Words of Prayer, Words of Faith (Part IX)
(2 Cor 4:13 NIV) It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.” With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak.
This morning we continue our series entitled, “Re-Energizing Your Prayer Life” by closing out the “Words of prayer, words of faith” portion of this series. To close out this point I will take us to something Paul said in his second letter to the church in Corinth. In our text Paul quoted the psalmist who said, “I believed; therefore I have spoken” (Psalm 116:10). Paul goes on to say, “With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak.” In context, Paul was teaching about the challenging times believers were facing for the Gospel’s sake, and he urged them to remain strong in faith, not wavering, and fully trusting in God to see them through the opposition. How were the first century believers to remain strong? They were to remain strong in their faith by keeping an active prayer life, by standing on the Word, and by speaking faith-filled words from a believing heart.
I have done a great deal on teaching on the importance of our words and I convinced that our words have a lot to do with what we experience. Let me briefly explain why. In Mark chapter 4 Jesus taught the parable of all parables (the parable of the sower). In this parable Jesus taught that the sower sows the Word, that we as believers are the ground that receives the word within the soil of our hearts, and that our hearts cause the seed to bring forth a harvest. You may ask, “Well Rick, how do I know what my heart is growing?” Jesus gave us the answer; He said, “Your words show what is in your heart” (Luke 6:45). Your words expose to everyone (externally) what is going on in your heart (internally).
Think of it this way: soil does not discriminate. Soil will reproduce marijuana and opium just as much as it will reproduce apples and oranges. The soil does not say, “Wait a minute, this is bad stuff.” No, all the soil knows how to do is crack open the seed and cause it to grow; especially if it is watered and it receives adequate sunlight. This is why the heart of a Christian can grow fear just as easy as it can grow faith. If you feed on fear-filled words and you get words of fear down in your heart, your heart will cause it to grow, your words will expose the condition of your heart, and you will speak fear-filled words. You will actually be speaking what you believe, but what you believe and speak will be contrary to the Word of God. You will still have what you say, but it won’t be God’s best. So if you pray for 5 minutes in the morning for healing, but you then go around telling everyone that cancer runs in your family, or that all the women in your family get diabetes by the age of 40, then it is clear that you believe in the power of the cancer and diabetes more than you believe in the power of God to keep you from them. Or if you pray for your marriage in the morning for 3 minutes, but you then go around telling everyone that all the marriages in your family end in divorce, then it is clear that you believe more in the probability of divorce than in the future success of your marriage. In both cases your prayers will be ineffective.
So what does this mean to you today? A few things:
1. Your heart can grow fear just as easily as it can grow faith.
2. Your input (what comes through your eye and ear gates) will determine what gets down in your heart.
3. Whatever you sow in the soil of your heart will grow and your words will tell everyone what you are growing in your heart. You may want to believe you are growing faith, but if you are speaking fear-filled words all day long, then you are a fear-grower and not a faith-grower.
4. To change what you are growing in your heart you will need to change what you are sowing in your heart.
Closing Confession: Father, I have the same spirit of faith that Paul did. I believe, therefore I speak. I declare by faith that I get Your Word down in the soil of my heart and I become a faith-grower. My faith grows daily because I have a consistent diet of Your Word. The more my faith grows in my heart, the more faith-filled words I will speak from a believing heart, and the more I will see those words come to pass. I shield the soil of my heart from unrighteous input; therefore I ensure I produce righteous output! In Jesus’ name, amen!
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper!
