Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
– Ephesians 4:29–32
Those are such powerful, tender, convicting, humbling, encouraging words, aren’t they? God help us to put these words into practice. Let’s just pray together for our mouths and our hearts according to Ephesians 4:29–32.
God, would you remove the sin in our life by opening our eyes to our sin?
Ephesians 4:29–32 Prays That No Corrupting Talk Happens
God, we pray that no corrupting talk would come out of our mouths. Today, tomorrow, this week, this month, God keep us daily from any corrupting talk, but only, God help us to only speak that which is good for building up as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. God, may our mouths be grace dispensers all day long.
May our mouths build up our brothers and sisters in Christ. Build up people who don’t know Jesus. We pray that you would help us to speak in such a way that we are building up others continually with our words.
That we would not grieve your Spirit with bitterness. God, we pray that you would remove any and all bitterness from our hearts, bitterness toward anyone. God open our eyes, help us to see any bitterness that’s in us, and we pray that you would remove it from us.
Would you remove wrath and anger from us? God, we pray that you would remove anger from us that doesn’t honor people around us, that doesn’t honor you. God that you would keep us from all clamor and slander. May all clamor and slander be put away from us along with all malice.
Please Keep Us From Any Malice
God, we pray that you would keep us from any and all malice, any hint of malice or slander or gossip. God keep us from these things we pray. Help us to be kind to one another, to the people who are closest to us, family members, friends. God, we pray that our speech would be kind to people that we just run into and as acquaintances or co-workers or people that we meet on the street or meet in a store. God help us to be kind, tenderhearted. May other people around us, no matter what sphere, family, friends, co-worker, just in passing. Church, may all the people around us say that person is tenderhearted. God may that be true of us.
Please help us to forgive one another. When we’ve been wronged, help us to forgive as you have forgiven us. God help us to constantly remember the wonder of the forgiveness that you have made a reality in our lives and help us to reflect that.
Ephesians 4:29–32 Praises God For His Life In Us
God, we praise you for all of the ways we see Ephesians 4:29–32 as a reflection of your character and your goodness. Jesus, we praise you that on this earth, no corrupting talk ever came out of your mouth. The bitterness and wrath and anger that was not honoring to others and to the Father was never evident in you. That you never slandered. You never had any hint of malice. You were kind to everyone, perfectly kind, tenderhearted.
God, Jesus, we praise you. We praise you for your life in us. So as we have been crucified with Christ, we no longer live, but you live in us. May these things be true of us, we pray. We pray that Ephesians 4:29–32 would mark each of our lives. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
