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What to Do with What God Tells You
(Promises and Declarations)
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Month 5 classes
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Class 1: Promises and Declarations
Class 2: Writing Down the Promises
Class 3: Joshua 1 or 2 Peter 1 Meditation
Class 4: Listening Prayer
Class 5: Journaling
Class 6: Listening Prayer
Class 7: Worship Painting
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Teaching - Promises and Declarations
Quick Outline:
-My thoughts
-Thoughts from others
-Thoughts from others
-My thoughts
As you build your relationship with the Father, you will notice He promises us many things. The promises for our lives find themselves on almost every page of the book we read. When we come to him in prayer, He speaks about the person he desires us to become in Him. But what do you do with all those promises? It’s so easy to read it, or hear it, say ‘Thank you Jesus’ and go on our merry way forgetting the Lord of the Universe just spoke into our lives.
As in the Parable of the Sower, we have a responsibility for the soil of our hearts. Will the word of the Lord find root in our lives? Good soil doesn’t just happen. Crops don’t just spring up on their own out of uncultivated land. If we want to harvest what the Lord sows into us it takes effort on our part. (Sanctification not Justification)
Once you lay the foundation of the Christian life, you have the opportunity to build upon it. We’ve talked about all sorts of things in this class regarding how we progress in the life of faith: learning to love being with God, delighting in him as he delights in us, reading Scripture and learning how to meditate on it and turn it back into prayer. We talk consistently about nurturing a relationship with the Holy Spirit. We spent last month talking about the role of repentance in our lives. This month I’d like to move past basic Christianity and move into something a little deeper: promises and declarations.
Before we get into the meat of what I want to say, I feel the need to convince you of the importance of the words we speak. Your words matter. What you say over yourself can shape reality around you. This is not some New Age thinking positive thoughts and good aura junk. This is Biblical. So, let’s go through some verses of the Bible.
Rev 12:11 11And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death (Rev.12:11)
The Word of our Testimony is the declaration through our words and actions of the truth of who God is and what He has said He will do. It is as we agree with the truth of God’s word that we overcome the seduction and lies of the enemy. Agreement with what God says about His Power, His Plan and His Promises, demolish the lies of the enemy.
The following set of verses is from http://www.savedhealed.com/mouth.htm. I did not agree with all of the writers notations nor all the verses he/she used in attempting to prove his/her point. However, I did find the collection of verses helpful.
Ephesians 6:17 "17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
The Greek word translated "word" here is "Rhema" which means the spoken word. The Word of God is a sword when it comes out of your mouth. (Revelation 19:15 - you see the sword coming out of the mouth of Jesus - the spoken Word.)
Romans 10:8-11 “8 But what does it (the righteousness of faith) say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: 9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. 11 As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.”
We appropriate faith through both belief and declaration. (In this passage it happens with our salvation). We’ll come back to this verse.
James 3:1-12 “2 We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check. 3 When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. 4 Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. 5 Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts.”
What a person says is extremely important. The way a person speaks can set the course of his or her life. This passage as a whole is generally about the destruction speech can cause. I think we can take the converse as true. If the tongue can bring destruction, it can also bring life.
Mark 11:23 “23 Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them.”
Notice the command to the mountain is actually ‘said’ not merely prayed silently. We see this over and over again in Scripture. Jesus constantly commands demons and sickness to leave. He even speaks to the storm and the fig tree.
Job 22:28 “28 You will also decree a thing, and it will be established for you; And light will shine on your ways.” (NASB)
Speaking somehow actually causes something to happen.
Proverbs 10:11 "11 The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.”
Proverbs 12:6 “6 The words of the wicked lie in wait for blood, but the speech of the upright rescues them.”
Proverbs 12:14 "14 From the fruit of their lips people are filled with good things, and the work of their hands brings them reward."
Proverbs 12:18 "18 The words of the reckless pierce like swords, but the tongue of the wise brings healing."
Proverbs 13:3 "3 Those who guard their lips preserve their lives, but those who speak rashly will come to ruin. "
Proverbs 14:3 "3 A fool’s mouth lashes out with pride, but the lips of the wise protect them."
Proverbs 15:2 "2 The tongue of the wise adorns knowledge, but the mouth of the fool gushes folly."
Proverbs 15:4 "4 The soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit.”
Proverbs 16:23-24 "23 The heart of the wise instructs his mouth And adds persuasiveness to his lips." (NASB)
“24 Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. "
Proverbs 18:7 "7 The mouths of fools are their undoing, and their lips are a snare to their very lives. "
Proverbs 18:20-21 "20 From the fruit of their mouth a person’s stomach is filled; with the harvest of their lips they are satisfied.
21 The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit."
Proverbs 21:23 "23 Those who guard their mouths and their tongues keep themselves from calamity.”
Proverbs 22:12 "12 The eyes of the LORD keep watch over knowledge, but he frustrates the words of the unfaithful."
Joshua 1:8 "8 Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful."
The following compilations of verses are from:
http://www.oxfordbiblechurch.co.uk/pages/teachings/faith/confessing-the-word.php
Again, I did not agree with all of the writers notations nor all the verses he/she used in attempting to prove his/her point. However, I did find some of the writer’s comments helpful.
2 Corinthians 4:13
Describes ‘the spirit of faith’:
“Since we have the same spirit of faith (as Christ), according to what is written (Messianic Psalm 116), "I believed and therefore I spoke," we also believe and therefore speak.”
The quotation is from Psalm 116:9-10: “I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living. I believed (the promise of resurrection), therefore I spoke (it).” He believed it and spoke it and it came to pass. If we have the same Spirit of Faith as Jesus Christ, then like Him we will not just believe, but also speak out what we believe, based on the authority of His Word. We are designed to speak our faith, for: “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.”
Romans 10:8-10
Believing God’s Word in our heart and confessing it with our mouth work together:
“But what does it (the righteousness of faith) say? "The word is near you, (1) in your mouth and (2) in your heart" (that is, the Word of faith which we preach): (it’s not enough for the Word to be in your heart, it must also be in your mouth) that if you (1) confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and (2) believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
For (2) with the heart one believes unto righteousness,
and (1) with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
‘Confession’ means: ‘to say the same thing as.’ To confess God’s Word is to say the same thing as God, to speak His Word as the ultimate truth concerning our lives, to be in agreement with Him. It is to declare God’s promises over our lives as true and established. God gives us His promises and tells us who we are in Christ, and we are to agree with Him in our heart and out loud, both in our believing and in our speaking. It’s all about walking in fellowship-agreement with God. “How can two walk together unless they are agreed” (Amos 3:3). The aim of confession (whether confession of our sin or confession of His promises) is to get ourselves into greater agreement with God, to line up our lives with His Word, so that we can have a closer faith-walk with Him and see His promises come powerfully to pass in our lives. We can’t earn His grace by our obedience, but the more we believe, say and do His Word, the more we align ourselves with Him, allowing His grace to work more abundantly in, so we can experience the life of God (for He respects our free-will).
Romans 4:17 describes the faith of Father Abraham as our example to follow:
“as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations”, in the presence of Him (‘before Him’) whom he believed - God, who gives life to the dead and calls (forth) those things which do not exist as though they did.”
Abraham’s faith worked as he ‘walked before God’ (Genesis 17:1). This implies living in fellowship with God, abiding in His Presence, following His lead in word and action, doing things His way. In Abraham’s case, God called those things that were not as though they were, calling him ‘the father of many nations’ before he even had a son.
Abraham also called himself by his new name: ‘Abraham’ meaning: ‘the father of many nations.’ Abraham latched on to the promise of God saying “I am a father” before he was a father.
He confessed God’s promise before it was manifest, calling forth what was not as though it was. By agreeing with God in Heaven (by believing and confessing His Word) Abraham, through his faith, opened the door for God’s power to bring the promise to pass in the earth. Like Abraham, we are to confess God’s promises to us as true before they are manifested, calling them forth into being (thus bringing them from the spiritual into the natural realm, from heaven into earth).
Mark 11:22-25.
The Cursing of the Fig-Tree: “Now the next day, when they had come out from Bethany, He was hungry. 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. In response Jesus said to it, "Let no one eat fruit from you ever again." And His disciples heard it” (Mark 11:12-14).
There was no obvious immediate outward change, but God’s power went to work immediately with the word of faith to bring it to pass: “He said to it, "Let no fruit grow on you ever again." Immediately the fig tree withered away” (Matthew 21:19). The power of God immediately went to work in the invisible realm withering the tree from the roots, although the visible manifestation was only seen the next day: “Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree withered up from the roots. And Peter, remembering, said to Him, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered away" (Mark 11:20,21).
In reply to their desire to know HOW He did it, Jesus told them the process of faith that He had used (Mark 11:22-25). Had they asked WHY He did it, He would have explained it was an acted parable of coming judgment on Israel.
By our words of faith, we bring things out of our spirit (heart) into our natural experience. We speak out (command) the desired result. Thus, having received something through prayer, there must also be corresponding words and actions to help bring it to pass…
Angelic Activity ?
Heb 1:14 “14 Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?”
Angels are spirits sent to help us.
Ps 103:20-21 “20 Praise the LORD, you his angels,
you mighty ones who do his bidding,
who obey his word.
21 Praise the LORD, all his heavenly hosts,
you his servants who do his will.”
Angels wait to do something until they hear the command of the Lord. It is possible that when our words agree with God’s commands, we release angelic activity into situations.
MY THOUGHTS
Repeatedly Scripture talks about the importance of using our words carefully. Your words are never idle; they are an overflow of your heart. More than that, they have the ability to guide our heart and they can actually bring about both life and destruction in the spiritual realm. We speak God’s promises over ourselves not as a magical incantation but as a confession in agreement with who God says we are and what he wants to do in our lives. Like Abraham, we take the prophetic promise of the Lord and begin to step into it. Abraham called himself a Father (for that is what his name means) for decades before he was a father. When the Lord makes a promise, it is often contingent on our agreement with the promise (much like the prophetic decrees of judgment or blessing in the Old Testament). We agree in faith, take hold of the promise and line up our lives with the promise. We begin the process of transformation—becoming who God says we are.
If the Lord wants to teach you about his goodness, your job is to begin looking at life through the lens of God’s goodness. God is completely intentional with us. Every situation coming your way is one of the Lord’s instruments meant to teach you about what he wants to show you if you have eyes to see.
Living life like this takes effort. First off, you must know what God wants to teach you. What has he promised you? What is the Lord doing in your life? I suggest making note cards with God’s promises on them. Go through them at least once a week. This keeps God’s promises in front of you. It reminds you of what God is doing in your life. Then, pray them. And our prayer is not the prayer which exhibits a complete lack of faith “God, I know your busy, but I if I could just interrupt you for a second. Um, if it is your will, I ask that you would _________” When we go to God with a request, we go boldly before the throne of grace. He has told us to ask anything according to his will and believe that we will receive it. If your not sure of what God wants in a situation, then spend some time listening before you write it down on your card.
As a quick aside, this also has applications regarding what people speak over us. Often unwittingly, people prophesy curses over our lives (sometimes we even do it to ourselves): you’re going to get sick, you’ll get in a car wreck, something bad is going to happen to you. Those statements can carry weight in the spiritual realm. We simply deny them a place to stand in our lives. No, I’m not going to get sick. I reject that I’m going to get into a car crash. God’s will for my life is safety.
When we pray these promises, we not only believe them with our hearts, we declare them with our voices (Rom 10). The spoken promise becomes like a bit in our mouth leading us into the way of righteousness. Our lives begin to line up with God’s purposes in our lives. Please understand, although I believe something happens in the spiritual realm when we declare the Lord’s promises, declaration alone will not change your life. Just like faith without works is dead, the declaration must be accompanied by specific actions
"The most influential voice in your life will be your own mouth. Speak the word of God over yourself. Find the promises in scripture and declare them over your life." ~Wes Martin
-My thoughts
-Thoughts from others
-Thoughts from others
-My thoughts
As you build your relationship with the Father, you will notice He promises us many things. The promises for our lives find themselves on almost every page of the book we read. When we come to him in prayer, He speaks about the person he desires us to become in Him. But what do you do with all those promises? It’s so easy to read it, or hear it, say ‘Thank you Jesus’ and go on our merry way forgetting the Lord of the Universe just spoke into our lives.
As in the Parable of the Sower, we have a responsibility for the soil of our hearts. Will the word of the Lord find root in our lives? Good soil doesn’t just happen. Crops don’t just spring up on their own out of uncultivated land. If we want to harvest what the Lord sows into us it takes effort on our part. (Sanctification not Justification)
Once you lay the foundation of the Christian life, you have the opportunity to build upon it. We’ve talked about all sorts of things in this class regarding how we progress in the life of faith: learning to love being with God, delighting in him as he delights in us, reading Scripture and learning how to meditate on it and turn it back into prayer. We talk consistently about nurturing a relationship with the Holy Spirit. We spent last month talking about the role of repentance in our lives. This month I’d like to move past basic Christianity and move into something a little deeper: promises and declarations.
Before we get into the meat of what I want to say, I feel the need to convince you of the importance of the words we speak. Your words matter. What you say over yourself can shape reality around you. This is not some New Age thinking positive thoughts and good aura junk. This is Biblical. So, let’s go through some verses of the Bible.
Rev 12:11 11And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death (Rev.12:11)
The Word of our Testimony is the declaration through our words and actions of the truth of who God is and what He has said He will do. It is as we agree with the truth of God’s word that we overcome the seduction and lies of the enemy. Agreement with what God says about His Power, His Plan and His Promises, demolish the lies of the enemy.
The following set of verses is from http://www.savedhealed.com/mouth.htm. I did not agree with all of the writers notations nor all the verses he/she used in attempting to prove his/her point. However, I did find the collection of verses helpful.
Ephesians 6:17 "17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
The Greek word translated "word" here is "Rhema" which means the spoken word. The Word of God is a sword when it comes out of your mouth. (Revelation 19:15 - you see the sword coming out of the mouth of Jesus - the spoken Word.)
Romans 10:8-11 “8 But what does it (the righteousness of faith) say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: 9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. 11 As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.”
We appropriate faith through both belief and declaration. (In this passage it happens with our salvation). We’ll come back to this verse.
James 3:1-12 “2 We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check. 3 When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. 4 Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. 5 Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts.”
What a person says is extremely important. The way a person speaks can set the course of his or her life. This passage as a whole is generally about the destruction speech can cause. I think we can take the converse as true. If the tongue can bring destruction, it can also bring life.
Mark 11:23 “23 Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them.”
Notice the command to the mountain is actually ‘said’ not merely prayed silently. We see this over and over again in Scripture. Jesus constantly commands demons and sickness to leave. He even speaks to the storm and the fig tree.
Job 22:28 “28 You will also decree a thing, and it will be established for you; And light will shine on your ways.” (NASB)
Speaking somehow actually causes something to happen.
Proverbs 10:11 "11 The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.”
Proverbs 12:6 “6 The words of the wicked lie in wait for blood, but the speech of the upright rescues them.”
Proverbs 12:14 "14 From the fruit of their lips people are filled with good things, and the work of their hands brings them reward."
Proverbs 12:18 "18 The words of the reckless pierce like swords, but the tongue of the wise brings healing."
Proverbs 13:3 "3 Those who guard their lips preserve their lives, but those who speak rashly will come to ruin. "
Proverbs 14:3 "3 A fool’s mouth lashes out with pride, but the lips of the wise protect them."
Proverbs 15:2 "2 The tongue of the wise adorns knowledge, but the mouth of the fool gushes folly."
Proverbs 15:4 "4 The soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit.”
Proverbs 16:23-24 "23 The heart of the wise instructs his mouth And adds persuasiveness to his lips." (NASB)
“24 Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. "
Proverbs 18:7 "7 The mouths of fools are their undoing, and their lips are a snare to their very lives. "
Proverbs 18:20-21 "20 From the fruit of their mouth a person’s stomach is filled; with the harvest of their lips they are satisfied.
21 The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit."
Proverbs 21:23 "23 Those who guard their mouths and their tongues keep themselves from calamity.”
Proverbs 22:12 "12 The eyes of the LORD keep watch over knowledge, but he frustrates the words of the unfaithful."
Joshua 1:8 "8 Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful."
The following compilations of verses are from:
http://www.oxfordbiblechurch.co.uk/pages/teachings/faith/confessing-the-word.php
Again, I did not agree with all of the writers notations nor all the verses he/she used in attempting to prove his/her point. However, I did find some of the writer’s comments helpful.
2 Corinthians 4:13
Describes ‘the spirit of faith’:
“Since we have the same spirit of faith (as Christ), according to what is written (Messianic Psalm 116), "I believed and therefore I spoke," we also believe and therefore speak.”
The quotation is from Psalm 116:9-10: “I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living. I believed (the promise of resurrection), therefore I spoke (it).” He believed it and spoke it and it came to pass. If we have the same Spirit of Faith as Jesus Christ, then like Him we will not just believe, but also speak out what we believe, based on the authority of His Word. We are designed to speak our faith, for: “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.”
Romans 10:8-10
Believing God’s Word in our heart and confessing it with our mouth work together:
“But what does it (the righteousness of faith) say? "The word is near you, (1) in your mouth and (2) in your heart" (that is, the Word of faith which we preach): (it’s not enough for the Word to be in your heart, it must also be in your mouth) that if you (1) confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and (2) believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
For (2) with the heart one believes unto righteousness,
and (1) with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
‘Confession’ means: ‘to say the same thing as.’ To confess God’s Word is to say the same thing as God, to speak His Word as the ultimate truth concerning our lives, to be in agreement with Him. It is to declare God’s promises over our lives as true and established. God gives us His promises and tells us who we are in Christ, and we are to agree with Him in our heart and out loud, both in our believing and in our speaking. It’s all about walking in fellowship-agreement with God. “How can two walk together unless they are agreed” (Amos 3:3). The aim of confession (whether confession of our sin or confession of His promises) is to get ourselves into greater agreement with God, to line up our lives with His Word, so that we can have a closer faith-walk with Him and see His promises come powerfully to pass in our lives. We can’t earn His grace by our obedience, but the more we believe, say and do His Word, the more we align ourselves with Him, allowing His grace to work more abundantly in, so we can experience the life of God (for He respects our free-will).
Romans 4:17 describes the faith of Father Abraham as our example to follow:
“as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations”, in the presence of Him (‘before Him’) whom he believed - God, who gives life to the dead and calls (forth) those things which do not exist as though they did.”
Abraham’s faith worked as he ‘walked before God’ (Genesis 17:1). This implies living in fellowship with God, abiding in His Presence, following His lead in word and action, doing things His way. In Abraham’s case, God called those things that were not as though they were, calling him ‘the father of many nations’ before he even had a son.
Abraham also called himself by his new name: ‘Abraham’ meaning: ‘the father of many nations.’ Abraham latched on to the promise of God saying “I am a father” before he was a father.
He confessed God’s promise before it was manifest, calling forth what was not as though it was. By agreeing with God in Heaven (by believing and confessing His Word) Abraham, through his faith, opened the door for God’s power to bring the promise to pass in the earth. Like Abraham, we are to confess God’s promises to us as true before they are manifested, calling them forth into being (thus bringing them from the spiritual into the natural realm, from heaven into earth).
Mark 11:22-25.
The Cursing of the Fig-Tree: “Now the next day, when they had come out from Bethany, He was hungry. 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. In response Jesus said to it, "Let no one eat fruit from you ever again." And His disciples heard it” (Mark 11:12-14).
There was no obvious immediate outward change, but God’s power went to work immediately with the word of faith to bring it to pass: “He said to it, "Let no fruit grow on you ever again." Immediately the fig tree withered away” (Matthew 21:19). The power of God immediately went to work in the invisible realm withering the tree from the roots, although the visible manifestation was only seen the next day: “Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree withered up from the roots. And Peter, remembering, said to Him, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered away" (Mark 11:20,21).
In reply to their desire to know HOW He did it, Jesus told them the process of faith that He had used (Mark 11:22-25). Had they asked WHY He did it, He would have explained it was an acted parable of coming judgment on Israel.
By our words of faith, we bring things out of our spirit (heart) into our natural experience. We speak out (command) the desired result. Thus, having received something through prayer, there must also be corresponding words and actions to help bring it to pass…
Angelic Activity ?
Heb 1:14 “14 Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?”
Angels are spirits sent to help us.
Ps 103:20-21 “20 Praise the LORD, you his angels,
you mighty ones who do his bidding,
who obey his word.
21 Praise the LORD, all his heavenly hosts,
you his servants who do his will.”
Angels wait to do something until they hear the command of the Lord. It is possible that when our words agree with God’s commands, we release angelic activity into situations.
MY THOUGHTS
Repeatedly Scripture talks about the importance of using our words carefully. Your words are never idle; they are an overflow of your heart. More than that, they have the ability to guide our heart and they can actually bring about both life and destruction in the spiritual realm. We speak God’s promises over ourselves not as a magical incantation but as a confession in agreement with who God says we are and what he wants to do in our lives. Like Abraham, we take the prophetic promise of the Lord and begin to step into it. Abraham called himself a Father (for that is what his name means) for decades before he was a father. When the Lord makes a promise, it is often contingent on our agreement with the promise (much like the prophetic decrees of judgment or blessing in the Old Testament). We agree in faith, take hold of the promise and line up our lives with the promise. We begin the process of transformation—becoming who God says we are.
If the Lord wants to teach you about his goodness, your job is to begin looking at life through the lens of God’s goodness. God is completely intentional with us. Every situation coming your way is one of the Lord’s instruments meant to teach you about what he wants to show you if you have eyes to see.
Living life like this takes effort. First off, you must know what God wants to teach you. What has he promised you? What is the Lord doing in your life? I suggest making note cards with God’s promises on them. Go through them at least once a week. This keeps God’s promises in front of you. It reminds you of what God is doing in your life. Then, pray them. And our prayer is not the prayer which exhibits a complete lack of faith “God, I know your busy, but I if I could just interrupt you for a second. Um, if it is your will, I ask that you would _________” When we go to God with a request, we go boldly before the throne of grace. He has told us to ask anything according to his will and believe that we will receive it. If your not sure of what God wants in a situation, then spend some time listening before you write it down on your card.
As a quick aside, this also has applications regarding what people speak over us. Often unwittingly, people prophesy curses over our lives (sometimes we even do it to ourselves): you’re going to get sick, you’ll get in a car wreck, something bad is going to happen to you. Those statements can carry weight in the spiritual realm. We simply deny them a place to stand in our lives. No, I’m not going to get sick. I reject that I’m going to get into a car crash. God’s will for my life is safety.
When we pray these promises, we not only believe them with our hearts, we declare them with our voices (Rom 10). The spoken promise becomes like a bit in our mouth leading us into the way of righteousness. Our lives begin to line up with God’s purposes in our lives. Please understand, although I believe something happens in the spiritual realm when we declare the Lord’s promises, declaration alone will not change your life. Just like faith without works is dead, the declaration must be accompanied by specific actions
"The most influential voice in your life will be your own mouth. Speak the word of God over yourself. Find the promises in scripture and declare them over your life." ~Wes Martin
Application - Promises and Declarations
Now convinced of the importance of keeping God’s promises in front of us—praying through and declaring them over ourselves—it’s time to get together a list of promises. Go through your prayer journal and begin writing down the promises the Lord has made to you. Over this next week, I’d like you to begin paying attention to the underlined portions of your Bible. Many times, the portions of Scripture we think are ‘neat’ are because the Holy Spirit is trying to get our attention. What does He want to do in our lives? What are we supposed to be learning? What are our next steps?
Write down you promises in a list format. Then find a stack of note cards and write down one promise on each card. Going through the stack once a week this month and pray those promises over yourself.
Write down you promises in a list format. Then find a stack of note cards and write down one promise on each card. Going through the stack once a week this month and pray those promises over yourself.
Meditation - Promises and Declarations
When God does something in Scripture, he often says, “Remember my promises”. We see this repeatedly in the Bible: Abraham, Moses, Joshua, David, the Prophets and the kings, etc. There is a reason the Lord reminds us of his promises—we will encounter resistance. The Devil wants to frustrate the plans God has over your life. The world is at odds with the life of faith. You must keep the promises in front of you because when you stare into the reality of the problem ahead of you, you realize this is going to be impossible without God’s help; you cannot do what He has called you to do. That’s actually the reason he called you. He desires to display his glory through people who couldn’t possibly take credit for what’s going to happen. Our job is to say, “Okay, God I’m game. You said you wanted to do this in my life, I ask you to do it.” Then we must ‘do’ something; we begin to shift our lives into alignment with God’s promises to us.
Below are two passages of Scripture following this type of pattern. I recommend reading both passages. Choose the one that stands out to you and delve deeper into the text. Remember, meditation is about thinking deeply about a text. Ask questions of it. Approach it from different directions. Imagine yourself in the role of the characters. Understand what happened, then ask the Lord what he wants to say to you through the text. Be sure to write your thoughts down.
Joshua 1:1-11
2 Peter 1:3-11
Below are two passages of Scripture following this type of pattern. I recommend reading both passages. Choose the one that stands out to you and delve deeper into the text. Remember, meditation is about thinking deeply about a text. Ask questions of it. Approach it from different directions. Imagine yourself in the role of the characters. Understand what happened, then ask the Lord what he wants to say to you through the text. Be sure to write your thoughts down.
Joshua 1:1-11
2 Peter 1:3-11
