Your Words Have Power: What Are You Speaking Into Your Life?
The famous story of Jesus walking on the water is in Matthew 14. The disciples saw Jesus coming out to them on the lake and thought He was a ghost. Peter called out to Jesus, “Lord, if it’s you, tell me to come to you on the water.” Jesus said, “Come,” and Peter walked out on the water.
Notice, though, that Peter didn’t walk on the water until Jesus spoke. Peter knew he couldn’t walk on the water, but if Jesus told him to walk on the water, he could.
Peter knew Jesus’s words were that powerful.
But as soon as Peter lost sight of that Word, and felt the wind and the waves, the water became the water again. He got scared and started to sink. When Peter turned from the Word of God and put his focus on his circumstances, he couldn’t walk on the water.
When is the last time that has happened to you?
Not walking on water, of course, but when you acted on a word from God.
Maybe God told you to get a new job or to move to a new state or to step out into something new, and at first, everything was exciting. Like Peter, you were fearlessly walking on the word He had given you, because you knew what God had told you.
But then you put your focus somewhere else. And suddenly, that job or new state or new thing was no longer the exciting thing that God had called you to—and you started to sink. Suddenly, the new coworkers and neighbors you wanted to minister to, or the new thing you stepped into, became annoying or frustrating, and you wanted to run.
Like Peter, you stepped away from the Word of God—and you ended up in the water.
That’s exactly what Satan wants to do—get your attention off the Word of God and back onto your circumstances. Satan wants you to sink.
Sure, all things are possible to those who believe, but if Satan can get you out of agreement with God’s Word, you will no longer believe—the power of God is cut off from your life.
One area where many people don’t realize they’re cutting off the power of God in their lives is with their WORDS.
EVERY TIME you SPEAK, you’re releasing POWER into your situation—for good or for bad. Proverbs 18:21 (NLT) says, “The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences.” Now, that can work in your favor. But if you aren’t using your words wisely, it can cause you a lot of trouble down the road.
When some people pray, their perspective is that it’s like writing a letter of requests to Santa Claus. People don’t realize that God already gave them the keys of the Kingdom, and they are always releasing the Kingdom through their words.
Matthew 18:18 (NIV) says, “Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
Do you see that? Whatever you bind on Earth will be bound in heaven.
That means that YOU directly control the blessings in your life!
That gives a whole new revelation to the power of your words, right?
So if blessings are being short-circuited in your life, guess who is binding those blessings?
And if unfortunate circumstances are overrunning your life, guess who is loosing that permission?
Yep. You.
The law of releasing life or death in your life is in the power of your tongue, and it is operating all of the time. Your words are a weapon. Are you using them against Satan, or against yourself and the people you love?
Excerpted and adapted from The New Vintage Family: Vintage Values for Your Modern-Day Family.
