words
I’m sure that we have all been in conversations, where just as the words are coming out of our mouth we have wanted to reach out, grab them and drag them back inside. Fun fact - our mouths operate at a faster speed than our brains, which results in our words easily tumbling out without a thought.
Anyone that knows me well, knows that I am such a words person; I never use to be! In fact, something you may not know about me is that growing up I had a lisp and a slight stutter. I was not eloquent or articulate at all (HA! maybe not much has changed). It still takes me a crazy amount of time to process, find the words and boy do I reminisce, an unhealthy reminisce.
Only now I’m aware and I have decided to take the extra time to still learn, still grow, and operate in my lane. I choose to be intentional because I have come to understand that the impact and weight of my words, they frame, form and fashion our realities.
I love this quote…
"Watch your thoughts, they become your words
Watch your words, they become your reality”
You know Oprah growing up, was a victim of a traumatic childhood and was sexual abuse. At the age of just 14 she became pregnant and gave birth, who passed away just two weeks later. But Oprah persevered, going on to finish high school as an honour’s student, earning a full scholarship to college, and working her way up through the ranks of television, from a local network anchor in Nashville to an international superstar and creator of her own network.
Just three years before her first Harry potter book was published J.K Rowling had gotten a divorce. She was on government aid and could barely afford to feed her baby and that was only in 1994. She was so poor she couldn’t afford a computer or even the cost of photocopying the 90-thousand-word novel, so she manually typed them out sent them to publishers. It was rejected dozens of times until finally a small London publisher, gave it a second chance after the CEO’s eight year-old daughter fell in love with it.
These two women had every right to speak what was in their natural world, what was in front of them and I’m sure they had days where they didn’t feel like sticking it out let alone getting out of bed. Can you imagine what words had been spoken into their worlds? Personally, I find their stories so encouraging, as they understood (maybe not always) but they understood that their words formed and framed their reality.
Scripture says, "We will eat the fruit of our words.” You are planting seed when you talk. What seeds are you planting?
I know that you can’t plant apple seeds and expect to get watermelon. So much so we can’t talk one way and expect something else. We can't talk defeat and expect to have victory. We can't talk lack and expect to have abundance. We need to shift our perspective when it comes to the words that are coming out of our mouth. Our words have incredible power, they carry incredible weight! When we speak something out, we don’t realise but we are giving life to what we’re saying and if we continue to speak it out, eventually it becomes a reality.
Whether we realise it or not, we are prophesying our future, prophesying victory, prophesying success, prophesying new levels.
Three areas where words establish growth in our lives…
1. Words CREATE
Words are not passive!!! The power of life and death is in the tongue, that is a HUGE responsibility right there, we are bringing life or death with the words that we are speaking.
The reason why our words are so powerful is because we have been created in the image and likeness of God and everything that exists came about by words. We see in Genesis the language God uses to create life
Genesis 1:3 says,
“in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep”
it was formless, it was empty etc… SEE in the beginning things aren’t always quite how we imagined or desired them.
But God spoke to the void and spoke form and life; just like God we have the ability to speak into what seems empty and without substance and speak life. We build our life upon the words that come out of our month and What it requires is faith!
Hebrews 11:1 says,
Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not yet seen.
The day after my twelve-week scan with Hadassah I received a phone call from my doctor to come in and talk through my results, it was also suggested to bring my husband to the appointment. I still recall the morning of, the drive, the walk up to the receptionist, the anxiety in the pit of my stomach. I sat down in the waiting room grabbing a hold of Marks hand as tight as my grip allowed me, probably cutting off his blood circulation. Next minute my doctor called us in, I remember sitting down across from her and hearing that Hadassah would most likely be born with a heart problem and the scan also indicated that she would be born with down syndrome. In that Moment I didn’t know how or what to feel, I just felt numb! I remember fighting tears back as the appointment finished and we headed to the car. As we headed home fiercely praying and worshipping like it was the last time, I remember seeing a wave of peace completely flooding the car. I decided to choose to speak faith, speak life, life wholeness and healing even though I didn’t physically see it and look at her now.
I knew I had to SPEAK then SEE! It’s not logic, it’s definitely not natural but it begins to fix your eyes on the unseen and begins to stir up FAITH.
If our words create, then they must without a doubt direct
2. Words DIRECT
Fun Fact - a person can speak 125/150 words a minute and several thousand in an hour. Can you imagine how many words an average person speaks in a day? And ladies we are said to speak twice as many words a day as men.
150 words a minute! See what Happens When We Speak is the words that come out of our mouth go into our own ears and then they drop down into our soul where they can give us either joy, sadness, peace, anxiety etc… What is spoken becomes that, it becomes direction in our lives even more than we know
Judges 6:14-15 says,
‘‘The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?” “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest, and I am the least in my family.”
Now Gideon was the least of his household, more than that his clan was the least of all the others around. How do we know? because Gideon professed it a number of times as an excuse to not follow the direction of God
it goes on to say in verse 18,
“When I and all who are with me blow our trumpets, then from all around the camp blow yours and shout, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon.’’
You see when Gideon changed his language, he changed his direction and he ultimately fulfilled his destiny. Gideon didn’t have to find the right words to speak he had to align his language to what God was speaking over his life.
The words we speak steer our lives towards our destiny or away from it, so choose them wisely! Just like Gideon when he began to speak the language of Heaven, words of faith God used the least of the clan to conquer slavery.
I wonder what we could do if our language aligned to what God says about us?
If our words create, direct then they ultimately must declare!
3. Our words DECLARE
Words carry so much significance. Words are substance, not just vapour they don’t just disappear. The world was created with a word. Jesus healed and cast out demons with a word. Rulers have risen and fallen by their words.
Even in our technological age, politics, education, business, and relationships are centred on words. Some of the greatest brands in the world have built their empires on words
o Nike – Just do It
o Apple – Think Different
o Loreal – Because your worth it
o Maccas – I’m loving it
Company’s don’t just pick cushy sentences they pick words that embody the vision of the company. Loreal doesn’t say because your face needs it! they create worth and desire for people to use their produce because it creates interest and makes a statement. If Company’s have cottoned on to the power of words, I wonder how many Christians make declarations over their life that God never intended.
Lakewood Church at the beginning of every service they hold up their Bible and declare…
This is my Bible I am what it says I am, I have what it says I have, I can do what it says I can do, Today I will be taught the word of God, I boldly confess my mind is alert, my heart is receptive, I will never be the same.
I’m not saying to adopt this but there is something to be said about boldly declaring, It’s not enough to just think it; we need to hear it, because if we constantly hear ourselves declaring victory, declaring abundance, declaring wholeness and health than eventually we will boldly walk in that.
I wonder if we stopped using words to describe our situation and used words to change the situation. The question we have to ask ourselves is what’s the slogan of our life and what is it declaring?