Words
By Jack Wyman
It was an honor to be invited to participate in this annual event.
The National Day of Prayer is a special time for Americans to gather and to pray for our nation—its leaders and its people.
To seek God’s blessing upon America, his forgiveness, and his divine guidance. To seek unity in prayer amidst the divisions and turmoil of our time.
At our community event, participants were assigned topics to pray about.
I was invited to pray on the subject of media and technology. That was a bit of a surprise, considering I’m the most technology-challenged person on the planet.
The IT department has always been a land of mystery to me; its administrators are genuine heroes. They’ve worked their magic for me time and again, and made it look easy. Nor do I have much of a media background.
How would I pray? How would I approach this subject in less than three minutes? Or in three hours? What could someone like me contribute to a scientific area?
I began to pray—about my prayer.
I thought, not about the means of media and technology, but their ends. Not about their achievements, but their purpose. Not of their potential, but their danger.
After the United States ushered in the Atomic Age in 1945 with the bombings of Japan, Albert Einstein wrote:
“The release of atomic power has changed everything except our way of thinking. . . the solution to this problem lies in the heart of mankind. If only I had known, I should have become a watchmaker.”
Much the same may be said for the advancements of modern media and technology. Powerful instruments in the hands of fallible beings.
On May 4, as I took the stage to offer my public prayer, my wife Beth sat in the audience, nonplussed as she read the program for the first time. “Media and technology?”
Here’s what I prayed:
“Gracious God and loving Heavenly Father,
You have told us that in the beginning was the Word. Today, there are more words being spoken by more people in more places on more topics than ever before in the history of the world. Man has created a worldwide Tower of Babel. To you we must turn in humility and repentance. And we must seek your help and your guidance.
You have warned us of the considerable impact of our words. For good or for evil. You remind us that speech matters and communication counts.
You tell us that our words have the power of life and death, blessing and cursing. They have the ability to do great good or great harm— to individuals, to families, our communities, to our society, our nation, and to the world.
You tell us to be quick to listen but slow to speak and slow to become angry. Please, Lord, give us the strength and self-control to do that.
May our words be uplifting, redemptive, encouraging, gracious, loving, honest, kind, and true. May our words edify others—whether they are expressed in person, on our phones, on paper or in the newspaper, on television and radio—or on YouTube, Linked In, Facebook, or Twitter.
Help us, Lord, to remember that sin is not ended by multiplying words. Help us, dear God, to guard our tongues.
While advances in technology have dramatically quickened our words, they have not always improved our thoughts. Creativity in media has given us the ability to say more—and to say it faster—but it has not tamed our emotions, nor elevated our motives, nor altered our human nature.
We confess to you, dear God, that media technology may have increased the quantity of our speech but it has too often diminished its quality. Instead of being an instrument of unity and compassion, communications technology has too often been employed as a weapon of cultural and political warfare, and division. Instead of being a means of building up, media has been a tool for tearing down.
Dear Lord, please help us to think before we speak.
Heavenly Father, we seek your forgiveness and your grace; your mercy and your patience. Your wisdom and your strength. That in our current cacophony of shouting over social media, we may seek and find serenity, clarity, dignity, and peace. And mutually respectful dialogue.
May we lift our hearts and minds, not just our voices. Help us to listen before we demand to be heard; to seek to understand before we attempt to be understood. May our words be fewer and our prudence greater. Help us, dear Lord, to be ever careful of what we say—and how we say it.
That you may bless and heal our nation with the words that unite us.
In the precious Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, we pray and ask it. Amen.”
Herbert J. Taylor, a Christian businessman, set out to save his company from bankruptcy in 1932. He was convinced that out of 250 employees, he alone still had hope. He determined first to reform the moral climate of the business. He wanted to introduce ethical standards that God himself would approve.
Taylor began his search for the right principles and the right words to express them. He looked everywhere but they frustratingly eluded him.
He prayed. God would have to reveal this to him. After a few moments, he stopped and reached for a white card. Then he wrote down the 24 words that helped to save his company and made history.
It became The Four-Way Test, later adopted by rotaries around the world.
Is it the truth?
Is it fair to all concerned?
Will it build goodwill and better friendships?
Will it be beneficial to all concerned?
When it comes to our words, whether sent around the globe in nano-seconds or spoken at the family dinner table, let us as Christians resolve to show the love of Jesus Christ in everything we say.
Let us speak the truth. Let us speak it in love.
To order Jack Wyman’s book, “Everything Else: Stories of Life, Faith and Our World”, go to amazon.com, Christian Book Distributors or barnesandnoble.com. It is also available on Kindle and eBooks.
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