In what ways can prayer help us overcome deceitful tendencies? Setting the scene Psalm 120 opens a collection known as the “Songs of Ascents,” pilgrim songs for people traveling up to Jerusalem. Right away we meet a traveler who feels surrounded by deceit and cries out for rescue. Key verse “Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips and a deceitful tongue.” (Psalm 120:2) The heart behind the cry • “Deliver my soul” shows desperation—deceit is a threat to the psalmist’s very life. • “Lying lips and a deceitful tongue” reveal both external and internal danger. The prayer is as much about his own struggle as it is about the lies around him. How prayer confronts our inner deceit 1. Prayer exposes the truth • Psalm 139:23-24—“Search me, O God… see if any wicked way is in me.” As we speak with God, His light uncovers hidden motives we might excuse or ignore. • Hebrews 4:13 reminds us that “everything is uncovered and exposed to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.” Conversation with the all-seeing God strips away self-deception. 2. Prayer realigns our loyalties • In prayer we consciously shift from pleasing people to pleasing God (Galatians 1:10). • Truth becomes personal when we speak to the One who is Truth (John 14:6). 3. Prayer invites the Spirit’s transforming power • John 16:13—“When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth.” • 2 Corinthians 3:18 links beholding the Lord with being transformed. Honest, regular prayer gives the Holy Spirit room to reshape our speech and character. 4. Prayer cultivates accountability • By consistently confessing (1 John 1:9), we keep short accounts with God; deceit loses its grip when dragged into the light. • The rhythm of confession and cleansing teaches us to love truth and hate falsehood (Psalm 97:10). 5. Prayer strengthens resolve to speak truth • Ephesians 4:25 commands, “Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully.” Prayer steels the will to obey because we have already voiced our dependence on God for help. Practical steps for honest praying • Start with scripture in hand: read Psalm 120:2 aloud; let the words shape your own. • Ask specifically: “Lord, guard my tongue today in these situations…” • Name the temptations: exaggeration, flattery, half-truths, silence that misleads. • Confess immediately when you slip. • End by thanking God for the Spirit of truth living in you (Romans 8:11). When failure happens • Remember James 3:2—“We all stumble in many ways.” • Return quickly to Psalm 120:2; the same God who hears delivers. • Receive fresh mercy (Lamentations 3:22-23) and move forward; shame paralyzes, grace empowers. Encouragement for the journey • Proverbs 30:8 models a daily request: “Remove falsehood and lies far from me.” • Colossians 3:9-10 reminds us we “have put off the old self… and put on the new.” • The pilgrim who first sang Psalm 120 kept climbing toward Jerusalem; keep moving toward the heavenly city where “nothing unclean will ever enter” (Revelation 21:27). Prayer, grounded in God’s unchanging Word, is His chosen means to make us people whose lips and lives ring true. |
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