Recently the Lord has been dealing with me to begin prophesying over our church and ministries. It all began when he started making me keenly aware of the words that I and people around me were speaking. It was like my hearing had changed. I could almost see the words which were spoken. Sometimes these words would seemingly come at me as attacks on my faith. Other times they would just be words devoid of power, like the idle words spoken of in the Bible. Whatever the case, I could hear them for what they actually said like never before.
This led me to do two things: The first was to include a message in the series Rebuilding Yourself called demand: the power of an inspired proclamation. This message dealt directly with the words people would speak over themselves and how sometimes they can be hung by their tongue when their words and God’s Word are at odds with one another. The second thing I did was begin Sunday night sessions through the month of February called Watch Your Mouth! that also deals directly with the words we are speaking.
When I was talking with Pastor Jeff Bullard at our last Ministry Group meeting, he said that he had actually begun leading his church in faith declarations at the end of each service. This spoke powerfully to my spirit and I immediately added the same thing to the end of the Rebuilding Yourself series. We just simply need to learn to speak the right things over ourselves and others.
This further lead me to begin studying what the Bible says about prophesying. Biblically prophesying is speaking. What I didn’t realize was how much speaking is actually prophesying. This means things we just speak without thinking can actually release the power of fear, doubt, and unbelief into our lives.
Have you ever been in the situation where you have a strained relationship with someone and you have to be careful what you say to them? I have on several occasions. Words are more prophetic than I have previously wanted to admit. I even had to repent and confess to the church that I had fallen into complaining about people because of the things they were saying to me. They grated on my spirit and I did not know why. My complaints had begun to change my attitude towards those people and the Lord convicted me of my sin. He told me to watch my mouth at all times. Others might not be in earshot, but the devil always is and he is always looking for words from our mouths to use against us.
In Matthew chapter 12 there are several verses I’ve memorized and used over the years. However, until recently, I have never put them together like the Word has in this passage. When I read them in context, along with the other things Jesus said, I realized the whole chapter pertains to the words we speak.
Verse 33 says, “Either make the tree good, and its fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and its fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by its fruit.” It’s speaking about our words.
Verse 34 says, “O generation of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” It’s speaking about our words.
Verse 35 says, “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.” It’s speaking about our words.
Verse 36 says, “But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.” It’s speaking about our words.
Finally, verse 37 says, “For by your words you shall be justified, and by your words you shall be condemned.” They all are speaking about our words.
I had allowed myself to fall from proclaiming the Word of the Lord to proclaiming how I felt about the situation. Faith was quickly crumbling into unbelief simply because I was speaking the wrong things.
The Lord then tried to convince me that my complaining had become the abundance, and the abundance was soon to spill out into the public and into my ministry. I humbled myself before him and renounced my opinions and asked for forgiveness for exalting what I thought above his Word.
Returning to Matthew chapter 12, notice how Jesus ends his comments about our tongues, “For by your words you shall be justified, and by your words you shall be condemned.” He is not rebuking us, he is giving us the key to walking in power — fix what your mouth is speaking.
It’s easier to fall into than you might think. We live in a negative society. Words of fear and condemnation are all around us. We hear then continually, and like little kids we repeat what we hear. The fix is not easy though for some people, because they refuse to spend time in the Word. It is only the Word of God that can wash out all of the fear, doubt, and unbelief that are attaching themselves to our words when we speak. It’s that “abundance of the heart” thing that gets us every time.
Only by the Word continually renewing our minds can we escape from mimicking the words of the world. The Scriptures teach us to set a guard over our mouths (Psalms 141:3). We must closely examine every word we utter. Why? Because once we release those words from our lips, they are spiritual forces that are going to do things in this world. Good words produce good fruit. Bad words produce bad fruit.
As Matthew 12:33 instructs us, we must make the tree good if we are going to have good words flow from it. “For the tree is known by its fruit.” Therefore we must get into the Word of God and the power of his Word must fill our tongues with words of faith, spoken from the abundance of our hearts. Once the change is real and our hearts are filled with good things, then verse 35 kicks in, “A good man out of the good treasure of the heart brings forth good things.”
We may try to cloak our bad words with concern, prayer requests, or other deceptions, but the only ones we are fooling are ourselves. There is a spirit that is released with our words and you can feel it no matter how nice a person is trying to speak. You can see the fear. You can see people filled with self-pity or self-condemnation. You can feel them trying to suck the life out of you and get you to agree with their unbelief.
Finally, one last thing: The words we speak are not only seed and fruit, but they are a sword and a shield. On the one hand we are speaking words to bring forth good fruit into our lives. On the other hand we are speaking words to defend ourselves against the bad words of others and the words and images the enemy tries to put in our heads.
Constantly we must speak the Word over our lives and put to naught the words others are speaking. It’s a world of words and those who learn to use their words to produce life and not death will enjoy the fruit of their lips.
“The tongue has the power of life and death,
and those who love it will eat its fruit.”
Proverbs 18:21, NIV.