Series: Speaking

Proverbs 18:20-21 ERV Your words can be as satisfying as fruit, as pleasing as the food that fills your stomach. (21) The tongue can speak words that bring life or death. Those who love to talk must be ready to accept what it brings.

• Praise is an act of faith. It is an act of reverence.
• Kenneth Copeland – “When you pray, you lay hold of things, but when you praise, you win battles.”
• Praising God takes us to the other side of the opposition.
• The exit road out of your problems is paved with praise and worship.
• Anything that is missing can be put back through your praise.
• You can praise and worship your way into wholeness.

John 4:23-24 NKJV But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. (24) God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Under the Old Covenant, people could worship God only in the natural based on a physical location and environment.

In the New Covenant, we worship God in the spirit, not limited to natural circumstances. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit!

John 4:23 TPT (23-24) From here on, worshiping the Father will not be a matter of the right place but with the right heart. For God is a Spirit, and he longs to have sincere worshipers who worship and adore him in the realm of the Spirit and in truth.”

Why is God looking for worshipers who worship in spirit and truth?

“In spirit and in truth” in this verse means with a sincere mind, with sincerity of heart, not merely with external rites. It means to worship without distraction and giving your full attention to what you are doing.

• It’s not enough to just take on the posture of worship but we must engage our hearts and give our full attention to the Lord.

Matthew 15:7-9 TPT Frauds and hypocrites! Isaiah described you perfectly when he said: (8) These people honor me only with their words, for their hearts are so very distant from me. (9) They pretend to worship me, but their worship is nothing more than the empty traditions of men.”

Psalms 111:1 NKJV Praise the LORD! I will praise the LORD with my whole heart, In the assembly of the upright and in the congregation.

The Psalmist says, “I will…” It is an act of your will.

• When you are “all in”, you get full of what you are “all in”.
• Worshipping God gets our attention off the mountain and over on God, the Mountain Mover!

You change your dialog from your mind and your problems to your heart and your Heavenly Father.

There is nothing more tiring than trying to figure out what you cannot figure out.

Learn to return to the Place where your help comes from like the man who was healed of leprosy did in Luke 17. You stay out of the mental arena (Satan’s playground) when you begin to worship and connect with the faith that is in your heart.

John 4:24 NKJV God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

• To worship God in truth means that we worship Him based on the Word of God.

Take the Word to worship with us!

• The part of the Word that we worship with and for, is the part that will work for us.
• Worship God in truth and not based on facts.

Don’t let facts determine your flow of praise and worship to the Father.

Let truth determine your flow of praise and worship.

Worship God in the truth of God’s Word and not what the circumstances are telling you.

It may be a fact that you have sickness and pain in your body but the truth is that He is your Healer and that truth can change the facts.

• We don’t worship Him only because of what He can do. We worship Him because of Who He is.

• • Worship Him because He is your Salvation.
  • Worship Him because He is your Healer.
  • Worship Him because He is your Provider.
  • Worship Him because He is your Protector, etc.

• Worship God for what He has done in your life!

Psalms 77:11-20 NKJV I will remember the works of the LORD; Surely I will remember Your wonders of old. (12) I will also meditate on all Your work, And talk of Your deeds. (13) Your way, O God, is in the sanctuary; Who is so great a God as our God? (14) You are the God who does wonders; You have declared Your strength among the peoples. (15) You have with Your arm redeemed Your people, The sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah (16) The waters saw You, O God; The waters saw You, they were afraid; The depths also trembled. (17) The clouds poured out water; The skies sent out a sound; Your arrows also flashed about. (18) The voice of Your thunder was in the whirlwind; The lightnings lit up the world; The earth trembled and shook. (19) Your way was in the sea, Your path in the great waters, And Your footsteps were not known. (20) You led Your people like a flock By the hand of Moses and Aaron.

Psalms 143:4-5 NKJV Therefore my spirit is overwhelmed within me; My heart within me is distressed. (5) I remember the days of old; I meditate on all Your works; I muse on the work of Your hands.

• When we worship God for what He has done, He will do more of it.

What we rehearse, God repeats!

• When we are continually praising Him, we are setting up our future to be full of what we are praising Him for.

Worshipping God plays a role in receiving your miracle.

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

Proverbs 18:20-21 ERV Your words can be as satisfying as fruit, as pleasing as the food that fills your stomach. (21) The tongue can speak words that bring life or death. Those who love to talk must be ready to accept what it brings.

• Worry and anxiety will keep your focus on your situation or your circumstances. Praise and worship keep your focus on God.
• Praise is an act of faith. It is an act of reverence.
• Kenneth Copeland – “When you pray, you lay hold of things, but when you praise, you win battles.”
• Praising God takes us to the other side of the opposition.
• There is NOTHING you cannot praise your way out of, nor is there anything you cannot praise your way into.
• The exit road out of your problems is paved with praise and worship.

Praise Will Put It Back

Being skillful in faith requires us to be skillful in our praise and worship.

• Praising God connects us to our spirit because praise and worship is a spiritual thing.

John 4:23 TPT (23-24) From here on, worshiping the Father will not be a matter of the right place but with the right heart. For God is a Spirit, and he longs to have sincere worshipers who worship and adore him in the realm of the Spirit and in truth.”

Luke 17:11-19 NKJV Now it happened as He went to Jerusalem that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. (12) Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off. (13) And they lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” (14) So when He saw them, He said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed. (15) And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, (16) and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. (17) So Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? (18) Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” (19) And He said to him, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.”

Luke 17:13 NKJV And they lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”

These lepers needed healing but they asked for mercy. There is healing in the mercy of God.

Luke 17:14 NKJV So when He saw them, He said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed.

As they went, the process of leprosy was stopped in their bodies. There would no more deterioration of body parts and limbs and no more skin disease. The dead tissue was cleansed off them.

Luke 17:15-16 NKJV And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, (16) and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan.

One out of ten returned to praise and worship God. The other nine kept going.

Luke 17:17 NKJV So Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine?

Jesus did not question if the healing anointing of God had been present and did a work in these men’s bodies. He questioned, where was their reverence and appreciation for what God had for them.

The one man returned because he realized where his blessing came from. He returned to the place where blessing was.

This man was a Samaritan meaning he was not taught and trained in the things of God because he was considered a Gentile, separated from God. But he knew where his help had come from and what he needed to do to express his gratitude.

Jesus asked, “Where are the nine?” He was not looking for them because they were in trouble. He was looking for them because He had more for them.

Luke 17:18 NKJV Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?”

Luke 17:19 NKJV And He said to him, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.”

This man was not taught in what is faith and how do I express my faith. He just came back praising and worshipping God. And Jesus called it faith.

Our praise and worship are a demonstration of our faith.

Luke 17:19 KJV And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.

• The cleansing of the leprosy stopped the process of leprosy, but the man’s praise made him whole.
• You can praise and worship your way into wholeness.
• Anything that is missing can be put back through your praise.

Cleansing is great but why settle for cleansing when you can have wholeness?

The other nine stopped short of what God had for them. What could they have thought when they saw their friend in town restored and made whole.

Jesus had wholeness for the other nine, but they did not return.

• You cannot receive all God has for you just coming before His presence once. You must return!

There is so much God has for us that one visit cannot receive it all.

Someone might say, “Why didn’t Jesus do all of it for them at once – the cleansing and wholeness?” It is because of their reverence for God.

• Praising and worshipping God is not always convenient.

Notice the one leper inconvenienced himself and went back to worship Jesus. If we only do what is convenient, we will never receive wholeness.

Hebrews 13:15 NKJV Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.

Hebrews 13:15 TPT So we no longer offer up a steady stream of blood sacrifices, but through Jesus, we will offer up to God a steady stream of praise sacrifices—these are “the lambs” we offer from our lips that celebrate his name!

• Worship is an act of gratitude and gratitude will always posture you to receive more good things from God.
• Worship will bring things into your life that other people will never get.

What you praise God for is what you will get to enjoy!

Proverbs 18:20-21 ERV Your words can be as satisfying as fruit, as pleasing as the food that fills your stomach. (21) The tongue can speak words that bring life or death. Those who love to talk must be ready to accept what it brings.

• The tongue can speak words of life or death. The choice is ours!
• Where your life is today is a result of what you believed and said yesterday!
• If you want to change the direction of your life, start changing your words.

What Is Praise?

• We 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.

• We 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.

• We Glorify – To identify the good points of someone.

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.

2 Samuel 22:31 NKJV As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the LORD is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.

Psalms 103:1-5 NKJV A Psalm Of David. Bless the LORD, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name! (2) Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits: (3) Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, (4) Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies, (5) Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

In essence, praise that glorifies is like writing a letter of recommendation for God.

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.

• Praise is an act of faith. It is 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!)

1 Chronicles 17:20 NKJV (20) O LORD, there is none like You, nor is there any God besides You, according to all that we have heard with our ears.

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.”

• • Praise takes us to the other side of the opposition.

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.

Smith Wigglesworth Testimony: “…when you all prayed you were looking at the woman and death; when I prayed, I was looking at the face of Jesus.”

3. In the routine, in-between times.

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.

Psalms 118:24 NKJV This is the day the LORD has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it.

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.

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.

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

When things are not working right, check and see if you are current in praise and worship. It could be an indication that you are behind in that arena.

Proverbs 18:20-21 ERV Your words can be as satisfying as fruit, as pleasing as the food that fills your stomach. (21) The tongue can speak words that bring life or death. Those who love to talk must be ready to accept what it brings.

• The tongue can speak words of life or death. The choice is ours!
• Where your life is today is a result of what you believed and said yesterday!
• If you want to change the direction of your life, start changing your words.

Speaking God’s Word By Faith:

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.

When you are speaking the Word by faith, change will not be readily visible, because it is happening at the root and not at the fruit.

Example of Roundup Weed Killer.

• The Word of God is designed to attack situations at the root, not the fruit.

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 di, meaning two, and the word stomos, which is the Greek word for one’s mouth. Thus, when these two words are compounded into one (distomos), they describe something that is two-mouthed!

• Jesus has a two-mouthed sword coming out of His mouth.

The Word of God is like a sword that has two edges, cutting both ways and doing terrible damage to an aggressor. Ephesians 6:17 calls it “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

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

Machaira – a small, very sharp, two-edged sword carried by a Roman Soldier

The term “word” is taken from the Greek word rhema, which describes something that is spoken clearly, vividly, in unmistakable terms and undeniable language.

• A rhema word is a quickened word.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.

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!

• On occasion, however, we need a specific rhema word – a smaller, two-edged sword – to deal the enemy a destructive blow.
• A rhema word is a specific word or message that the Holy Spirit quickens in our hearts and minds at a specific time and for a specific purpose.

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.

When this happens, it floods our spirits with faith because the Holy Spirit has spoken to us in a way that is clearly spoken, unmistakable, undeniable, unquestionable, certain and definite.

• A Rhema word quickened to your heart and mind by the Holy Spirit is as strong and powerful that it is as if God put a supernatural sword in your hand.

The vital work of studying, meditating, and praying releases the Word to become a part of your own inner being.

• Your rhema – that word you need from God today – hinges entirely on the presence of the written Word of God and the Holy Spirit in your life.
• People who receive frequent rhema words from the Lord are people who have made the logos, the written Word, a central part of their lives.

Matthew 4:4 NKJV But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘MAN SHALL NOT LIVE BY BREAD ALONE, BUT BY EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS FROM THE MOUTH OF GOD.’ ”

Luke 1:37-38 NKJV For with God nothing will be impossible.” (38) Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

John 15:7 NKJV If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.

Proverbs 18:20-21 ERV Your words can be as satisfying as fruit, as pleasing as the food that fills your stomach. (21) The tongue can speak words that bring life or death. Those who love to talk must be ready to accept what it brings.

• The tongue can speak words of life or death. The choice is ours!
• Where your life is today is a result of what you believed and said yesterday!
• If you want to change the direction of your life, start changing your words.

1. Speaking God’s Word unto Faith:

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
  • There is no faith without confession. Confession is faith’s way of expressing itself.
• • Your FIRST WORDS matter.

And they often determine your outcome—good or bad.

You may have resolved to respond in faith in the face of your very next challenge, but do you know what kinds of things to say?

I believe one of the most important times that we need to watch what we say is during our times of adversity, times of hardship. Anybody can be positive and say the right things when everything is going great. But how we respond in the adversities of life will either make you or break you.

What you say in the midst of your difficulties will have a great impact on how long you stay in those difficulties.

When times get tough, human nature is to want to talk about the problem, complain to all of our friends and family about how hard life is. Satan will do his best to pressure you to keep you talking about your situation because he knows that as long as you talk about the situation and circumstances, you will keep perpetuating them in your life by your words.

Remember, when you face adversity, don’t give in to the temptation to murmur and complain. Pray the prayer of faith and speak words of faith and victory.

Make The Deposit

• We must learn the Word of God before we use it and need it.

John 14:25-26 NKJV “These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. (26) 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.

• The Holy Spirit cannot remind you of what you have never learned!

When you spend time in the Word of God, you are making a deposit into your heart that can be drawn upon later.

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

Luke 6:45 ERV Good people have good things saved in their hearts. That’s why they say good things. But those who are evil have hearts full of evil, and that’s why they say things that are evil. What people say with their mouths comes from what fills their hearts.

When you are in the midst of the storm, you need to speak out of the Word that is deposited in your heart, not out of the fear that is going around in your head.

• Sometimes we need to have the “vocabulary of silence”.

Put voice to the Word of God only! Vocabulary of silence might be necessary until the Holy Spirit brings to your attention what you need to say.

• If you want to be prepared for the storms of life, you must learn to have regular practice time!

When we spend time in or study the Word of God, you are not always going to have this “AHA! moment.”

The best way to get the Word of God in your heart is to set aside and PLACE and TIME on a consistent basis to read and study.

It will not be a magical experience at first.

This is having an effect on you whether you realize it or not.

• You must school yourself in the discipline of meditating on the Word.

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

The most reliable way to harness your thoughts and redirect your attention is to read aloud.

Meditation in the Word will change your doings!

2. Speaking God’s Word By Faith:

Mark 11:12-14 NKJV Now the next day, when they had come out from Bethany, He was hungry. (13) And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, He went to see if perhaps He would find something on it. When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. (14) In response Jesus said to it, “Let no one eat fruit from you ever again.” And His disciples heard it.

Mark 11:19 NKJV When evening had come, He went out of the city.

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.

When you are speaking the Word by faith, change will not be readily visible, because it is happening at the root and not at the fruit.

Example of Roundup Weed Killer.

• The Word of God is designed to attack situations at the root, not the fruit.
• We are not called to be reporters, we are called to be forecasters.

Romans 4:17 AMP 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.]

Proverbs 18:20-21 ERV Your words can be as satisfying as fruit, as pleasing as the food that fills your stomach. (21) The tongue can speak words that bring life or death. Those who love to talk must be ready to accept what it brings.

• The tongue can speak words of life or death. The choice is ours!

James 3:2-11 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) 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.

• Where your life is today is a result of what you believed and said yesterday!
• If you want to change the direction of your life, start changing your words.

There are four types of Confession mentioned in the New Testament:

1. Confession of sins by the Jews during John the Baptist’s and Jesus’ ministry. (Matthew 3:5-6)
2. Confession of the Lordship of Jesus by the sinner today. (Romans 10: 9-10)
3. A believer’s confession of sins when he is out of fellowship with God. (1 John 1:9)
4. A believer’s confession of faith in the Word of God. (Mark 11:23)

The word confession means:

1. Affirming something we believe.
2. Testifying of something we know.
3. Witnessing for a truth we have embraced.

• Anytime God wants to change something, He speaks to it.

Genesis 1:1-3 NKJV In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (2) The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. (3) Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.

Hebrews 11:3 AMP  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.

Hebrews 4:12a AMP For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power [making it active, operative, energizing, and effective]…

• It is not enough to just believe what the Word says, you must speak it if you want the results of it.

Romans 10:9-10 NLT If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. (10) For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved.

• We need to understand that there is speaking God’s Word unto faith and then there is speaking God’s Word by faith.

Speaking God’s Word unto Faith:

Proverbs 12:14 AMPC From the fruit of his words a man shall be satisfied with good, and the work of a man’s hands shall come back to him [as a harvest].

Proverbs 13:2 ISV From the fruit of his words a man receives benefit, but the treacherous crave violence.

Proverbs 16:24 AMPC Pleasant words are as a honeycomb, sweet to the mind and healing to the body.

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

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

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

There is no faith without confession. Confession is faith’s way of expressing itself.

Hebrews 10:23 NKJV Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.

Hebrews 4:14 NKJV Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.

Confession – (Greek: homologia) – to say the same thing

We are called to speak the same thing that our High Priest is saying over us.

What is your High Priest saying? You are strong, you are healed, you are well able, you are anointed, you are favored, you are free, you are redeemed, you are forgiven…

What are we to be confessing?

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

Download these faith confessions of Who You Are in Christ:

[wp-svg-icons icon=”file-pdf” wrap=”i”] – Who I Am in Christ

Proverbs 18:20-21 ERV Your words can be as satisfying as fruit, as pleasing as the food that fills your stomach. (21) The tongue can speak words that bring life or death. Those who love to talk must be ready to accept what it brings.

• The tongue can speak words of life or death. The choice is ours!

Proverbs 18:21 MSG Words kill, words give life; they’re either poison or fruit—you choose.

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

James 3:2-11 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) 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! (11) (11-12) Would you look for olives hanging on a fig tree or go to pick figs from a grapevine? Is it possible that fresh and bitter water can flow out of the same spring? So neither can a bitter spring produce fresh water.

• Your tongue affects your life in every way.

James 3:2a 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…

• 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.

• You can change the direction of your life by changing your words.
• The tongue can be tamed!

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!

• Your words are shaped by what you deposit in your heart.

Matthew 12:34-37 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. (36) But I tell you, on the day of judgment men will have to give account for every idle (inoperative, nonworking) word they speak. (37) For by your words you will be justified and acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned and sentenced.

Start Your Engine!

Philemon 1:6 KJV That the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.

“…every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.”

Think of it — He saved you, healed you, redeemed you, and protected you. He has given you a sound mind; He has given you the mind of Christ; He has imparted gifts and talents to you; and He has planned a future for your life that is simply glorious. You are loaded with phenomenal potential that is just waiting to be activated!

“…may become effectual…”

(Greek: energeo – energized or activated)

Paul’s words could actually be rendered, “That … your faith may become energized and activated.”

Let me give you an example to help you understand what this word energeo means in the context of this verse. An automobile may be filled with enough fuel to drive a long distance, but it won’t go anywhere until someone puts the key into the ignition and then turns the key. The moment that key is turned, the spark plugs are sparked, which fires up the engine. Once the engine has been activated, the potential in that car is ready to be unleashed.

The car always has the capability of moving, but if it is never activated, it sits silently in the driveway. No matter how much fuel is in the tank or how much horsepower that car possesses, its power and potential will never be realized until someone turns the key in the ignition.

My friend, you are like a car that is loaded with enough fuel and horsepower to get anywhere you need to go. But for that potential in you to be released, you have to hold the right key in your hand. Furthermore, it isn’t enough for you to just possess the key. You have to put that key into the “ignition” and turn it so the latent potential that resides inside you will be ignited.

When you turn the key in the ignition, suddenly the potential you possess in Jesus Christ is supernaturally ignited, activated, energized, and released inside you!

• • So what is the key that sparks all the good things God has placed inside you into becoming an outward reality?
  • What is the key that causes all that God declares about you to become manifested in your life?
  • How do you “turn the key in the ignition” so that the great work God has done inside you is activated and released?

“…acknowledging…”

(Greek: epignosis – a well-instructed, intensive, deep knowledge of the facts)

Because the word epignosis depicts a well-instructed, intensive, deep knowledge of the facts, Paul is letting you know that it is essential for you to possess:

• • A knowledge of exactly who you are in Jesus Christ.
  • A knowledge of what Jesus has purchased in your redemption.
  • A knowledge of every good thing that God has placed in you by Jesus Christ.

A key in the ignition switch does no good unless it is turned. Likewise, the truth in your life does no good until it is spoken! The moment you open your mouth and start confessing the good things that are in you by Jesus Christ, a supernatural connection is made between your faith and all that Jesus has deposited inside you.

At that moment, the gifts and treasures God has placed inside you become supernaturally activated. The confession of your mouth — your acknowledgement of the truth — is what sparks these spiritual blessings and causes them to become operative, activated, and manifested realities

To make these truths real in your life, you have to put the key in the ignition switch.

1. The key is the Word of God.
2. The ignition is your mouth.
3. The key is turned in the ignition when you open your mouth and start to speak God’s Word.
4. The good things in you are activated the moment you start speaking the Word.

That is how you turn the key in your ignition and energize these truths until they begin to manifest in you!

So quit talking negatively about yourself and begin to bring the words of your mouth into agreement with the truths God has deposited in your life.

• God’s Word says you’re healed, so begin to say you’re healed, have the mind of Christ, favored, blessed…

You turn the key in the ignition by getting your mouth in agreement with God’s Word. And as you start speaking what God says about you, all your potential will start becoming a manifested reality!