Power of The Spoken Word
I am constantly amazed at how many prayer meetings I attend where so little of the Word of God is implemented. The greatest weapon God has given us often goes unsheathed! If Christ, our greatest example, used the spoken Word as His number one weapon when confronted by satan himself, shouldn’t we use it regularly?
Years ago, I was impressed by one of my daughters’ teachers, who sent home to us parents a list of 18 Scriptures to pray over our children. He obviously understands the power of God’s Word. Here are a few of the verses:
“Hate evil, you who love the Lord” (Psalm 97:10).
“If sinners entice you, do not consent . . . do not walk in the way with them. Keep your feet from their path” (Proverbs 1:10, 15).
“I urge you . . to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God . . And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:1-2).
“Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).
Praying and declaring verses like these is, I believe, the highest and most effective level of prayer. I know of parents who have diligently spoken God’s Word over unsaved children (in prayer, not in their hearing), using verses such as the following:
“God . . . grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth . . . that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will” (2 Timothy 2:25-26 NIV).
“And all they children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children” (Isaiah 54:13 KJV).
“We have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God” (Colossians 1:9-10).
After these parents boldly and diligently declared what the Scriptures state, in time the deceptions and bondages holding the children were broken, and they were saved. I’ve known others who have done this over marriages, finances, and other areas of life. They simply found Scriptures pertaining to their circumstances and declared them over their situations.
The Hebrew word asah, translated “create” in the Genesis story of God creating the world, also means “to accomplish, do, or perform.” It is used in the following verses, in which the context is speaking God’s Word:
“God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has he said, and will he not do [asah] it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?” (Numbers 23:19).
“So shall My word be which goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me empty, without accomplishing [asah] what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:11).
“Then the Lord said to me, ‘You have seen well, for I am watching over My word to perform [asah] it’” (Jeremiah 1:12).
God’s Word does. God’s Word accomplishes. God’s Word performs. In each reference, humans spoke the creative, doing, accomplishing, and performing words God used! Let that sink in.
We’re obviously not speaking about creating physical matter, but rather creating desired results in human lives and situations. And our declarations must be based on His words, agreeing with Scripture and inspired by Holy Spirit. The New Testament word for “confession” means literally “to say the same thing,” (to say what He says). Obviously, we do not have carte blanche power to command our will into anything and everything. First John 5:14-15 tells us:
And this is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears
us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.
We must find out what the Scriptures teach about our situations, then make our biblical confessions and declarations accordingly. We are then saying the same thing He says, which honors Him and gives Holy Spirit a decree He can truly empower - a biblical declaration. This is a powerful facet of intercession.
Hebrews 3:1 is a wonderful verse. It states that Jesus is the Apostle and High Priest of our confession (which again, means “say the same thing”). When we speak Christ’s words on earth, He can back them up from heaven.
Pray with me:
Father, You are not a man that You should lie. What You have said You will do. Your words do not return to You void, they accomplish everything You intend them to accomplish. I pray that this revelation goes deep into the heart of Your people and becomes living truth to them. May we become more diligent to speak Your words in every situation and over our daily lives.
We agree with Your prophets who have said a great awakening, in fact the greatest revival ever, is now coming to planet earth. We call in 1 billion souls and declare boldly they will come into the kingdom. Release signs and wonders, the miracles You have spoken of. We release the spirit of deliverance You have spoken of. Many will be set free.
And Lord, You have shown many what You want to do in the government of America. We come into agreement with that also, declaring that America will have righteous government and the evil being propagated in Washington DC, and other parts of our nation, will fail. You will give us godly and righteous people in Congress, as judges, and in the Executive Branch of our government. We bind the evil forces that oppose this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Our decree:
We decree that the sword of the Spirit, God’s Word, is breaking through the strongholds of darkness in our land!
Part of today’s post is taken from my book Essential Guide to Prayer.