Today we continue to teach on our overall theme for the year: “GREAT FREEDOM.” Within this series, I have been honing in on the importance of your words. We have been looking at 2 Corinthians 4:13 and Mark 11:22-24. Let’s go back to both again today.
(2 Corinthians 4:13 NKJV)
And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, “I believed and therefore I spoke,” we also believe and therefore speak.
??(Mark? ?11:22-24? ?New Living Translation)
Then Jesus said to the disciples, “Have faith in God. I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart. I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours.
You know the setting by now. Jesus spoke to a fig tree, told the tree it would never produce again, walked away like the tree was already dead, 24 hours later Peter realized the tree was actually dead, and Jesus took the opportunity to use what He did as an object lesson on praying in faith.
At the end of every daily message, I share with you a Declaration of Faith. The purpose of this confession/declaration is not just so you can read it silently. I want you to actually SAY IT OUT LOUD, in faith, from a believing heart, fully believing that what you are saying will come to pass in your life. For some of you I know this may seem uncomfortable and it may not seem like you are praying. While a confession (or declaration) of faith is not a traditional prayer, it is a form of prayer. For example, all Jesus said to the tree was, “May no one ever eat your fruit again.” That does not sound like a traditional prayer. However, when teaching His disciples that they could do what He did, He clearly connected it to prayer. This reminds me of something the Prophet Elijah said in the Old Testament. Elijah made a simple statement of faith and it did not rain for 40 months. In the New Testament, James called Elijah’s statement a prayer (James 5:17).
My point is that when you speak words of faith, from a believing heart, and you are speaking what you believe the Holy Spirit is leading you to say, you are aligning your lips and your heart with heaven. This is a form of prayer, whether or sounds like a prayer of not.
So what does this mean to you today? Let’s learn a few things from what Jesus said.
1. Speak to your mountain (challenge, obstacle) and declare the desired outcome God is revealing to you.
a) Jesus said, “You can say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen.” This does not seem natural at first, and honestly, it may even seem foolish. Living by faith will cause you to do things that make no earthly sense at all. But this is the way the Bible teaches us to live. It is the way Jesus lived.
b) Jesus did and said things that made no sense on a daily basis. Why? Because He was getting His ‘orders from headquarters’. Jesus did not live by the inputs He received from his body, through His five physical senses. Your body only communicates with this world. Jesus lived by the inputs He received in His Spirit, from the Holy Spirit, who is directly connected to the Father in heaven.
c) When you listen to the Holy Spirit, He will lead you to say what heaven’s reality is concerning any given situation. And heaven’s reality may be completely different than what you are seeing with your physical eyes. When you are led by the Holy Spirit, peering into heaven and saying what you see, the weak can say, “I AM STRONG!” Because you are not saying what you see with your human eyes or what you feel in your body. You are saying what you see and believe in your heart!
d) If you only say what you see with your human eyes, you will never change your situation. We serve a God who speaks to our “TO BE” stage from our “RIGHT NOW” stage. God does not speak what He sees in this world. He speaks what He sees in His realm. Because speaking what you currently see (in the natural) will never cause change. This is why God can look at a husband and wife who had NO CHILDREN (Abram and Sarai), and call them the parents of many nations. Or look at a shepherd boy (David) and call him a King. Or look at a coward (Gideon) and call him a champion. Or look at a virgin (Mary) and call her a mother. Calling those things that are, as though they are, will never change what they are. You have to speak what you desire, what God is revealing to you in your heart, to activate supernatural change. Remember, faith is VOICE-ACTIVATED! So SPEAK TO YOUR MOUNTAIN today!
2. Speak from a believing heart. Jesus said, “You must really believe it will happen.” When someone says something we have no way of knowing whether or not they truly believed it, but God does. Only words of faith, spoken from a believing heart, will tap into the power of God’s Kingdom. That’s why some have openly confessed Jesus as Lord and have not been Born-Again, because their heart was not in it. I actually did this multiple times before I was truly Born-Again. You must believe what you are saying/praying. If the words mean nothing to you, they will mean nothing to God and His angels.
3. You must speak WITHOUT A DOUBT! Jesus said, “And have no doubt in your heart.” Doubt is the precursor to fear and fear will lead to a faith-failure. If you find yourself doubting your faith, stop, take the time to meditate and medicate on what God revealed to you, and think about it, consider it, ponder it, nurse it and rehearse it over and over again, until you truly believe it in your heart. You have to get to the point where what you believe in your heart is MORE REAL to you than what you see in this world. When you get to this point you will not have any doubt, and your words of faith will activate Kingdom involvement.
4. Make it personal. Jesus said, “It will be yours.” My words and my faith (or fear) will dictate what happens in my life. Your words and your faith (or fear) will dictate what happens in your life. I will have what I say and you will have what you say. This is a personal thing. The power of death and life are in the tongue (Prov 18:21). Words have power. But thankfully, no one’s words have more power over my own life than my own words. I will have what I say. You will have what you say. Remember that!
5. Remain in faith. Jesus was never concerned about whether or not the fig tree was going to dry up. He knew in His heart that the tree was dead the moment He spoke it, even though it did not happen immediately. We must be the same way. We must be so convinced that we will see what God revealed, and what we said, that we NEVER speak against what we said/prayed. You cannot pray one thing in the morning and then casually speak against it all day long, and expect to get results. You cannot pray for God to heal your back in the morning and then say, “My back is killing me… this pain is never going to stop” throughout the day, and then expect God to manifest healing. You must remain in faith. Your words of prayer must be followed by words of faith. You must keep saying what God said until you HAVE what God said!
That’s enough for today?
Declaration of Faith:
Father, I thank You for this teaching. I am committed to being more and more like Jesus daily. I see the way Jesus lived and I want to be like Him. Jesus taught me to speak to my mountains, in faith, and I declare that I will. I speak the language of faith every day, from a believing heart, resisting doubt, making it personal, and I remain in faith, refusing to speak contrary words, regardless of what I see. I will not allow what I see to change what I say or what I believe. I am a believer, not a doubter, my words testify of my faith, and I will have what I say! I declare this by faith! In Jesus’ name. Amen!
This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!
