Make sure your words are faith filled while waiting for your miracle
As I was about to sit down to write this week’s column, a friend called and reminded me about the power of the words that we speak while we’re waiting for our circumstances to change. She told me about some amazing studies, proving that words can have either positive or negative effects on both living things and inanimate objects when spoken consistently over a period of time.
After hanging up the phone, the old song “Speak to the Mountain” kept ringing through my mind. Its lyrics are based on Mark 11:23, where Jesus said “For assuredly, I say to you, 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.”
Jesus knew that our words — whether positive or negative — naturally produce change in our environment. However, He also knew that for us to live a victorious and effective life, words alone would not be enough. We would need to learn to mix our words with faith. If the world around us naturally responds to what we say, how much more drastic will the response be when we use our faith to invite God’s Spirit to enter into our situation?!
Jesus demonstrated this principle throughout His ministry. His time in prayer was mainly for direction and relationship, but He used His authority — often in word form — for the miraculous. In Matt 8:3, He told the lepers to be cleansed. He also told the fig tree to dry up in Mark 11:1221, the storm to subside in Mark 4:39 and the deaf ears to be opened in Mark 7:34. He knew how to speak words mixed with faith, and miracles followed Him everywhere He went.
Thankfully, the power of faith-filled words didn’t end when Jesus ascended into heaven. He had already given His disciples the authority to do greater works than He had done, and then He commanded them to go and make more disciples, teaching them to do just as they had been taught (Luke 9:1-2, Matt 28:18). From that time until now, there have been many documented miracles, simply because people were bold enough to exercise their faith and speak words of life in the name of Jesus.
Unfortunately, however, just as positive faith-filled words bring about positive results, the negative words that we speak produce negative results. When we insist upon focusing our conversations on how bad and hopeless our situation seems, not only are we releasing negativity into our environment, but we are also declaring that we have more faith in the difficulty of our predicament than we do in the power of God. Since we can’t place our faith in God and in our circumstances at the same time, those negative words — backed by our misplaced faith — have the power to block the work that God wants to do in our lives and expedite the deterioration of our situation.
The words that we speak are powerful. That doesn’t mean, however, that we should deny that a situation exists. It just means that we must always be careful to give more faith-filled emphasis in our conversations to God’s promises of healing and provision than we do to the severity of our problems.
What has been coming out of your mouth lately? If someone kept track of everything that you said, would there be more negative words than positive? Where would they conclude that you are putting your faith into what you say?
Whether we recognize it or not, our words are affecting our circumstances. Let’s be a little more careful about what we say so that we don’t find ourselves blocking the very miracles that we’ve been praying so long to receive.
• • • Milligan is a Poteau resident who went on a mission trip to Guatemala just before Labor Day.