A Prayer Request

Θοῦ, Κύριε, φυλακὴν  τῷ στόματί μου. Παρακαλέσας τὸν Δεσπότην ἀκουσθῆναι αὐτοῦ τὴν εὐχὴ καὶ εὐπρόσδεκτον γενέσθαι, ὄρα ποίαν προσάγει πρώτην αἴτησιν, ποίαν ἰκετηρίαν. Οὐ γὰρ εἴπε, Δός μοι χρήματα, δός μοι τιμὰς παρὰ ἀνθρώποις, δός μοι κραῆσαι τῶν εχθρῶν, δός μοι παιδία· οὐδὲν τούτων, ἀλλὰ πάντα ἀφεὶς ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἐῥῥῖφθαι, αἰτεῖ παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ ταῦτα ἂ παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ αἰτεῖν δίκαιον. Τί οὖν; οὐ δεῖ, φησὶν, αἰσθητὰ αἰτεῖν; Δεῖ μὲν μετὰ μέτρου δὲ ὡς ὁ Ἰακὼβ λέγων· Ἐαν δῷ μοι Κύριος ἄρτον φαγεῖν, καὶ ἱμάτιον περιβαλέσθαι· ὡς ὁ Χριστὸς ἐκέλευσεν εὔχεσθαι λέγοντας· Τὸν ἄρτον ἡμῶν τὸν ἐπιούσιον δὸς ἡμῖν σήμερον· πρὸ δὲ πάντων τὰ πνευματικά. Ὅ καὶ αὐτὸς ποιεῖ λέγων· Θοῦ, Κύριε, φυλακὴν τῷ στόματί μου. Εἶδες σύνεσιν; εἶδες φιλοσοφίαν; πόθεν ἄρχεται τῆς αἰτήσεως; Ἀπὸ τοῦ μεγίστου τῶν κατορθωμάτων, καὶ ὅ πάντῶν αἶτιόν ἐστι τῶν κακῶν ἀμελούμενον· ὥσπερ τῶν ἀγαθῶν, σπουδαζόμενον. Τὰ γὰρ μυρία κακὰ τῆς γλώττης ἡ εὐκολία ἐργάζεται, ὥσπερ οὖν τὰ ἀγαθὰ ἡ ἀσφάλεια. Ὥσωπερ οὖν οὐδεν ὄφελος οἰκίας, οὐ πόλεως, οὐ τειχῶν, οὐ πυλῶν, οὐ θυρῶν, ἂν μὴ ὦσιν οἱ φυλάττοντες, καὶ εἰδότες πότε μὲν δεῖ κλείειν, πότε δὲ ἀνοίγειν· οὕτως οὐδὲ γλώττης ὄφελος, οὐδὲ στόματος, ἂν μὴ λογισμὸς ᾗ τὴν κλεῖσιν καὶ τὴν ἄνοιξιν μετὰ ἀκριβείας καὶ πολλῆς τῆς ἐπιστήμης ἐπιτετραμμένος, καὶ εἰδὼς τίνα μὲν ἐκφέρειν δεῖ, τίνα δὲ ἔνδον κατέχειν. Οὐ τοσοῦτοι γὰρ, φησὶν, ἔπεσον ἀπὸ μαχαίρας, ὅσοι ἀπὸ γλώττης. Καὶ πάλιν ὁ Χριστός· Οὐ τὰ εἰσερχόμενα εἰς τὸ στόμα κοινοῖ τὸν ἄνθρωπον, ἀλλὰ τὰ ἐκπορευόμενα ἀπὸ τοῦ στόματος. Καὶ πάλιν ἕτερος· Ποίησον τῷ στόματί σου θύραν καὶ μοχλόν. Οὕτος δὲ ἐπειδὴ σφόδρα δύσκολον ὄν οἴδε τὸ πρᾶγμα, καὶ εὐχὰς προστίθησι, καὶ τὸν θεὸν εἰς τὴν συμμαχίαν ταύτην καλεῖ. Μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ ἐκεῖνος τὸ αὐτο τοῦτο αἰνίττεται, ὡς ὅταν λέγῃ· Τίς δώσει ἐπὶ τῶν χειλέων μου σφραγίδα πανοῦργον; Δεῖ μὲν γὰρ καὶ τὰ παρ' ἡμῶν εἰσφέρειν· διὸ δὴ καὶ ἐν τάξει προστάγματος αὐτὸ τέθεικε λέγων· Ποίησον θύραν καὶ μοχλόν. Δεῖ δὲ καὶ τὴν παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ συμμαχίαν καλεῖν, ἵνα καὶ ἡ ἡμετέρα σπουδὴ εἰς ἔργον γένηται. Φυλάττωμεν τοίνυν τὸ στόμα διηνεκῶς ᾗ κεκλεισμένον, ἀλλ' ἵνα κατὰ καιρὸν ἀνοιγηται τὸν προσήκοντα.  Ἔστι γὰρ ὅτε ἡ σιγὴ μᾶλλον ὠφέλησε λαλιᾶς, ὥσπερ καὶ λαλιὰ μᾶλλον σιγῆς. Διὰ δὴ τοῦτο καὶ ὁ σοφωτατος ἐκεῖνος ἔλεγε· Καιρὸς τοῦ σιγῆσαι, καὶ καιρὸς τοῦ λαλῆσαι. Ἅγιος Ἰωάννης ὁ Χρυσόστομος, Εἰς Τον ΡΜ' Ψαλμον

'Place, Lord, a guard on my mouth.' 1 When he has asked the Lord to hear his prayer and that it might be received, observe that first he makes a request, a certain supplication. For he does not say: 'Give me wealth, give me honour among men, give me victory over my enemies, give me children,' none of these things he says, but leaving all these things cast down on the earth, he asks from God that which it is right to ask. What then? Should one then not seek material things? Certainly but in moderation, as Jacob says, 'If the Lord gives to me bread for eating and clothes for wearing,' 2  for so Christ commanded us to pray, saying. 'Give us today our heavenly bread.' 3 Spiritual things are before everything. And to it he attends, saying, 'Give, Lord, a guard to my mouth.' Do you perceive the prudence of it? Do you see the wisdom from whence he asks? From this comes great correction and it is the cause of every evil if neglected, but the cause of goods if for it you have care and diligence. The easy ways of the tongue give birth to innumerable evils, as again with caution and care it gives birth to goods. As, then, a house does not benefit, nor the city, nor the walls, nor the gate, unless there are those who guard, and who know when to open and when to close, so with the mouth and the tongue there is no profit, unless reason knows accurately and with prudence what things to close to and open to, what things to let go forth and what things to retain. For there are not as many swords, it says, as the number of tongues that speak. 4 And Christ says, 'It is not what goes in through the mouth that defiles a man, but that which goes forth from the mouth' 5 And again another says: 'Make for your mouth a gate and and a bar.' 6 And because he knows that this is truly difficult he adds a prayer, and calls on God to bring aid. For truly this is meant when he says, 'Who shall give to my lips a cunning seal?' 7  And we should join in this and hold to the same teaching, saying 'Make a gate and bar.' We must call on God for aid, that our zeal become an effective work. Therefore let us perpetually guard our mouth that it not always be closed, but opened at the right time. For not always should silence be preferred to speech, nor speech to silence. Thus that most wise man said, 'There is a time to be silent and a time to speak.' 8 Saint John Chrysostom, Exposition of the Psalms, from Psalm 140 1 Ps 140.3 2 Gen 28.20 3 Mt 6.11 4 Sirach 28.22 5 Mt 15.11 6 Sirach 28.28 7 Sirach 22.33 8 Eccl 3.7