen to one voice, His.
Listening to multiple voices brought me into confusion. Confusion was what the Lord allowed to awaken me to the fact that something was wrong. God is not the author of confusion. I despaired over knowing who was telling the truth. I was constantly agitated mentally and on edge listening to the daily rhetoric, rationalizing the spin I was hearing and putting my own spin on things. I found myself in pursuit of only listening to ‘words’ that conformed to my personal biases and listening solely to oppositional words to gain verbal ammunition to fortify my mental resolve.
This all came to a head while trying to prepare a teaching sermon for the home church that was being held in our home. The thrust of the teaching was to confess the error of my way. In doing do so, I was free to pray for this nation’s leadership in the right spirit.
To Be Continued
Living Words of Encouragement 