A poem based on the sermon the Lord gave me. He gave these words on the spur of the moment after I had preached about offenses the night before. Started writing at 10:32 p.m.

 

I heard a sermon one day

That told me to shut my mouth and pray

And don’t spout off my anger saying hurtful words so unholy

Because those words bring God no glory.

 

Long story short—

I heard it with my heart,

But my mind and my emotions

Wanted no part in taking not offense.

 

When someone rubs me the wrong way

with my mind and emotions in control

They say to me: You have every right

To enter the defensive fight.

You have every right to protect yourself.

They hurt you, you hurt them back!

Oh, yeah!

 

But my heart said (because of the sermon I heard one day)

That I am way off track when I fight back.

It says to shut your mouth and pray.

Say only what Holy Spirit tells you to say.

 

(Holy Spirit, who is he? That’s another poem you, see.)

 

Well, they read to me from the Bible,

And if it is the truth like it says—

That I’m born of truth.

I guess I must do what Jesus would do.

I must shut my mouth and pray before I say what I want to say.

I have to be slow to speak, quick to hear, and slow to get angry.

 

Tell you what: I guess I have to shut my mouth and pray.

 

They say that the Bible says the seed planted

Will reap a harvest of like kind.

So if I don’t want a harvest of offenses,

I must not give people a piece of my mind.

 

I’ll just have to shut my mouth and pray.

 

So do you know what?

I’m going to try it for just one day.

I’m going to shut my mouth and pray.

Then I’ll stop. I’ll refuse to give somebody a piece of my mind.

I’ll just be kind.

 

If it works, then I’ll do it again and again

Day after day.

And the battle with offenses

That I once embraced as a way of life

Will no longer control my life.

Because I will have learned to shut my mouth and pray.

 

And do you know what else?

l will have peace and joy, and I will win in the end!!!

 

7/24/2024 ended the revision at 3:30 PM

By Cora Jones

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