Do you realize that each of us go through life with a remarkable power right under our nose? It is a power so great that it is capable of producing life or death depending on how it’s used. The Bible tells us that our words are so powerful that they can bless or curse, encourage or discourage, hurt or heal, tear down or build up. Our words can influence the way we act and feel as well as determine our attitude and outlook on life. That’s right, this powerful weapon is the tongue and its ammunition is the words we speak.

The Bible says in James 3 that no one can tame the tongue; however, with the help of the Holy Spirit, you and I can be saved from the destructive power of our own words. We can purposely order our conversation and speak carefully chosen words of God that will not only produce victory in our own life but in the lives of others as well.

I believe as Christ ones we are to imitate God. 

Ephesians 5:1 literally tells us to be imitators of God as children imitate their parents. 

Lets take a look at what God did from the very beginning. 

God created the world by His spoken word.

Gen 1:2: and God Said (the first creative power of the spoken word)

Genesis 1:3

3And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

He did not “think” light, He spoke it!

In verse 26 we are told we are created in His image. 

 (He intended our words to have power as His did!!!)

Genesis 1

26Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

We were created to be creative like God and to have power and dominion. Satan usurped that power but Jesus bought it back on the cross!

One of the first assignments man had was to follow in God’s footsteps and speak::  

So God creates all the animals and the birds and brings them to Adam to see what he will call them and “whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name” (Gen. 2.19). Adam named all the birds and beasts

We are to imitate God as children imitate their parents. We are to talk and act like Him.

Most of us are defeated by our words. Words the enemy may have planted in our minds that we then take and make our own. We speak what we see or feel rather than speaking words born from faith in the promises of God. We speak the words of the enemy and then find ourselves in bondage.

In the New Testament Jesus demonstrates how we are to imitate the Father. He spoke to the fig tree, the wind, the dead man and they obeyed Him!

Mark 11:13-14,20: 

¹³ And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, He went to see if perhaps He would find something on it. When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. ¹⁴ In response Jesus said to it, “Let no one eat fruit from you ever again.”

 20 “Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.”

Mark 11:22-24

22And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. 23 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. 24Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

A number of years ago while living at Lake Almanor I went outside to talk to the gardner. She began to tell me the story of the huge tree they just had to take down at her dad’s home. She told me that when he built his house he planted a pine tree and for years had said ; “When I die that tree will die”. Well 50 years later that tree was taller than the house. Just a few weeks after her dad passed they began to see the needles just fall from that tree and within a short time it was clear it had died. Of course I couldn’t help myself and jumped in and told her that was a bilblical truth. Our words have power!

Charles Capps says, “ Creative power is produced by the heart, formed by the tongue, and released out of the mouth in word form.” 

It is our privilege and responsibility as Christians to speak forth positive life-giving words in a world immersed in negativity. 

After all Proverbs 12:25 says that “Heaviness in the heart of man makes it stoop: but a good word makes it glad.” and “pleasant words are as a honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones” (Proverbs 16:24).

There is tremendous power in the word of God that we need to take up and use~

Isaiah 55:11

11so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;

it shall not return to me empty,

but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,

and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

We have to re-train ourselves to agree with God. 

As we confess what God says about us and for us it will change our circumstances.

Here are some examples that I personalized :

Warfare:

Isaiah 54:17

17no weapon that is fashioned against me shall succeed,

Children:

Isaiah 54:13

13 All my children shall be taught by the LORD,

and great shall be the peace of my children.

For material needs:

Philippians 4:19

19And my God will supply every need of mine according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

 

Psalm 1:1-3

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly

Nor stands in the path of sinners, 

Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;

But his delight is in the law of the Lord, 

And in His law he meditates day and night.

3 I am like a tree

planted by streams of water

that yields its fruit in its season,

and its leaf does not wither.

In all that I do, I prosper.

Health:

Isaiah 53:5

5 But he was wounded for our transgressions;

he was crushed for our iniquities;

upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,

and with his stripes I am healed.

The list goes on and on. Find the verses you need and read them and start declaring them over your life out loud!

God’s character is the foundation for our faith. If a stranger promises to do something for me I will think that he or she may or may not do it. I don’t know them well enough to put faith in their words. However, if my husband promises to do something for me I count on it. I know he will do it if at all possible. I know he does not make empty commitments and I know how much he cares for me. I trust him because I know him and his track record. Well, God is much more trustworthy than my husband. His word does not come back void!

This is a great place to mention speaking life into our husbands

Whenever I practice this truth in marriage I see amazing results. Our husbands bloom under our praise. What is it that you need to declare over them? Health, discipline, creativity, opportunity, wisdom, patience, prosperity? We love our husbands but sometimes we forget to declare the word over them. Our words spoken into their lives and our words spoken in intercession for them have great power.

So, remember who you are and who you are created to copy. Choose your words carefully.

We must guard the words we speak. The Bible tells us in Colossians 4:6: “Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how to answer every man.” 

Ephesians 4:29

²⁹ Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary ^[a]edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. .

The book of Proverbs has a lot to say about our words. They are, after all, the keys to life. However, what comes out of our mouths is the result of what we have put in our hearts. Just listen to a few choice scriptures from the book of Proverbs: 

 Proverbs 16:23 

 The heart of the wise teaches his mouth,
And adds learning to his lips.

Proverbs 18:20. 

 A man’s stomach shall be satisfied from the fruit of his mouth;
From the produce of his lips he shall be filled.

 Proverbs 21:23. How do we stay out of trouble? 

Whoever guards his mouth and tongue
Keeps his soul from troubles.

The more Word we put inside us, the more Word will come out of our mouths and the more life will flow through our bodies. All God asks is that we believe and say what He has already said so we might prosper

The mouth, at one moment, will be controlled by the abundance of the heart, and at the next moment, controlled by the unstable emotions and the mind. The Bible says in Matthew 12:34-37: 

“For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart brings forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. But I say to you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account of in the day of judgment. For by the words you shall be justified, and by your words be condemned.”

Deuteronomy 30:19

¹⁹ I call heaven and earth to witness this day against you that I have set before you life and death, the blessings and the curses; therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live.

Choose life

Every day we have a choice. In fact it is moment by moment, hour by hour we choose.  We have countless choices each day to choose life. When someone says something critical, spoken without thought, we have a very rapid choice to make. We can choose life and forgiveness and forgetfulness or allow ourselves to become offended and judge them. It has to be a fast and furious choice! If we do not choose life we could, for that moment, be caught in the trap of the enemy.

Think of words as containers. They carry faith, or fear, and they produce after their kind.  Romans 19:17 “So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Faith builds as you hear yoursef quoting, speaking and say the things God has said. When you speak God’s word from your heart, then faith gives substance to the promises of God. 

So, remember who you are and who your dad is and lets use the creative power we have inherited from Him!