Say It

Say It

God . . . gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. Romans 4:17, ESV

HUMAN BEINGS TALK A LOT. We rarely hesitate to use the mouths God has given us. But what are we using them for—to talk about our rough day, the problems we have, the things people should have done but didn’t, and so on? We think we’re just sharing our feelings and inviting sympathetic responses. But what if more is going on? If the God who has made us in his image calls into existence things that do not exist, perhaps we also have the capacity—to a degree—to call into existence things that do not exist. Perhaps our words mean much more than we think they do.

In fact, some passages in the Bible suggest that our tongues are quite powerful, having the ability to speak life and death into the people and situations around us. This is no magic trick, of course; if our words could conjure up whatever we wished for, we’d speak a lot of things into being. But what if, over the course of time, our words had the ability to prophesy truth and declare reality into the world around us? What if we have been given the responsibility of declaring truth again and again and reinforcing it in our lives? What if God has endowed our words with power?

He has, according to Scripture, and though we could debate how far to take this verbal ministry, our words are at least supposed to line up with our faith, and our faith tends to line up with our words. That being true, we have an opportunity to speak life and truth to our world.

Don’t waste that opportunity on the obvious, declaring what your natural eyes see. Anyone can do that, and it simply entrenches visible reality in your life. Instead, call things that are not as though they are. Declare what you see with eyes of faith. When you do, you bring the promises and purposes of God into the world, the unseen and hoped for (Hebrews 11:1) into the realm of the seen and experienced. Our words bridge the gap between the invisible and the visible and invite God’s plans into our lives.

Take my lips, and let them be filled with messages from Thee.