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the Combat Zone because we give it to every member of our partner family.

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But hey, reach for your Bible and today we're going to see what Jesus had to say about getting a grip on your mouth. And we always use the Bible in this program. It is the foundation of everything that

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we do and we're believing for a

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revival of the Bible in the body of Christ.

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And you can agree with us for that.

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But today I'm specifically going to be talking to you about Are you ready? The Danger of Speaking hastily and recklessly and I want to begin with some verses from Proverbs.

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You say, oh, here he comes.

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Well, hey, Proverbs has a lot to say about the danger of speaking hastily and recklessly. For example, Proverbs 18:7 says, A fool's mouth is his ruin, and his lips are snare to his soul. Did you hear that? A fool's mouth is his ruin, and his lips are a snare to his soul. When you just spout off and say things without speaking, this verse says, it gets you in trouble and it leads you to ruin. Or how about Proverbs 18:21, which says, Death and life are in the power of the tongue. And then the rest of the verse says, and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof. Which means what you say is what you're going to produce. It's what you're going to eat in your life. So you better be careful what you say with your mouth, because whatever you say is what you're going to produce,

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and that's what you're going to end

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up having in your life. Or how about Proverbs 21:23, which says, Whoso keeps his mouth, and his tongue keeps his soul from troubles. You know, I've been in many events

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when I've really wanted to pipe off and say something, but I stopped because I understood that if I said what I wanted to say was really going to create a worse situation. And this verse says, whoso keepeth his mouth, and his tongue keeps his souls from trouble. And sometimes you're just wiser to be quiet and not to pipe off every time you think you have something to say. Hey, silence is a blessing. Or how about Proverbs 29:20, which says, do you see a man who is hasty in his words? There's more Hope for a fool than for him. Let me read it to you again. Do you see a man that's hasty in his words? What does that mean, hasty in his words? He speaks before he thinks, he gets angry, he blows up, he says something, later, he's sorry that he said it, but now he's already created a mess because he was hasty in his words. And. And this verse says, there's more hope for a fool than for him. And do you know the Book of Proverbs says even a fool, when he is silent, is perceived by others to be wise. Sometimes it's better just to zip your lips and be quiet than to pipe off. And that's why we're going to see this week what Jesus had to say about getting a grip on your mouth. But before we go to what Jesus said, first we're going to go to James 1:19, to a verse that I really love. And I cover this verse in depth in the riv volume of the book of James and Jude. But let's go to James 1:19. And again, we use the Bible in this program. So open your Bible, get a pencil or get a pen, get ready to take notes and get ready to underline some things. And in James 1:19, and it begins by James saying, wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear. Be slow to speak and slow to wrath. Be swift to hear. Be slow to speak and slow to wrath. Of these three things, there's only one thing you're supposed to do fast, and that is be swift to hear and notice. It says, let every man. And when you read this in the Greek text, it says pas. Anthropos. The word pas is all encompassing, and the word anthropos means everyone. All humans, or in this case, every believer. So here James is speaking to every

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single one of us. None of us are exempt from what

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he's about to say.

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In this verse, he says, let every

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man, that really means everyone, be swift to hear.

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Well, what does that mean? Be swift to hear. The word swift in Greek is the word takous.

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Now listen to what it means.

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This word takous is a word that especially pictures a runner who runs as

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fast as he can so he can

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reach the finish line before his competitors. He is dashing to get to the finish line because the runner wants to finish the race first. He puts everything else out of his mind. He focuses on the finish line and presses forward to obtain the first place prize. It means to move one's feet as fast as possible, to do something urgently or to do something as swiftly as possible. And in this verse it calls for you and me to urgently, swiftly hear what is being communicated.

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And notice it says be swift to hear.

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The word hear in Greek is the word akousa. It's a form of the Greek word akouo, which means to hear. But it importantly carries the notion of one possessing a full comprehension of what is being communicated. And this word akua is where we

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get the word acoustics.

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So when you put all this together, James is saying, hey, when someone else is speaking, you need to open your ears, you need to be swift to hear. Just like a runner who's put all of his energies into the race, he wants to get to the finish line first. He's put everything else out of his mind. He's really focused on finishing the race first. You need to put everything else out of your mind when somebody is speaking

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to you and you need to be

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swift to hear them. You need to determine you're going to be a first place listener and you're really going to comprehend what is being communicated. And let me tell you, friend, that if you're in a situation where somebody's

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speaking to you and you don't understand

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them, don't pretend that you understand them. They will appreciate it if you say, excuse me, could you please repeat that again? I want to make sure I really understand what you're saying to me. And if they repeat it again and you still don't understand it, just be honest, say, you know, I'm not quite getting what you're trying to say to me. That will help them be a better communicator and they will appreciate you for being honest. Just say, I need to really understand this. This is important. So please say it again. Say it more slowly. I want to really hear what you're saying. And in this verse we have the command of scripture that we are to be very serious in the way that we listen. We're to be swift to hear.

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Now if somebody is speaking to you

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and you're thinking about something else or you're thinking about what you're going to say when they're finished speaking, then you're not really listening to them. My friend, when somebody speaks to you, put a pause on everything. Open your ears and really be committed to hear what they have to say. That's what this means. When the Bible says be swift to hear. But then it says be slow to speak. Well, the word slow is the Greek word bradus.

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And I want you to hear what it means. It refers to something that Is slow, sluggish, mentally dull, or to one who has a handicap, so seriously that he cannot do something quickly? And here it says be slow to speak. The word speak is the Greek word lalasite, means to chatter, to talk, or to enter into conversation. And here we find that when it comes to you spouting off, piping off, or responding to somebody else, my friends, you need to be bradus. You need to be slow, you need to be sluggish. You need to be like one who has a handicap in his speech. He can't quite seem to get the words out. It's very hard for him to form his words. Maybe he has a speech impediment so he can't speak quickly. That really is what the word bradus means, which means when we find ourself in a situation where we're tempted to pipe up and spout off and say something very quickly, we need to put on the brakes. We need to zip our lips and rather than be so fast to respond, we need to be slow, we need to be sluggish, we need to move very slowly in responding and really think about what we are saying. And in fact, did you know the book of proverbs tells us we need to study to answer. You need to think about how you're going to answer something. You need to really think about what you're gonna say and hear the whole matter before you speak. In fact, the Bible says if you speak before you really consider the whole matter, you are a fool. So you need to make sure you really understand what is being communicated before you answer. And rather than quickly answer, it might be wiser just to say, give me a few minutes to think about how I wanna respond to that. Well, let me think just for a moment. And then when you begin to answer, be moderate in the way that you answer. Take your time, make sure you're developing your thoughts correctly, that you're really communicating what you need to say. And you don't say something that's going

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to get you into trouble later. You need to be swift to hear.

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Like a runner in a race, run to the finish line, open your ears.

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You're going to win the grand prize when it comes to listening.

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And then when it comes to responding, you need to be slow, you need to be sluggish, you need to be

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like a person who has a handicap

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in his speech, not just spouting off and racing to answer.

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You only need to race to listen.

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You need to take your time to form your words and really think about your response before you Speak. But hey, that's not all. Then James goes on, and he says

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that we need to be slow to wrath.

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The word slow is again the Greek word bradus. And the word bradus, used twice in

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this verse again refers to something that is slow, to something that is sluggish, or to someone that is mentally dull. Because they're mentally dull, they're slow in responding. They can't quite seem to get the words out.

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And now we find in the very

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same way we need to be slow, sluggish, dull, we need to have a handicap when it comes to quickly experiencing wrath. And the word wrath is the Greek word orge. This word orge describes something that's all twisted and bent out of shape. If you find yourself getting all twisted and all bent out of shape over something that's being said to you, then you need to put on the brakes. That's exactly what this word slow means. The word bratus, put on the brakes, slow down, don't. Don't give place to wrath. And again, this word wrath, the Greek word orge describes something twisted, something all bent out of shape. And it also depicts a silent resentment that suddenly gives way to an outburst of emotion. Suddenly you pipe up, you say something, you're like a volcano. You just unleash all the venom that you feel or every thought that's in your mind with no filter. That's really what this word wrath describes. It is a deeply felt anger suddenly released. It is a swelling, growing, wrathful emotion that explodes in a rage, my friends, that always produces something really, really bad. And that is why we saw in Proverbs 18:7 that a fool's mouth is his ruin, and his lips are a snare to his soul. It's why we saw in Proverbs 21:23, Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keeps his soul from troubles. It's why we saw in Proverbs 29:20, do you see a man who's hasty in his words? There's more hope for a fool than for him. And the Scripture is very clear. There's only one thing we're supposed to do. Fast, be swift to hear. Be swift to hear. Slow to speak, and slow to wrath. And my friends, if you will apply this principle to your life, it will help you get a grip on your mouth, and it will save you a lot of trouble. Think about husbands and wives who say things that are hurtful. They should have slowed down. They should have really thought about what they were saying before they said it. And once words are released, they're so difficult to retrieve. And when you speak really harmful words, then you gotta figure out how to heal the person that you just injured. My friends, please slow down. Listen, listen, listen. And if you don't understand what's being communicated, just be honest and say, I'm not sure I really get what you're saying to me. It's okay to say that. And in fact, the person speaking will appreciate your candor. Just say, I don't quite get it. I hear you saying this, but could you possibly really be saying that? Is that what you're trying to say to me? And let them repeat themselves again until you finally comprehend what's being communicated. That's what the word hear means. It's not just to hear, but it's to fully communicated. Understand what is being communicated. But if you put all of these together,

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the riv of James 1:19, which is in my book, the Riv, the render interpretive version of the book of James and Jude. Here's the riv of James 1:19. Hold onto your seat and listen to this. But understand, my dearly beloved brothers, that every one of you needs to swiftly run to hear, attend to, and to comprehend what I've communicated. You need to zip your lips, put a lid on your mouth, and learn to slow down in expressing your opinions. You also need to intentionally put on the brakes to stop blowing your cool so easily. You want me to read that to you again? Okay, here it is again. But understand, my dearly beloved brothers, that every one of you. So that means me. That means you. Every one of us, every one of you, needs to swiftly run to hear, to attend to and comprehend what is being communicated. You need to zip your lips, put a lid on your mouth, and learn to slow down in expressing your opinions. You also need to intentionally put on the brakes to stop blowing your cool so easily. That is a wonderful interpretation of James 1:19. And it is instruction for me. And it is instruction for you. You know, in Psalm 141:3 we read, set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth, keep the door of my lips. When you find yourself in a conversation that is difficult and you need to get a grip on your mouth, that is a great scripture for you to pray. Here it is again.

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Set a watch, O Lord, before my

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mouth, Keep the door of my lips. Or how about Proverbs 6:2. Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, and art taken with the

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words of thy mouth.

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You need to always remember that your words have consequences. You need to think about what you're saying, because your words may snare you and and make a worse mess. And how about this one? Proverbs 10:19 says, Sin is not ended by multiplying words, but the prudent hold their tongues.

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Sometimes people talk themselves into a mess.

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They talk themselves into trouble. Multiplying your words doesn't regularly fix a situation. The this says, sin is not ended by multiplying words, but the prudent hold their tongues. And my friends, there really is a time when you just need to be quiet. We're told in Ecclesiastes 3 There's a time to speak, and there is a time to be quiet. And when you feel you're about to vent wrath, that's the time for you to zip your lips, put a lid on it, and not speak. That is not a time for you to speak. That's when you need to get a grip on your mouth. Wow. Now, today we have looked at these verses in James 1:19 and all these word meanings. But in Matthew 5:33, Jesus said, Again, ye've heard that it's been said of

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them of old time, Thou shalt not

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forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths. What in the world does that mean? Well, you're going to find out in the next episode. Verse 34 says, But I say unto

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you, swear not at all.

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Neither by heaven, for it is God's

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throne, verse 35 nor by the earth,

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for it is his footstool, neither by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great God. These are powerful words from Jesus about getting a grip on your mouth. And this is where we're going to pick up in the next program, but I'll be back in just a moment, and I want to pray for you. Someone asked the question, how much should I pray in tongues? Well, let's go to 1 Corinthians 14:18 to see what the Apostle Paul said about praying in tongues. And in this he said, I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all. And he was speaking to the Corinthians, who were known for speaking in tongues. He said, I speak in tongues more than all of you put together. But why did Paul speak so much in other tongues? And the answer is found in 1 Corinthians 14:4, where Paul writes, he that speaks in an unknown tongue edifies himself. And that word edify is an architectural term which means to knock out the walls, make the room bigger, increase your capacity. And Paul is literally saying that when you pray in tongues, it increases your spiritual capacity to receive more and more and more. And my friends, as long as you're praying in tongues, you're going to be increasing your spiritual capacity to so it's not ever possible to pray in tongues too much.

Narrator/Promoter (22:48)

Have you ever said something that you later regretted? We all need to learn how to control the things that come out of our mouths and Jesus has a lot to say on the subject. In Rick Renner's series what Jesus Said about getting a grip on your mouth, you will learn how to be slow and thoughtful with your words, really thinking before you speak. You will develop a greater understanding of biblical practices such not having blessings and curses come from the same mouth, submitting to the Holy Spirit when your tongue is untamable, and much more. This practical series is available in digital or physical formats starting at just $11. In addition, we are offering you Joy Special Meyer's book Power what yout Say Can Change youe Life. This powerful book draws from personal experience and scripture to illustrate how prayer and positive words can be used to overcome every challenge that stands in the way of your fulfillment. Power Words can be yours for just $12. Don't miss this special offer the series what Jesus Said about getting a grip on your mouth and the book Power Words by Joyce Meyer. Visit renner.org to order, call the number on your screen or scan the QR code now. Call or go online now.

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Hey friends, this is Rick Renner and today I want to say thank you to you partner for everything you do to help us fulfill Heaven's mandate on our ministry. In Proverbs 10:21 it says says the lips of the righteous feed many and that is our assignment. In the past year we have traveled all over Russia and when we travel to minister we don't charge for plane tickets or for churches to pay for the cost of our team. You pay that price. You do that with your gifts. You enable us to go to people who could never pay for all of us to come. But we've gone as as far team and lives have been transformed. We've had meetings where we have met thousands and thousands of people who listen to us on TV and then come together to hear us in person as we impart the life transforming truth of the Bible to them. And you're a part of that because you are a partner. You're putting the fuel in the tank that enables us to go and for this I say thank you and all those people say thank you. And if you're not a partner yet, we need you. And today I'm inviting you to become a part of our partner family. We're waiting for you to help us take the trusted teaching of the Bible to the ends of the earth. Well, we just concluded James 1:19, which is filled with instruction about how to listen and how to hear and not to blow your cool so easily. But this is a five part series which is called what Jesus Said About Getting a Grip on youn Mouth. It comes in all kinds of formats with a wonderful study guide. And again, I want to tell you about Joyce Meyer's amazing book called Power what yout say Can Change youe Life. This book by Joyce is one of her best books. It'll tell you what to say, it'll tell you what not to say. It is so typical Joyce Meyer. It is practical and it is so very helpful. But if you want to know more about how to get these resources, just go online@runner.org or give us a call. We're waiting to hear from you right now. And again, we're waiting to pray for you. So if this has touched your heart today and you've realized you need to make a little adjustment in how you hear and how you speak and how you blow your cool so easily and you just wish you had somebody to pray with you, here we are. We're waiting to pray for you right now. Call the number on the screen or send us an email and we will really sincerely pray with you and Jesus will help you. But I want to pray with you right now. Father, I thank you in the name of Jesus that your word is so instructive. You tell us to be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath. And if you tell us to do these things, it means we can do it. So Holy Spirit, we ask you to help us to be swift to hear, slow to speak and slow to wrath. Help us to quit losing our cool so easily. In Jesus name, Amen. Now when we come back tomorrow, we're going to pick up right here. But until then, remember that Ecclesiastes 8:4 says, where the word of a king is, there is power. If you've never received Jesus as your Savior and Lord, now is the time for you to experience a new life. Jesus has to give you. Pray this prayer with me right now. Lord, I repent of my sin and receive you as my Savior and Lord, wash away my sin and make me completely new. I thank you that my sin is removed and Satan no longer has any right to lay claim on me. I faithfully promise that I will serve you as my Lord for the rest of my life. Amen.

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If you just prayed the prayer of salvation with us, would you please let us know by going to renner.org salvation we would love to connect with you. Thank you for joining Rick Renner today. For more information about Renner Ministries and product resources, visit renner.org.