"But when you are arrested and stand trial, don't worry about what to say in your defense. Just say what God tells you to. Then you will not be speaking, but the Holy Spirit will" (Mark 13:11).
Have you even had the experience of trying to say a word for the Lord, just sharing your faith, and breathing a prayer for guidance - then marveling as the Lord Himself, by His indwelling Holy Spirit, put the very words in your mouth that needed to be said?
Such has been my experience - many times. And I marvel and rejoice each time. On some occasions, I have addressed crowds of varying sizes, often not only feeling totally inadequate but also concluding my message of the evening with the feeling that I had been a poor ambassador of Christ. Then, someone had approached me after the service and thanked my for saying just the word he needed at that moment.
We serve a faithful God. That neighbor who needs a word of encouragement - ask the Lord to give you the right words to say to him or her. That correspondent hundreds of miles away - trust God for His message to him or her through you.
Certain conditions must prevail, of course, before the Holy Spirit can speak through us. But they are easily met. I must come with a clean heart, surrendered to the Holy Spirit, with my sins forgiven, having forgiven other people, holding no resentment or ill feeling against anyone. "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me" (Psalm 66:18, KJV).
Let us trust God and His indwelling Holy Spirit for the very words of counsel we should say to a loved one or friend today.
Today's Action Point
I will trust God and His Holy Spirit to put the very words in my mouth this day that need to be said to others whose lives I touch.