Speak Forth The Blessings Of God
It was a morning like any other morning. Michael, one of my congregation members, had just dropped his younger son off at kindergarten after planting a big kiss on the boy’s cheek, and was carefully maneuvering the rush-hour traffic on his way to work. The tarmac was packed with a teeming hive of motorists eager to get to their destinations. Michael was tuned in to his favourite radio station as usual, when he suddenly felt prompted to speak God’s favor and protection over his family. He recalled the sermon* I had preached the previous Sunday on speaking faith-filled, positive confessions, so he turned the radio off and began declaring aloud, “No weapon formed against us shall prosper. No evil shall come near our dwelling. We are blessed in our coming-in and going-out because God’s favor surrounds us as a shield!”
Speak Out What You Believe In Christ
Right about that time, Michael’s wife, Mavis, was driving their older son, six-year-old Matthew, to school. He was seated beside her in the front passenger seat, quietly listening to one of my CD sermons. Suddenly, Mavis felt her body whip forward as the sickening sound of metal smashing into metal ripped through the air. A speeding car had hurtled into the rear of their vehicle with such great force that the car flipped over and spun uncontrollably on the busy road. With her world literally turned upside down, Mavis held on to just one name and screamed it over and over again—“Jesus! Jesus! Jesus!”
When the car finally stilled, they climbed gingerly out of its smashed remains—completely unharmed. Amid the wreckage and chaos of a terrible accident that involved two more vehicles, Mavis and little Matthew stood by the side of the road, enveloped in the peace of their Savior. They had literally walked away from a potentially fatal accident without so much as a scratch! The passers-by who had rushed to their aid were amazed that they were miraculously unhurt. With my preaching about the Lord’s grace still blasting from the overturned vehicle in the background, Mavis instinctively began to testify to concerned strangers about the goodness and faithfulness of the Lord.
Hallelujah, all glory to Jesus for His favor and protection over this family! Nothing could have prepared mother and child for those terrifying moments. And nothing could have been more powerful or timely in activating the Lord’s protection over the precious pair than the name of Jesus cried out in faith, as well as those powerful God-breathed words of protection spoken by Michael, who was in another part of the city and had no idea of what had just happened.
DON’T JUST BELIEVE GOD’S WORD, SPEAK IT!
I thank God that the precious lives of Mavis and Matthew were preserved. They could have been killed or seriously injured, but Jesus saved them. And I have no doubt that Michael’s Spirit-led speaking played a part in activating the Lord’s timely protection over his family.
My friend, I share this testimony with you to highlight the importance of speaking or declaring the blessings we already have in Christ. In other articles, I have talked about and showed how God is constantly supplying grace, health, protection, deliverance and whatever you need in life because of the finished work of Jesus. Here, I want to share with you how you can tap into the supply that is already available to you, so that you can experience these blessings in your life in a greater measure.
Over the years, as I have preached and taught on the subject of faith, the Lord has shown me that many believers are not experiencing the breakthroughs they want because they are not speaking out what they believe about the Word, but are speaking out what they see, feel and experience in their circumstances. For example, while many Christians believe that by Jesus’ stripes they are healed, they are not speaking in line with this truth. Often, they speak about their symptoms and what they feel—“This headache is killing me!” “I feel awful today. I just knew that I would catch this flu bug from my colleague.” Others just suffer in silence—literally. They don’t say anything—good or bad—because they have resigned themselves to their negative situation.
My friend, God doesn’t want you to suffer in silence
or to put up with any sickness or lack.His will is for you to be healthy, prosperous and full of joy and peace. That’s why He gave you the power to change your circumstances, and that power lies in your mouth. As God’s child, you can speak positively into your negative situation and see it change for the better, just like how Michael and Mavis spoke in line with God’s promises and turned a potentially tragic accident into a glorious testimony of His goodness. So don’t just believe God’s promises, speak them out too!
Perhaps you are suffering a sickness that doctors say you have to be on long-term medication for and your heart’s desire is to be healed. Or maybe you have a debt that you need to pay off. These are needs that God has taken care of through Jesus’ perfect work at the cross. So instead of talking about how bad the situation is, start speaking life into your situation. Say, “Sickness, be plucked out by your roots and be gone from my body in Jesus’ name! By Jesus’ stripes I am healed!” Instead of worrying about your debt, say, “I call my debt supernaturally cancelled in Jesus’ name. My God supplies all my needs according to His riches in glory!” If you want to see good days, then keep your tongue from speaking unbelief, and release the power and life of the Lord through your mouth into your situation!
Now, I’m not talking about suppressing our feelings or pretending that sicknesses don’t exist. But God wants us to walk by faith and not by sight. Stating the obvious doesn’t change anything and will only make us more fearful. Speaking the good that we want to see, on the other hand, gives us hope, builds faith and changes things for the better as God’s power is released. In the creation account in the Book of Genesis, God created good things by speaking. For example, He said, “Light be”, and light was. (Genesis 1:3) God saw the darkness, but He called forth what He wanted to see. Similarly, if you want to start seeing good things happen in your life, start speaking and declaring the promises in God’s Word!
You see, to lay hold of all that God is freely supplying to you, to have Him save you from whatever you need saving from, you need to operate the way He does—open your mouth and speak what you believe about His Word. Romans 10:10 says that “with the mouth confession is made unto salvation”. Salvation from eternal death, destruction, sickness, poverty and depression comes when you say what God says about your situation.
My friend, if you want to see the power of God come into your circumstances, you need to realise that it’s not what the doctor, your friends or even your enemies say about you that matters. It’s what you say about your circumstances, your future and your life that matters. Life and death is in the power of your tongue, so say what the powerful, life-producing Word of God says about you, your future and your life!
USE YOUR AUTHORITY—SPEAK TO YOUR MOUNTAIN! When we are faced with a huge problem, such as a chronic illness or heavy financial debt, our natural tendency is to talk about the problem or “mountain”. God, however, wants us to speak to the mountain and not about the mountain. So instead of complaining about your problem to others and even to God, speak to your mountain! Use your God-given authority in Christ and command the problem to go!
When Moses cried out to God because of the advancing Egyptian army—the Israelites were about to be slaughtered—God said to Moses, “Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward. But lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it.” (Exodus 14:15–16) God was telling Moses to use His God-given authority, which the rod was a symbol of. That’s how Moses parted the Red Sea and made a way of escape for the Israelites when there was none.
My friend, are you bothered by a persistent or painful symptom in your body? Tell it to leave! You are simply reinforcing the victory and authority that Christ, by His finished work, has paid for you to have. So instead of allowing the symptom to control your life and begging God to do something about it, take charge and make it do what you want it to do! Say, “Symptom, be uprooted in Jesus’ name! You will no longer tell me what to do. I command you to leave this redeemed body and never return!” Say it and believe that what you say will come to pass, and it will!
Jesus Himself said, “…whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.” (Mark 11:23) Notice how the word “says” appears three times whereas “believes” only appears once. Our Lord is telling us that while believing is important, speaking is even more important! So start speaking to your mountain!
“Pastor, I’ve been speaking to my mountain, but it’s still there. What should I do?”
My friend, don’t give up. Be persistent. Let me share a personal testimony with you to encourage you. I used to have this rather huge mole on the left side of my neck. It was there for a number of years, but it didn’t really bother me until I started wearing shirts where the stiff collar would rub against it. So I finally decided to speak to this “mountain”. You could say that I was making a mountain out of a molehill!
I went to the mirror, looked at it and said, “I curse you to your roots in Jesus’ name. Wither, dry up and fall off!” Nothing happened. The next day, I looked in the mirror and it was still there. For the next few months, whenever I was conscious of the mole, I would just curse it—“I curse you to your roots. Wither, dry up and be removed in Jesus’ name.”
Then one day, as I was talking to my wife, I was prompted by the Holy Spirit to look for the mole. I went to the mirror, looked at my neck and discovered that the mole was not there anymore! While it didn’t happen overnight, within a week or within a month, it eventually happened. And it happened because I finally decided to take authority over it and keep speaking to it. So don’t give up, my friend. Keep speaking to your mountain, believing that what you say will indeed happen. You may not see immediate or obvious changes, but keep at it. One day, you will realise that it isn’t there to bother you anymore!
SPEAKING ITSELF IS PUTTING ACTION TO YOUR FAITH My friend, God has made it easy for you to receive your breakthrough. All you have to do is believe that His life is constantly available to you, speak what you believe about His Word and believe what you speak. There’s no need to put yourself through all kinds of “acts of faith” to receive the miracle you need. Speaking itself is putting action to your faith. In the new covenant, all that’s left for you to do is to believe and speak. All that’s needed is your confession made in faith. (Romans 10:6–10)
A case in point is a lady in my church who wanted to lose some weight. When one of my leaders met her and noticed that she had slimmed down, he asked her, “So what did you do? What kind of diet did you go on?” She replied, “No dieting, no exercising. I just spoke to my body—‘Body, you are slimming down.’” Every time she looked in the mirror, she would say, “I see you slim.” Isn’t that amazing? She only had to speak to see the result she wanted! Now, if your doctor has prescribed you medication or a special diet or exercise regime, please adhere to it. Nevertheless, you can still release your faith by simply speaking to your body.
So there’s no need to do a hundred other things and get all worn out. Just believe and speak. If you have a problem with your heart, say, “Heart, I call you strong and robust, every artery be clear and healthy in Jesus’ name!” Your whole being will respond to that. Not only that, because you are commanding in Jesus’ name, you are also speaking to the High Priest of your confession. He is listening and will bring to pass what you confess to Him in faith.
AMEN TO THAT! Let me share with you a simple yet powerful secret about what you can say to see the blessings of God manifest in your life. Take the area of health and protection from diseases, for example. I have a key church leader who is in his fifties today and in the pink of health. He is one person I know who is just not worried about his health. Once, when we were eating together, he accidently dropped some food onto the floor. What he did next surprised me. He just picked up the food and popped it into his mouth like it was the most natural thing to do! Unlike most people I know who would be worried that that morsel of food was now contaminated, he wasn’t bothered about it harming his health in any way.
When I asked him what the key to his good health was, he said, “Pastor, it’s very simple. I take two things VERY seriously in church on Sundays—the Holy Communion and the blessing you pronounce over the people at the end of each service.” For those of you not familiar with our church’s services, it is our practice to partake of the Lord’s Supper every Sunday. We have a powerful time of communion with the Lord as we remember and receive all that He has done for us at the cross. Also, at the end of each service, I pronounce the Aaronic blessing over the people before I dismiss them.
The Aaronic blessing is in Numbers 6:23-26
“The Lord bless you and keep you;
The Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.So this key leader in my church would receive wholeheartedly with an affirmative “Amen!” all that is declared during the Holy Communion and when I bless the congregation. For example, when the leader who is ministering the Holy Communion says, “By Jesus’ stripes you are healed. With long life, you will be satisfied. Your eyes will not grow dim nor will your natural force be abated,” he would say, “Amen!” which essentially means, “so be it in my life”. At the end of the service, when I stretch forth my hands and say, “The Lord bless you and keep you throughout this week. The Lord preserve you from sickness, from accidents and from all manner of evil. The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace,” he would say, “Amen! Lord, I receive it!”
My friend, never underestimate the power of saying,
“Amen!” when you hear blessings pronounced over you.Saying “Amen” to blessings spoken over you is speaking out your agreement with what has been pronounced and declaring by faith that they will come to pass in your life. So the next time you hear someone pronounce a blessing over you, especially in church when you are under a corporate anointing, say, “AMEN!” emphatically and expect to experience that blessing through this simple act of faith!
I just love to bless the people at the end of each service. It is such an honour and privilege to speak good things into the precious lives of God’s people. And you too can release the blessings of God into the lives of your loved ones by speaking God’s Word and His blessings over them. Every single week, around the world, Jewish fathers pronounce blessings over their children on the Sabbath. To his sons, a Jewish father would say, “May God make you as Ephraim and Manasseh—may you be most fruitful!” And to his daughters, he would say, “May God make you as Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel and Leah—the mothers of Israel, fruitful and blessed with the favor of God.” And then he would go on to bless all his children with the Aaronic blessing. Not surprisingly, many Jewish children grow up to become movers, shakers and winners in the fight of life.
So I encourage you to bless your children every night before they go to sleep or every morning before they leave for school I love to bless my children every chance I get! As a king-priest in Christ Jesus, your faith-filled words carry power that can build them up and cause them to walk in God’s protection, provision and prosperity. So before your teenager steps out of the house, say something encouraging like, “Son, you are blessed coming in and going out. No harm shall befall you. God will put you at the right place at the right time and His angels will watch over you. You will have favor with your friends and all whom you meet in Jesus’ name.” Your words of faith are powerful vehicles that carry God’s grace and mercy, and affect your children’s future positively!
START SPEAKING AND START SEEING GOOD My friend, we can open our mouths today and speak the grace and power of God into our bodies, our situations and over loved ones because all the promises of God are “Yes” in Christ, and through Him we can say “Amen” to every one of them. So are you ready to speak forth the blessings of God into your life? If you are not sure what to say, let me help you along:
If you need healing, you can say:
Sickness and pain, I command you in the name of Jesus to be plucked out by your roots and cast out of my body. By Jesus’ stripes I am healed. I will live and not die, and proclaim the goodness of God!
If you need provision, you can say:
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He took my poverty at the cross and gave me His prosperity. He supplies all my needs according to His riches in glory!
If you have children, you can speak this blessing over them:
The Lord bless you and the Lord keep you. The Lord make His face shine upon you and give you peace. No evil, no harm shall befall you and no weapon formed against you shall prosper. May you grow in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and with man.
Beloved, as you begin to release your faith and speak in line with God’s promises, expect the mountains in your life to be removed. Expect to walk in divine health, prosperity and protection. In the days and weeks to come, I am confident that you and your loved ones will experience an increase of God’s favor, rest and fruitfulness! So keep believing and speaking. Good days are coming your way!
