Before I Brush My Teeth

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ

2 Corinthians 10:5

It's Morning, Lord
This is a gross kind of prayer.
Before I brush my teeth, I brush my tongue.
I see the sediment of all I have placed in my mouth.
My tongue, to a doctor, is the "readers digest" of all I ingested yesterday.

I brush my tongue for freshness of breath
But, how Lord, Jesus, do I get to freshness of soul?
What good is the sweetness of breath when my soul is still sour as onion and biting as garlic?

What happened yesterday, or the day before, that turned my tongue so sour?
And what happened yester-year that shaped the color of my tongue?

Am I ruminating upon a painful memory?
Am I still tasting the bitterness of an ancient fight, a cruel word, a hurt-filled moment?

How did my tongue get so sharp, so cutting, so biting, so cruel, so negative, so bitter, so pain-filled? How did I come to view life or people in the fashion that I do? Why are my words about him or her, they or them, so filled with bitterness?

Brush my soul, Lord Jesus, with the sweeping movement of your grace
Reveal and heal my deepest wounds
Show me my soul's state by allowing me to listen to my words today
Show me my spirits state by allowing me to hear my own thoughts expressed out loud.

Allow me to lay these things before you with thought and care
And allow me to bring every thought captive, to the feet of Christ.

I will put chains today on every thought....before it gets to the diving board of my tongue.
I will speak less and think more
I will talk less and listen more
I will keep a spiritual diary of my thoughts, and by writing them down,
bring them captive into the light of your truth.

Who am I?
What has happened to me that gave me these thoughts?
Who am I?
Where did these thoughts come from?
Who am I?
How did these particular words expressing anger, skepticism, doubt, fear...ever get on the diving board in my mouth, ready to plunge into the world?

We take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."

2 Corinthians 10:5