Exodus 4:10-12
“Moses said to the Lord, ‘O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant.  I am slow of speech and tongue.’  The Lord said to him, ‘Who gave man his mouth?  Who gives him sight or makes him blind?  Is it not I, the Lord?  Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.’”

1 Corinthians 2:1-5
“And so it was with me, brothers and sisters.  When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.  For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.  I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling.  My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.”

Isaiah 32:3-4
“Then the eyes of those who see will not longer be closed, and the ears of those who hear will listen.  The mind of the rash will know and understand, and the stammering tongue will be fluent and clear.”

Eternal Word, you spoke, and the formless void became vibrant creation.

You replace the stammering of our dull tongues with worthy phrases.  From hesitant articulations you draw eloquent voice.

Seal our boastful lips and silence all contrived speech.  Loosen praise from mouths once mute so that all may hear the Spirit’s clear intonation.

By the might of Christ we pray, the Word spoken in redeeming power over our souls’ lifeless sound.

Listen to ‘Though I May Speak with Bravest Fire’ featuring Caryn Schafer