A Prayer about Wise Tongues

Do you see someone who speaks in haste?

There is more hope for a fool than for them.

Proverbs 29:20

All-Wise God, 

Forgive our foolishness. 

Heal our tongues, 

which often speak “rashly, 

like the thrusts of a sword” (Proverbs 12:18).

We have become deeply enculturated 

in a world that is quick to speak 

and slow to listen

when you have called us 

as citizens of your kingdom 

to be “quick to hear, 

slow to speak, 

slow to anger” (James 1:19). 

Lord, we confess to you some of the sins 

that slip off our tongues: 

comparison, 

envy, 

judgment,

gossip, 

criticism, 

slander, 

to name just a few.

Change us, Lord, 

so that “no evil talk come(s) out of our mouths, 

but only what is useful for building up, 

as there is need, 

so that our words may give grace 

to those who hear” (Ephesians 4:29).

Grant us 

the loving wisdom, 

extraordinary patience, 

and sacrificial forgiveness 

of your Son

who taught us to love our enemies 

and to pray for those who persecute us (Matthew 4:43-44). 

In Jesus’s all-wise name. Amen. 

Read Proverbs 29.