the power in your words-part5

Boldly Confess God’s Word

Mother used her words to change her world, and you can do the same thing. Maybe you are facing a “hopeless” situation. Don’t give up. God is a miracle-working God. He knows what you’re going through, and He will not let you down. He is a friend that sticks closer than a brother. If you will trust in Him and start speaking words of faith, your circumstances will begin to change.

Of course, we don’t have to be in life-threatening situations to use God’s Word. We can speak God’s Word in our everyday lives. Parents, you ought to speak God’s Word over your children every day before they go to school. Just say, “Father, You promised me in Psalm 91 that You will give Your angels charge over us and that no evil would come near our household. So I thank You that my children are supernaturally protected, and You are guiding them and watching after them. Father, You said that we’re the head and not the tail, and You will surround us with favor. So I thank You that my children are blessed, and they will excel at whatever they put their hands to do.”

Speaking God’s Word over your children can make an enormous difference in their lives. I know my mother prayed over my siblings and me every day before we went to school. She prayed specifically that we’d never break any bones. She raised five healthy very active children. We all played sports and did a lot of crazy things, but to this day, as far as I know, not one of us has ever broken a bone.

Just as it is imperative that we see ourselves as God sees us and think about ourselves as God regards us, it is equally important that we say about ourselves what God says about us. Our words are vital in bringing our dreams to past. It’s not enough to simply see it by faith or in your imagination. You have to begin speaking words of faith over your life. Your words have enormous creative power. The moment you speak something out, you give birth to it. This is a spiritual principle, and it works whether what you are saying is good or bad, positive or negative.

In that regard, many times we are our own worst enemies. We blame everybody and everything else, but the truth is, we are profoundly influenced by what we say about ourselves. Scripture says, “We are snared by the words of our mouth.”

“Nothing good ever happens to me. My dreams never come to pass. I knew I wouldn’t get promoted.” Statements such as these will literally prevent you from moving ahead in life. That’s why you must learn to guard your tongue and speak only faith-filled words over your life. This is one of the most important principles you can ever grab hold of. Simply put, your words can either make you or break you.

God never commanded us to repeatedly verbalize our pain and suffering. He didn’t instruct us to go around discussing our negative situations, airing our “dirty laundry” with all our friends and neighbors. Instead, God told us to speak constantly of His goodness, to speak of His promises in the morning at the breakfast table, in the evenings around the dinner table, at night before bedtime, continually dwelling on the good things of God.

You could experience a new sense of joy in your home, if you’d simply stop talking about the negative things in your life and begin talking about God’s Word.

If you are always talking about your problems, don’t be surprised if you live in perpetual defeat. If you’re in the habit of saying, “Nothing good ever happens to me,” guess what? Nothing good is going to happen to you! You must stop talking about the problem and start talking about the solution. Quit speaking words of defeat, and start speaking words of victory. Don’t use your words to describe your situation; use your words to change your situation.

Every morning, when I get out of bed, I say, “Father, I thank You that I am strong in the Lord and the power of Your might. I am well able to do what You have called me to do.” I quote several other passages of Scripture regarding God’s favor in my life. What am I doing? I am starting off my day on a positive note, aligning my thoughts and words with His.

Set the tone for the entire day as soon as you get out of bed. If you wait until you have read the morning newspaper, you’ll start your day with all sorts of sad, dreary news. Try starting your day with some good news by speaking God’s Word over your life! Don’t wait till you’ve checked the stock report, or you’ll be up one day and down the next. The moment you wake up, begin to give new life to your dreams by speaking words of faith and victory

Understand, avoiding negative talk is not enough. That’s similar to a football team having a good defense but no offense. If your team is constantly playing defense, you stand little chance of scoring. You must get the ball and move it down the field; you must get on the offense. You have to be aggressive.

Similarly, you must start boldly confessing God’s Word, using your words to move forward in life, to bring to life the great things God has in store for you. The Scripture says, “With the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” This same principle is true in other areas. When you believe God’s Word and begin to speak it, mixing it with your faith, you are actually confirming that truth and making it valid in your own life.

If you are facing sickness today, you should confirm God’s Word concerning healing. Say something such as, “Father, I thank You that You promised me in Psalms that I will live and not die and I will declare the works of the Lord.” As you boldly declare it, you are confirming that truth in your own life.

If you are struggling financially, instead of talking about the problem, you need to boldly declare, “Everything I put my hands to prospers and succeeds!”

Friend, when you make those kinds of bold declarations, all heaven comes to attention to back up God’s Word.

God has not given us hundreds of promises simply for us to read and enjoy God has given us His promises so we might boldly declare them to bring us victory, health, hope, and abundant life.

In 1997, Victoria and I had the opportunity to develop the last full power television station available in Houston, channel 55. It was a tremendous opportunity but also an enormous undertaking. All we had was a construction permit, basically a piece of paper giving us the right to build the station. We didn’t have a studio, we didn’t have a transmitter or a tower to put it on; oh, and we had no programming! We were starting totally from scratch. And we had less than a year to get the station on the air or we’d lose the license. We really needed God’s supernatural wisdom to deal with the day-to-day details of building a television station.

I decided to do what my mother did, and every morning when I read my Bible, I wrote down any verse or passage of Scripture that had to do with wisdom or guidance. After a couple of weeks, I had recorded twenty or thirty passages, and every day, before we would leave the house, Victoria and I would read those Scriptures and boldly declare them.

One of my favorite passages was: “For the Lord grants wisdom! His every word is a treasure of knowledge and understanding. He grants good sense to the godly--his saints. He is their shield, protecting them and guarding their pathway. He shows how to distinguish right from wrong, how to make the right decision every time.” We’d say, “Father, we thank You that we have Your supernatural wisdom, and we do have the ability to make the right decision every time. Father, You said the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, so we thank You that You are guiding and directing our steps.” And I cannot tell you how many times during the development of that television station God supernaturally protected us and kept us from making mistakes.

For instance, I was just about to pick up the phone and order an extremely expensive and critical piece of equipment, probably the most important piece of equipment in a television station. Just before I did, a man called me out of the clear blue, and we discussed numerous issues. Toward the end of our conversation, he said something that gave me insight and totally changed the decision I was about to make.

What was happening? God was using that man to help guide us; God was protecting us from making a poor decision, and He was giving us good sense to make the correct decision. God was watching over His Word to perform it.

God wants to do something similar for you, but you can’t be lazy. Search the Scriptures and highlight those that particularly apply to your life situation. Write them down and get in the habit of declaring them.

God has already done everything He’s going to do. The ball is now in your court. If you want success, if you want wisdom, if you want to be prosperous and healthy, you’re going to have to do more than meditate and believe; you must boldly declare words of faith and victory over yourself and your family.