(Matthew 9:28-29 MSG) When Jesus got home, the blind men went in with him. Jesus said to them, “Do you really believe I can do this?” They said, “Why, yes, Master!” (29) He touched their eyes and said, “Become what you believe.”
- The Bible clearly places a great importance on speaking God’s Word.
Forty-four verses in Proverbs talk about what you say with your mouth will determine your life experience.
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.
Proverbs 18:20-21 CEV Make your words good– you will be glad you did. (21) Words can bring death or life! Talk too much, and you will eat everything you say.
Let’s look at something Jesus said in a story in which we often place the wrong emphasis:
Matthew 8:5-10 NIV When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. (6) “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.” (7) Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?” (8) The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. (9) For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” (10) When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.
Matthew 8:13 NIV Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that moment.
If there is ever a breakdown in the power of words in that empire it would fall apart.
Jesus says to us that great faith understands the power that words carry, the power that is backing those words and what has to happen when they are spoken. They must be carried out.
Some people believe that it is enough for you to have the Word of God in your heart.
- 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.
- 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]…
Speak the Word
We need to understand that there is speaking God’s Word unto faith and then there is speaking God’s Word by faith.
- We speak God’s Word unto faith.
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…
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.
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.
- We speak 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 11:20-23 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.
- 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.]