The Power of Words

Mark 11:23 NIV

²³"I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.

We see here that Jesus states, that if you say something, and truly believe it, you will have it.  Note that this principle is not prayer – it is simply speaking faith filled words.  It is speaking something that you truly believe.  That’s why on many occasions Jesus simply spoke the end result to solve a situation, he didn’t always pray.  Jesus fully understood the authority and power that his faith filled words had.  This principle of faith filled words carries right into prayer and works there as well, as we see in the next verse.

         Mark 11:24 NIV

²⁴Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

We see that you can speak something, and if you truly believe it, you will have it.  This is how God created the earth.  We understand that God, by using His faith, released faith filled words to create the universe.

Heb 11:3 NIV

By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

 It was by faith that God spoke the earth into existence.  Notice in the creation account of the earth that God used faith filled words and said, said, said…

     ·  And God said, "Let there be light…”

·  And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters…”

·  And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear."

·  And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night…”

·  And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures…”

 God released faith filled words into the spiritual realm that, in turn, caused the physical realm to change.  Words are containers that carry power into the spiritual realm.  A hunter, using a bow and arrow, uses his arrow as a tool to carry power from where he is standing to his target at some distance away.  In the same way, faith filled words carry the power of God into the spiritual realm.  From the spiritual realm, they will then affect the physical realm.  Things happen in the spiritual realm first; then they are manifested in the physical realm.

 Knowing how powerful our words are, consider the following situation.  What happens if you pray for healing, and three hours later say, “I’m as sick as I ever was.”?  You’re supposed to be believing that you are healed, but at the same time you are speaking faith filled words that indicate you still have the sickness.  God cannot honor your prayer of healing because you just cancelled it by speaking faith filled words that are contrary to what you prayed for.  The faith filled words that you speak can work for you, or against you: 

Luke 6:45 KJV

45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.

 Jesus said the good man, from the good stored in his heart in abundance, will bring forth good things.  And the evil man, from the evil stored in his heart in abundance, will bring forth evil things.  How do they bring it about?  By speaking it, “of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.”

 The things that you hear, understand and meditate on, are what get stored in your heart.  If you hear, and understand, the word of God in abundance compared to the negative things in the world, you then have an abundance of good treasure in your heart ready to come forth.  Of course the opposite is true also.  If you hear, concentrate and believe that we’re going to have a record breaking flu virus this year, or that God doesn’t want you to be healed, or that you always get a cold in the winter, – then that is what will be in your heart in abundance.  What is in your heart in abundance will then come out in the form of words, and that is what you will have.  That’s why you can’t pray for one thing and say something contrary. 

 If you want to know what is in a person’s heart in abundance (where they spend their time, what they listen to) just listen to the words they speak.  What’s in your heart in abundance will come out – especially under pressure.  Therefore we should be careful of what we allow to be put into our hearts.  Because what we allow to be put into our hearts is what we’ll end up speaking.  And if we believe what we speak, then we are going to have it, good or bad! 

Prov 4:23 NLT

Above all else, guard your heart, for it affects everything you do.

 You should be very, very careful what you allow into your heart and what you release with your words.  Your words determine your life and death.  An untamed tongue (abuse of the power of words) is deadly.  On the other hand, a tamed tongue can bring prosperity and health. 

Prov 18:21 KJV

Death and life are in the power of the tongue…

James 3:6 NIV

6 The tongue also is a fire… It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire…

Jesus said what is in your heart in abundance will come out.  That means you can have some negative as long as you have a much larger amount of positive (the word of God).  That means you don’t live in denial of a problem and look ridiculous.  If you’re sick, go to the doctor and tell him what’s wrong.  If you tell the doctor, or a close friend or relative, what is wrong with your body because it is necessary information that needs to be communicated, that’s okay.  But when you start spilling out negative information just for the sake of informing everybody for attention or pity – you are starting to spill out negative words and fill up on negative information at the same time.  How?  Because you hear what you speak!  The more you speak it yourself, the more abundant it becomes in your heart. 

As much as possible, speak and hear the faith filled result that is based on the word of God.  For example, “Cancer cannot live in my body because by Jesus stripes I am healed.”  I would recommend being careful saying things like this around people that don’t understand how faith works.  Due to their ignorance they will probably think you are in denial of the situation.  They may think you’re nuts because you say you are healed when everybody can see that you are sick.  But you shouldn’t walk by what you see or feel, you should walk by faith.

2 Cor 5:7 KJV

For we walk by faith, not by sight

Abraham’s Words

Consider Abram, he had been given a promise from God that he would have a child.  Abram had waited 24 years and the promise still hadn’t manifested.  How long have you been waiting for an answer to certain prayers?  But after 24 years God changes his name to Abraham, meaning ‘The Father of Many Nations’.  This forces Abraham to speak the end result every time he introduces himself or every time somebody calls him.  Just imagine, “Father of many nations, it’s time for supper!”, “Father of many nations, in which field do you want the sheep today?”, “Hello, I am the father of many nations.”  God forced him to speak and hear the end result many, many times a day.  Abraham had waited 24 years and no manifested promise.  But God forces him to speak and hear the end result and his wife gets pregnant in three months.  This should tell you something.  Speaking and hearing the end result caused Abraham’s faith to grow: 

Rom 10:17 KJV

So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

 Once his faith had grown, speaking the end result caused it to come to pass: 

Mark 11:23 NIV

²³"I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.

Faith and words are spiritual laws that you will see operating from one end of the Bible to the other.