Series: Set A Guard Over My Mouth

Psalms 141:2-3 NKJV Let my prayer be set before You as incense, The lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice. (3) Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; Keep watch over the door of my lips.

Psalms 141:2-3 CEV Think of my prayer as sweet-smelling incense, and think of my lifted hands as an evening sacrifice. (3) Help me to guard my words whenever I say something.

Proverbs 18:20-21 NKJV A man’s stomach shall be satisfied from the fruit of his mouth; From the produce of his lips he shall be filled. (21) Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.

• Your life is filled with what your lips are producing.

Proverbs 18:21 ERV The tongue can speak words that bring life or death. Those who love to talk must be ready to accept what it brings.

What Is Praise?

• To commend someone.

Means that we entrust ourselves to His care and recommend that others do the same.

Psalms 9:10 NKJV And those who know Your name will put their trust in You; For You, LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You.

Psalms 16:1 NIV Keep me safe, my God, for in you I take refuge.

This is what we are doing when we speak God’s Word over our lives. In essence, this praise is like writing a letter of recommendation for God.

• To express approval or favor on someone.

This means you have a good opinion of God.

Praise by approving is thinking about what He has done and is doing to win your approval.

Psalms 23:1-6 NKJV A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. (2) He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. (3) He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. (4) Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. (5) You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over. (6) Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the LORD Forever.

• To glorify God – make heavy with honor

Psalms 86:12 NKJV I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart, And I will glorify Your name forevermore.

When you honor someone, you place a high value on them. You esteem them highly and show them great respect.

In this type of praise, God is recognized as being good, faithful, righteous, just, merciful and forgiving. His dwelling place, His law, His character, and His actions are described as being perfect and flawless. In this case honor means to enhance the reputation of someone.

As we honor God for Who He is and for what He has done in our lives, we make room for Him to work for us and in us every day.

• To praise God is an act of faith and an act of reverence.

It is an act of faith because you are praising and worshiping a God you cannot see over in the invisible realm. When you are dealing with that invisible realm, you are dealing with the faith realm.

John 1:18 NKJV No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.

When Do We Praise?

1. In the good times. (We praise God when we feel like it!)

2 Samuel 6:14-15 NKJV Then David danced before the LORD with all his might; and David was wearing a linen ephod. (15) So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouting and with the sound of the trumpet.

These were some great times for David.

2. In the bad times. (We praise God when we don’t feel like it!)

Paul and Silas were cast into prison. Although they had been wrongly accused, beaten, naked, were in stocks in prison, they chose to praise the Lord. They did the one thing that would get God’s presence into that urine-soaked cell with them. They had a prayer and praise session.

Acts 16:25-26 NKJV But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. (26) Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed.

If you want God to come into your prison cell of bad circumstances, then you must resist the temptation to grumble, murmur, and complain. You have to make the decision to praise Him instead.

Kenneth Copeland – “When you pray, you lay hold of things, but when you praise, you win battles.”

3. In the routine, in-between times.

Psalms 34:1-6 NKJV I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. (2) My soul shall make its boast in the LORD; The humble shall hear of it and be glad. (3) Oh, magnify the LORD with me, And let us exalt His name together. (4) I sought the LORD, and He heard me, And delivered me from all my fears. (5) They looked to Him and were radiant, And their faces were not ashamed. (6) This poor man cried out, and the LORD heard him, And saved him out of all his troubles.

Often the normal days of our lives can be the hardest to praise the Lord in because there is nothing in particular to draw our attention to Him.

David praised the Lord all the time – even when things were boring and mundane.

Make sure that God’s manifest presence is with you all the time through your praise and then no matter what comes up in your life, God is there to handle it.

4. In public and in private.

When you prepare in private for a public praise, you don’t need a worship leader to make you feel like praising God.

There is a place for worship leaders in our corporate worship, but it is not their job to make you feel good enough to tell your Daddy how great He is.

When you talk to your soul all week, you don’t need anyone to get your attention and stir you up on Sunday.

Psalms 122:1 NKJV I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go into the house of the LORD.”

Be careful not to come expecting something great in your public praise and worship if you haven’t had an individual meeting with God first. Praise in your private life is what brings power and authority to your public experience.

Try praising God before you meet a challenge. Your day will go differently.

• Praise takes us to the other side of what is opposing us.

Praise and worship is the atmosphere of Heaven and when you step into praise you have stepped over into the atmosphere of Heaven.

• There is NOTHING you cannot praise your way out of, nor is there anything you cannot praise your way into.

Worry and anxiety will keep your focus on your situation or your circumstances. Praise and worship keep your focus on God.

• The exit road out of your problems is paved with praise and worship.

Reflect on God’s goodness, His faithfulness, His character, etc. and then open your mouth and begin to acknowledge Him in that way and He will show up in your life.

Psalms 22:3 NKJV But You are holy, Enthroned (seated, dwell in, stay) in the praises of Israel.

Psalms 141:2-3 NKJV Let my prayer be set before You as incense, The lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice. (3) Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; Keep watch over the door of my lips.

Psalms 141:2-3 CEV Think of my prayer as sweet-smelling incense, and think of my lifted hands as an evening sacrifice. (3) Help me to guard my words whenever I say something.

Proverbs 18:20-21 NKJV A man’s stomach shall be satisfied from the fruit of his mouth; From the produce of his lips he shall be filled. (21) Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.

• Your life is filled with what your lips are producing.

Proverbs 18:21 ERV The tongue can speak words that bring life or death. Those who love to talk must be ready to accept what it brings.

Ephesians 6:10-17 NKJV Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. (11) Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. (12) For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. (13) Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. (14) Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, (15) and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; (16) above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. (17) And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;

In Paul’s day there were a few different swords that a Roman soldier might carry.

• “Double-handed” sword – a heavy sword, that required two hands, and mostly used in training because it was so heavy and could build muscle for battle.
• “Long” sword – soldier would be able to swing this sword and seriously wound his opponent, gashing a limb or their side so they would bleed out.

Ephesians 6:17 NKJV And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;

In Ephesians 6:17, Paul used the word “machaira” when referring to the sword of the Spirit.

• “Machaira” – Smaller, dagger type sword meant for close combat and caused great pain and damage to its victim.

This weapon would strike fear in all those that heard it mentioned. It was long and narrow and often had a twisted end like a corkscrew or the blade would be bent up on the tip. When thrust in the abdomen, it would cause great damage and severe pain. It was always used in close-in combat.

• This weapon causes great fear in the heart of our adversary and his kingdom because it can slash our demonic foes to shreds!

Ephesians 6:17 NKJV And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;

• In Ephesians 6:17, the Greek word for “word of God” is the word “rhema” and it means an inspired word that is spoken clearly and distinctly.

Here’s an example of a rhema or a quickened word: You are praying about a situation, and suddenly a Bible verse rises up from inside your heart. At that moment, you are consciously aware that God has given you a verse to stand on and to claim for your situation.

You’ve received a word that came right out of the mouth of God and dropped into your spirit! That word from God was so sharp that it cut right through your questions, intellect, and natural logic and lodged deep within your heart.

After you meditated on that rhema, or that quickened word from God, it suddenly began to release its power inside you. Soon you couldn’t contain it any longer! Everything within you wanted to declare what God had said to you. You wanted to say it. You want to release it out of your mouth! And when you did, those powerful words were sent forth like a mighty blade to drive back the forces of hell that had been marshaled against you, your family, your business, your ministry, your finances, your relationship, or your body.

Revelation 1:10-16 NKJV I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, (11) saying, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,” and, “What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.” (12) Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, (13) and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. (14) His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; (15) His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters; (16) He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength.

The phrase “two-edged” is taken from the Greek word distomos and is unquestionably one of the oddest words in the entire New Testament. Why is it so odd?

Because it is a compound of the word dis, meaning twice, and the word stoma which is the Greek word for one’s mouth.

• When the word “distomos” is used, it describes something that is two-mouthed or twice-spoken!

First, that word came out of the mouth of God. Next, it came out of your mouth! When it came out of your mouth, it became a sharp, “two- edged” — or literally, a “two-mouthed” — sword.

One edge of this sword came into existence when the Word initially proceeded out of God’s mouth. The second edge of this sword was added when the Word of God proceeded out of YOUR mouth!

The Word of God remains a one-bladed sword when it comes out of God’s mouth and drops into your heart but is never released from your own mouth by faith. That supernatural word simply lies dormant in your heart, never becoming the two-edged sword God designed it to be.

But something happens in the realm of the Spirit when you finally rise up and begin to speak forth that word. The moment it comes out of your mouth, a second edge is added to the blade!

• Nothing is more powerful than a word that comes first from God’s mouth and then from your mouth.

You and God have come into agreement, and that agreement releases His mighty power into the situation at hand!

Greatest example of this can be found in the life of Jesus Himself:

Luke 4:1-13 NKJV Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, (2) being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry. (3) And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” (4) But Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘MAN SHALL NOT LIVE BY BREAD ALONE, BUT BY EVERY WORD OF GOD.’ ” (5) Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. (6) And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. (7) Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.” (8) And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND HIM ONLY YOU SHALL SERVE.’ ” (9) Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here. (10) For it is written: ‘HE SHALL GIVE HIS ANGELS CHARGE OVER YOU, TO KEEP YOU,’ (11) and, ‘IN THEIR HANDS THEY SHALL BEAR YOU UP, LEST YOU DASH YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE.’ ” (12) And Jesus answered and said to him, “It has been said, ‘YOU SHALL NOT TEMPT THE LORD YOUR GOD.’ ” (13) Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.

The Holy Spirit quickened the Word to Jesus in that moment and placed that dagger in His hand to defeat the enemy. Jesus spoke the Word and won that battle causing the enemy to flee from Him.

The next time you are in close combat with the devil, take the time to get quiet and allow the Holy Spirit to reach within your spirit to bring up that inspired Word and quicken it to you so you will have that rhema to put in your mouth.

1. Be proactive and not always reactive.
2. Begin to build in your heart the arsenal of God’s Word that the Holy Spirit can draw upon in those times of battle.

John 14:26 TPT But when the Father sends the Spirit of Holiness, the One like me who sets you free, he will teach you all things in my name. And he will inspire you to remember every word that I’ve told you.

John Osteen: “Put the Word in your heart when you don’t need it and it will be there when you do need it.”

James 4:7 NKJV Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

3. Put that Word in your mouth and use that sword to cause the enemy to flee.

Psalms 141:2-3 NKJV Let my prayer be set before You as incense, The lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice. (3) Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; Keep watch over the door of my lips.

Psalms 141:2-3 CEV Think of my prayer as sweet-smelling incense, and think of my lifted hands as an evening sacrifice. (3) Help me to guard my words whenever I say something.

Proverbs 18:20-21 NKJV A man’s stomach shall be satisfied from the fruit of his mouth; From the produce of his lips he shall be filled. (21) Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.

• Your life is filled with what your lips are producing.

Proverbs 18:21 ERV The tongue can speak words that bring life or death. Those who love to talk must be ready to accept what it brings.

• Your tongue determines the direction of your life. (James 3:3-4)

If you don’t like the direction your life is headed, change the direction by changing what you are saying.

• The devil and his team are endeavoring to get you to speak words that they can act on in your life.
• The Holy Spirit and His team are endeavoring to get you to speak words that they can act on in your life.

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Matthew 12:33-37 NKJV “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. (34) Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. (35) A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. (36) But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. (37) For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

• Jesus said we can determine whether the tree is good and produces good fruit or bad and produces bad fruit. (v. 33)
• Fruit from a tree represents the end results.

Another way to say this based on the Greek is, a tree will produce fruit that is good for you, or it will produce fruit that is bad for you.

He also said that a tree will be known by the results that it produces.

• Jesus established that our words come out of what is in our hearts in abundance. (v. 34)

Matthew 12:34 ERV You snakes! You are so evil. How can you say anything good? What people say with their mouths comes from what fills their hearts.

• Jesus said that if you want to say good things, you must have good or right things stored in your heart. (v. 35)

Those that say things that are not good for them, say them because they have bad or wrong things stored in their hearts.

• Jesus said that on the day of judgment men will have to give account for every idle word they speak. (v. 36)

Matthew 12:36 AMPC But I tell you, on the day of judgment men will have to give account for every idle (inoperative, nonworking) word they speak.

Jesus was not necessarily talking about having to give an account at His Judgment Seat for our idle words.

What is the Day of Judgment Jesus spoke about?

Judgment (GREEK) – krisis – crisis, turn of affairs, judgment.

Matthew 12:37 AMPC For by your words you will be justified and acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned and sentenced.

Justified (GREEK) – dikaioo – bring out of that which a person is or desires.

Condemned (GREEK) – katadikazo – pronounce a sentence against you.

Jesus is saying that in a Day of Crisis, our own words will speak for themselves.

• What we say in a moment of crisis, will determine the outcome and we will be either justified (receive the desired result) or condemned (prolong the sentence)

Matthew 12:35 NKJV A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.

Treasure (GREEK) – thesaurus – anything laid up in store, or the place where the stores are kept. (We refer to a thesaurus for synonyms or words that that are stored up in one place for reference.)

Psalms 119:11 NKJV Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.

Hidden (HEBREW) – sapan – to conceal something (like Moses when he was a a baby), to store up, to protect (like the Holy of Holies)

Psalms 119:11 NET In my heart I store up your words, so I might not sin against you.

This tells me that what Jesus has described here can be done on purpose and ahead of time. We can store the right words in our hearts on purpose and before they are needed.

Colossians 3:16 NKJV Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

How we write the Word of God on our hearts:

1. Repetition

God originally gave the law in Leviticus but because the people did not get it the first time, He repeats it again in Deuteronomy (“repeated law”). Could also be said, “Let’s go over this again…”

Deuteronomy 11:18-20 NKJV (18) “Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. (19) You shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. (20) And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates,

2. Meditation

Joshua 1:8 NKJV This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

Psalms 1:1-3 NKJV Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; (2) But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night. (3) He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper.

Psalms 119:15-16 NKJV I will meditate on Your precepts, And contemplate Your ways. (16) I will delight myself in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word.

Psalms 119:97 NKJV Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day.

1 Timothy 4:15 TPT Make all of this your constant meditation and make it real with your life so everyone can see that you are moving forward.

3. Memorization

Every Old Testament student (talmudim – including Jesus), studying to be a Rabbi, early in their training had to memorize the Pentateuch as a requirement.

Proverbs 7:1-3 NIV My son, keep my words and store up my commands within you. (2) Keep my commands and you will live; guard my teachings as the apple of your eye. (3) Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart.

Psalms 119:16 NKJV I will delight myself in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word.

John 14:26 NKJV But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.

Psalms 141:2-3 NKJV Let my prayer be set before You as incense, The lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice. (3) Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; Keep watch over the door of my lips.

Psalms 141:2-3 CEV Think of my prayer as sweet-smelling incense, and think of my lifted hands as an evening sacrifice. (3) Help me to guard my words whenever I say something.

• Your life is filled with what your lips are producing.

How would we act if every word that we speak instantly came to pass?

Proverbs 18:21 ERV The tongue can speak words that bring life or death. Those who love to talk must be ready to accept what it brings.

Did you know most Christians don’t really believe this verse is true, because if we did, there would be a lot we would not say.

• Your tongue determines the direction of your life.

James 3:3-4 ERV We put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us. With these bits we can control their whole body. (4) It is the same with ships. A ship is very big, and it is pushed by strong winds. But a very small rudder controls that big ship. And the one who controls the rudder decides where the ship will go. It goes where he wants it to go.

If you are driving in your car and realize you don’t like the direction you are going, you don’t just mash the gas harder and go faster. You change directions!

If you don’t like the direction your life is headed, change the direction by changing what you are saying.

Speak To Your Mountain!

Mark 11:20-23 NKJV Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. (21) And Peter, remembering, said to Him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered away.” (22) So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God. (23) For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.

Jesus spoke to a tree and His Words affected that natural thing and brought about change.

Someone might say, “Well that was Jesus…” But Jesus said “whosoever shall say…”. He did not say, “I can say it and you cannot.”

Matthew 21:18-22 NKJV Now in the morning, as He returned to the city, He was hungry. (19) And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, “Let no fruit grow on you ever again.” Immediately the fig tree withered away. (20) And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither away so soon?” (21) So Jesus answered and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ it will be done. (22) And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”

• This will work for anyone who will believe that it will work.
• Don’t be misled because the change does not seem instantaneous.

Change did not appear in the natural immediately but in a realm where you could not see, in the roots.

• The Word of God is designed to attack situations at the root, not the fruit.
• Most of the time, you will not see any immediate results when you speak.

Mark 11:20 NKJV Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.

The change did not happen where everyone could see it. It began where you cannot see it.

Hebrews 11:3 NLT By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen.

Hebrews 11:3 TPT Faith empowers us to see that the universe was created and beautifully coordinated by the power of God’s words! He spoke and the invisible realm gave birth to all that is seen.

How many times did Jesus go back to the fig tree and check for anything changing? NONE! Jesus did not say to speak to the mountain and then check for the results. That is not faith.

What did Jesus say that we are to believe?

Mark 11:23 NKJV For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.

People do not get results because:

1. They don’t say anything.
2. They don’t believe in their heart that what they will say will come to pass.

There are empty powerless words that just come out of our heads that we do not really believe. But be advised, empty words that are said often enough will begin to get down into your heart where you believe them. (Romans 10:17)

If there is going to be power released in your words, then they must be connected to your heart.

Romans 10:9-10 NKJV that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. (10) For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Stop the Confidence Thief!

• Condemnation is the confidence thief in receiving from God in prayer and in the power of your words.

The price for our sin has been paid but there is still something we must do. We must repent, ask for forgiveness and receive the cleansing of the Blood of Jesus to cleans us of that sin and all unrighteousness.

1 John 1:9 NKJV If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

1 John 2:28-29 NKJV And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. (29) If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him.

1 John 3:18-22 NKJV My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. (19) And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him. (20) For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. (21) Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. (22) And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.

• Once we are forgiven and KNOW that we are forgiven, then we will have confidence in our hearts that we are right with God and our faith can work.

When we have this confidence, the heart – mouth connection will work and there will be power in our words.

Psalms 141:2-3 N KJV Let my prayer be set before You as incense, The lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice. (3) Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; Keep watch over the door of my lips.

Psalms 141:2-3 CEV Think of my prayer as sweet-smelling incense, and think of my lifted hands as an evening sacrifice. (3) Help me to guard my words whenever I say something.

Why do we need to put a guard over our mouths?

Proverbs 18:20-21 NKJV A man’s stomach shall be satisfied from the fruit of his mouth; From the produce of his lips he shall be filled. (21) Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.

• Your life is filled with what your lips are producing.

How would we act if every word that we speak instantly came to pass?

Proverbs 18:21 ERV The tongue can speak words that bring life or death. Those who love to talk must be ready to accept what it brings.

More Reasons Our Words Are Important:

Proverbs 12:14 NIV From the fruit of his lips a man is filled with good things as surely as the work of his hands rewards him.

Proverbs 13:3 TPT Guard your words and you’ll guard your life, but if you don’t control your tongue, it will ruin everything.

Proverbs 15:4 TPT When you speak healing words, you offer others fruit from the tree of life. But unhealthy, negative words do nothing but crush their hopes.

Proverbs 18:7 NKJV (7) A fool’s mouth is his destruction, And his lips are the snare of his soul.

Proverbs 18:7 NLT The mouths of fools are their ruin; they trap themselves with their lips.

Proverbs 21:23 AMPC He who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from troubles.

Proverbs 21:23 TPT Watch your words and be careful what you say, and you’ll be surprised how few troubles you’ll have.

There are two principles we need to grasp from God’s Word:

1. We grow our faith by feeding on and speaking God’s Word.

We all have a beginning measure of faith given to us at the New Birth. (Romans 12:3)

We’re not trying to get faith. We’re not praying for it. We have it. Every believer already has a measure of the God-kind of faith.  You see, God gets everyone started off the same way. He doesn’t give one person more faith than He gives another. He gives to every man the measure of faith. Then your faith grows according to what you do with it.

Remember, it’s up to you what you do with the measure of faith God has given you. For example, you can cause your faith to grow. You can feed and exercise it so when the storms of life come, you will have strong faith. But another person may not do anything with his faith. The person who does nothing with his faith will have weak faith.

2 Thessalonians 1:3 ERV We thank God for you always. And that’s what we should do, because you give us good reason to be thankful: Your faith is growing more and more. And the love that every one of you has for each other is also growing.

We know that the measure of faith given to every believer can grow. Your faith can be strengthened by feeding it on the Word of God and by exercising it or putting it into practice. 

If you want your faith to grow, you have to start where you are. No one climbs a ladder starting on the top rung. You’ve got to start on the bottom rung and climb up if you’re going to reach the top. That’s the thing that defeats a lot of well-meaning Christians—they try to believe beyond their faith.

Remember, just because someone has fed more on God’s Word and has exercised his faith is not a sign that God have him more faith than He gave someone else. No, the person who fed on the Word and exercised his faith had the same measure of faith to begin with as the others had. But he fed his faith and exercised it, and his faith grew strong! As a result, he could believe God for more.

God created us to be able to hear our own words and build a capacity to believe them in our hearts.

• • • When you are speaking God’s Word, you are building your capacity to believe God’s Word.
    • Faith grows with your confession, but your faith will never grow beyond your confession.

What are we to be confessing?

1. 1. 1. What Jesus purchased for us in His plan of Redemption
      2. What God has done in us in the New Birth and the infilling of the Holy Spirit
      3. Who we are in Christ Jesus.
      4. What God can do in and through us as believers.

2. We put our faith to work by speaking and acting on God’s Word.

Romans 10:5-10 NKJV For Moses writes about the righteousness which is of the law, “THE MAN WHO DOES THOSE THINGS SHALL LIVE BY THEM.” (6) But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way, “DO NOT SAY IN YOUR HEART, ‘WHO WILL ASCEND INTO HEAVEN?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ down from above) (7) or, ” ‘WHO WILL DESCEND INTO THE ABYSS?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). (8) But what does it say? “THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): (9) that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. (10) For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Romans 10:17 NKJV So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

• • Our relationship with Jesus begins with not only what we believe in our hearts but also what we say with our mouths.
  • It is not enough to just believe what the Word says, you must speak it if you want the results of it.

I call this concept “the heart-mouth connection.”

For instance, if you believe in your heart that Jesus purchased your salvation, and you put your heartfelt faith together with the confession of your mouth, you can literally receive that salvation and make it an eternal fact.

That is why you must be careful about what you believe in your heart and say with your mouth, because when your heart and mouth get “in sync” with each other, it literally makes things come to pass!

• • God’s creative power is released when the heart and mouth get into agreement!

Psalms 141:2-3 NKJV Let my prayer be set before You as incense, The lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice. (3) Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; Keep watch over the door of my lips.

Psalms 141:2-3 CEV Think of my prayer as sweet-smelling incense, and think of my lifted hands as an evening sacrifice. (3) Help me to guard my words whenever I say something.

Psalms 141:2-3 ERV Accept my prayer like a gift of burning incense, the words I lift up like an evening sacrifice. (3) LORD, help me control what I say. Don’t let me say anything bad.

Proverbs 18:20 NKJV A man’s stomach shall be satisfied from the fruit of his mouth; From the produce of his lips he shall be filled.

1. Your life is filled with what your lips are producing.

Do you want your life to be full of what you need? Then check up on your words first.

The enemy’s strategy is to get you to speak words that he brought to you so that what he wants will come to pass in your life.

Proverbs 18:21 NKJV Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.

How would we act if every word that we speak instantly came to pass?

Proverbs 18:21 ERV The tongue can speak words that bring life or death. Those who love to talk must be ready to accept what it brings.

James 3:1-10 TPT My dear brothers and sisters, don’t be so eager to become a teacher in the church since you know that we who teach are held to a higher standard of judgment. (2) We all fail in many areas, but especially with our words. Yet if we’re able to bridle the words we say we are powerful enough to control ourselves in every way, and that means our character is mature and fully developed. (3) Horses have bits and bridles in their mouths so that we can control and guide their large body. (4) And the same with mighty ships, though they are massive and driven by fierce winds, yet they are steered by a tiny rudder at the direction of the person at the helm. (5) And so the tongue is a small part of the body yet it carries great power! Just think of how a small flame can set a huge forest ablaze. (6) And the tongue is a fire! It can be compared to the sum total of wickedness and is the most dangerous part of our human body. It corrupts the entire body and is a hellish flame! It releases a fire that can burn throughout the course of human existence. (7) For every wild animal on earth including birds, creeping reptiles, and creatures of the sea and land have all been overpowered and tamed by humans, (8) but the tongue is not able to be tamed. It’s a fickle, unrestrained evil that spews out words full of toxic poison! (9) We use our tongue to praise God our Father and then turn around and curse a person who was made in his very image! (10) Out of the same mouth we pour out words of praise one minute and curses the next. My brothers and sister, this should never be!

2. Your tongue affects your entire life.

James 3:2 TPT We all fail in many areas, but especially with our words. Yet if we’re able to bridle the words we say we are powerful enough to control ourselves in every way, and that means our character is mature and fully developed.

3. Your tongue determines the direction of your life.

James 3:3-4 TPT Horses have bits and bridles in their mouths so that we can control and guide their large body. (4) And the same with mighty ships, though they are massive and driven by fierce winds, yet they are steered by a tiny rudder at the direction of the person at the helm.

4. Your tongue can inject poison into your life and the lives of other people.

James 3:7-8 TPT For every wild animal on earth including birds, creeping reptiles, and creatures of the sea and land have all been overpowered and tamed by humans, (8) but the tongue is not able to be tamed. It’s a fickle, unrestrained evil that spews out words full of toxic poison!

5. You have a choice in what your tongue says.

James 3:10 MSG Curses and blessings out of the same mouth! My friends, this can’t go on.

6. You can change the direction of your life by changing your words.
7. Your words are shaped by what you deposit in your heart.

Matthew 12:34-35 AMP You offspring of vipers! How can you speak good things when you are evil (wicked)? For out of the fullness (the overflow, the superabundance) of the heart the mouth speaks. (35) The good man from his inner good treasure flings forth good things, and the evil man out of his inner evil storehouse flings forth evil things.

8. Jesus was very disciplined and intentional in how He used His words.

Luke 4:38-39 NKJV Now He arose from the synagogue and entered Simon’s house. But Simon’s wife’s mother was sick with a high fever, and they made request of Him concerning her. (39) So He stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. And immediately she arose and served them.

Hebrews 11:3 AMPC By faith we understand that the worlds [during the successive ages] were framed (fashioned, put in order, and equipped for their intended purpose) by the word of God, so that what we see was not made out of things which are visible.

9. If created things were formed by God’s spoken Word, then they can be changed by God’s spoken Word.

If it came into existence by spoken word, it can be altered by spoken word.

10. We are not called to be reporters; we are called to be forecasters.

Romans 4:17 AMPC As it is written, I have made you the father of many nations. [He was appointed our father] in the sight of God in Whom he believed, Who gives life to the dead and speaks of the nonexistent things that [He has foretold and promised] as if they [already] existed. [Gen 17:5]