7 COMMON GRAMMAR MISTAKES CHURCHES MAKE

 Although, it is absolutely wrong to pay full attention to grammatical errors from a pastor or a leader in a church during service; but, the important and positive effect of grammatical correctness of pastors/leaders' messages cannot be overdramatized. Nowadays young Christians care for grammatical accuracy of a preacher's messages, too. As a matter of fact, a right message could be wrongly delivered if the dictions that surrounded the expression/message is inaccurate. 

There are many grammar mistakes in churches that should be eschewed - But, seven of the mistakes shall be discussed here. The itemized expressions below are grammatically incorrect.

1. SHARE THE GRACE

2. CHAPTER 5 VERSE 1 TO 10

3. PRAY THE PRAYER

4. NIGHT VIGIL

5. PROMISE LAND

6. BOW DOWN YOUR HEAD FOR PRAYERS

7. GOD WILL HEAR YOUR PRAYER

Acceptability of an expression is also based on its obedience to the rules of concord and the grammar rules. The above common mistakes in churches shall be explained below, with the rationale behind each correction.

1. SAY GRACE (Not 'share the grace')

A grace is a short prayer people say at the end of a service in a church. Although, people say it before they tuck in a meal - to thank God for the food. It is written nowhere in any English lexicon, neither is it written in scriptures as 'share the grace'. Since it is a short prayer, you say it and not share. 

2. CHAPTER 5 VERSES 1 TO 10 (Not 'verse') 

If one pays attention patiently to the expression, the error in it is obvious enough to easily spot on. Supposed you are reading the book of Matthew chapter 5, and you want to read from 1 and stop at 10 - then, you are reading 10 verseS. It means, 1 is a verse, 2 is another verse... 10 is the last verse. All together, you're reading 10 verseS. Now you should understand that, it should be 'Matthew chapter 5 verseS 1 to 10. 

3. SAY (THE) PRAYER (Not 'pray the prayer')

All Christians say some words to God on a daily/weekly/monthly basis - sometimes, they give thanks or ask for help. What they say to God is a prayer. A prayer is said to God. If prayer must be included in this expression, the right diction to deploy should be 'say' and not 'pray'. I always say my prayer before going to bed (Not 'I always pray my prayer...')

4. VIGIL (Not 'Night vigil')

Every church often set a day or days apart for a special prayer. Although, it could be in the daybreak or at night - but, the very period of time people stay awake at night to say their special prayers is referred to as a 'vigil'. Since 'vigil' is define as a period of time during the night when people stay awake in order to pray, the word 'night' should not appear again. I was at the vigil last week (Not 'I was at the night vigil last week')

5. PROMISED LAND (Not 'promise Land')

Optimistically, everybody wants to be in a place where happiness and safety is guaranteed. Many aforetime prophets and the saints were able to make it to the Promised Land. The land is not just being promised, it has been promised before now. So, it is scripturally and grammatically accepted as 'Promised Land'.  Everybody is heading to the Promised Land (Not '...heading to the promise Land'). Last but not least, Promised Land is a noun. 

6. BOW YOUR HEAD FOR PRAYERS (Not 'bow down your head for prayers')

There are different positions one could be for prayers. One could lie on the floor, kneel, or stand to pray. One of the common and easy positions is bowing of a head to say prayers. When a head is bowed, it goes forwards and downwards. If the truth be told, a bowed head is always downward and never in a raised position. So, the expression will be adjudged to be grammatically incorrect if the word 'down' is added. In the definition of BOW, there is DOWN already. Therefore, the word 'down' should not be repeated again. Bow your head (Not 'bow down your head')

7. GOD WILL ANSWER YOUR PRAYER (Not 'God will hear your prayer')

There is no time that God does not hear what people say. The fact that God has not answer your prayer yet, does not mean He is deaf. He hears everyone, but He answers His. Sinner's prayer might not be answered, but the saint will definitely be heard. God hears people every time, but He answers at the right time. In the same breath, it is unscriptural and ungrammatical to say 'If God hears my prayer, I will buy that car'. The acceptable way to express that is, 'if God answers my prayer, I will buy that car'.

 Note: Church is not a place where grammar is fully the target; it is a place where God is to be focused on. Nevertheless, every leader in all churches should endeavor to speak right.