Speak What You Know God Wants
A while ago I was talking with a woman who was distressed about her daughter who was being passed over for promotions at her workplace by other less talented employees. I understood her concern, but her words were full of gloom and discouragement. So I asked her, "Do you want this to continue for your daughter?" She replied, "No, of course not." I said, "Then you have to quit prophesying doom about her future. Your words tell me that you've become convinced that she's going to remain stuck there, and you're going to speak those negative words to your daughter. What you need to begin to say is, "Thank You, Father, for unprecedented favor in my daughter's workplace. 'Thank You that she's going to get the breaks she needs.' Begin to prophesy her abundant future."
When we love someone or something so much, it's easy to begin to use our words in the wrong direction to try to control situations. Because of the pressures of life, we need to be mindful of what we're saying. David prayed in Psalm 141, "Lord, set a guard over my mouth. Keep watch over the door of my lips." He was saying, "God, I am in a difficult situation. Don't let me speak words that get my life off course. I don't want to speak what I see and feel. I want to speak what You want. I want to go in Your direction for my life."
The Bible has much to say about our words. Proverbs 18:21 says, "The tongue has the power of life and death." And James wrote, "Look also at ships: although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires. Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things" (James 3:4-5). He recognized that the words we speak direct the course of our life for victory or defeat even when we're in the midst of stormy, negative situations. Too often when we get in difficult situations, we forget the power that we have in our tongue and where it can lead us.
That's exactly what you and I need to remember in the midst of the pressures of life. Our words can send us in the direction of God. We serve a positive God who spoke life and light into a dark and void situation and created this world. And He has given us the privilege to do the same--to speak into our situations, to begin to prophesy our future, to direct our life where it needs to go, so that we can obtain the blessings that He has for us.
When we love someone or something so much, it's easy to begin to use our words in the wrong direction to try to control situations. Because of the pressures of life, we need to be mindful of what we're saying. David prayed in Psalm 141, "Lord, set a guard over my mouth. Keep watch over the door of my lips." He was saying, "God, I am in a difficult situation. Don't let me speak words that get my life off course. I don't want to speak what I see and feel. I want to speak what You want. I want to go in Your direction for my life."
The Bible has much to say about our words. Proverbs 18:21 says, "The tongue has the power of life and death." And James wrote, "Look also at ships: although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires. Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things" (James 3:4-5). He recognized that the words we speak direct the course of our life for victory or defeat even when we're in the midst of stormy, negative situations. Too often when we get in difficult situations, we forget the power that we have in our tongue and where it can lead us.
That's exactly what you and I need to remember in the midst of the pressures of life. Our words can send us in the direction of God. We serve a positive God who spoke life and light into a dark and void situation and created this world. And He has given us the privilege to do the same--to speak into our situations, to begin to prophesy our future, to direct our life where it needs to go, so that we can obtain the blessings that He has for us.