What Are You Saying?

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

                Much is determined by the words we speak. We often speak a bad day into existence or a positive result by the words we say. I don’t think we realize how much power we possess as Christians, much less, humans. Recently, I have taken notice of the words I speak and how they affect my well-being.  I have also realized the many scriptures in the Bible that pertain to the power of words. God is always leaving what I like to call clues and treasures in His word to help us. If we pay attention, we will begin to understand just how powerful words are in our lives.

                The Bible says in Genesis 1:1-3, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light”.  God didn’t touch anything, He spoke and so it was. We who have accepted Jesus Christ have the Spirit of God within us. If we have the Spirit of God in us, we have the same power that God has. That is to speak things into existence. With that in mind, we should be careful of what we say.

                We must also believe what we speak is true. Jesus said, “Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours” (Mark 11:22-24). If you believe you are a failure and speak those words, you are a failure. If you believe things will never work out for you and speak those words; guess what? Things won’t work out for you. I truly believe that we shall eat the fruit of our lips. In Matthew 12:34 it says, “…For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” If you sincerely listen to what people say you will hear their hearts. Furthermore, we are accountable for every word we say. Jesus said in Matthew 12:36, “But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the Day of Judgment.” For your own sake, watch what you say. I know it is hard to speak life to a seemingly dead situation. When all hope seems lost & there is no sign of a breakthrough it’s easy to pay attention to what we see. The fact of the matter is, “…we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (2Corin.4:18).

                It is imperative that we get in the habit of believing the promises of God and speaking life into our circumstances. Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak (2Corin. 4:13). Speak life. Prophesy over yourself in the morning and throughout the day. It’s ok to do that. Get in agreement with God about your life and speak positivity.

                The scripture that describes Gabrielle the angel, visiting Mary about her supernatural conception came to my mind today. I thought about how she reacted when Gabrielle told her she would give birth to a son although she was a virgin. Though the promise seemed impossible she believed what God told her. She didn’t doubt and she sealed it with a word of agreement. The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.  And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS (Luke 1:30-31). "I am the Lord's servant,"Mary answered. "May your word to me be fulfilled." Then the angel left her (Luke 1:38). 

                On the contrary, if you look a few verses back the Bible talks about Mary’s cousin Elizabeth being pregnant also. Elizabeth and her husband Zachariah were old in age. The word of the Lord came to them by Gabrielle also promising them a son. The Bible says in Luke 1:13, But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. Zechariah’s unbelief caused him to say to the angel, “Do you expect me to believe this? I’m an old man and my wife is an old woman.” But the angel said, “I am Gabriel, the sentinel of God, sent especially to bring you this glad news. But because you won’t believe me, you’ll be unable to say a word until the day of your son’s birth. Every word I’ve spoken to you will come true on time—God’s time.” (Luke 1:18-20)

                I firmly believe that God shut Zachariah’s mouth because he knew that this man’s unbelief would cause him to speak things that would hinder what God wanted to perform. God could have caused Zachariah’s vision or hearing to become impaired until the birth of his son. But He didn’t. God closed the one thing Zachariah possessed that had enough power to change the circumstance, his mouth.

                God says, “The same thing is true of the words I speak. They will not return to me empty. They make the things happen that I want to happen, and they succeed in doing what I send them to do” (Isaiah 55:11). The same is true of the words we speak. What are you saying?