Through the prophet Isaiah, the Lord assures us that when his word goes forth it always fulfills its purpose. “As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it” (Isa. 55:10-11). For us the question becomes, “How does God’s worth go forth?” Under the Old Covenant, God told Jeremiah, “I have put my words in your mouth.” He went on to tell him that he was appointed over nations and kingdoms to uproot, tear down, plant, and to build although he would never lead an army or a political movement.
Concerning prophets, God’s word goes forth from his lips to theirs by revelation from the Spirit or from the lips of angels and when his prophets declare it, his power is then released and his word fulfills its purpose in lives and nations on the earth. In the Book of Hosea, speaking of his judgment the Lord says, “Therefore I cut you in pieces with my prophets, I killed you with the words of my mouth; my judgments flashed like lightning upon you” (Hos.6:5-6). The declarations of God’s prophet released the angelic realm and even the Holy Spirit to make God’s word a reality.
Under the Old Covenant, God’s Spirit would reveal his will to those upon whom the Spirit operated – typically those appointed to the office of prophet. Under the New Covenant, the Spirit of prophecy lives in every believer and each of us can hear directly from God and can declare his word over a person or circumstance. Admittedly, those with a residing gift of prophecy can do so in just about any setting, but all of us can receive a prophetic word form time to time as the Spirit determines.
Jesus taught us to pray for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. Like the Old Testament prophets, uur words in prayer and prophetic declarations release the heavenly realms to fulfill God’s purposes on the earth. So why does he wait on us? He waits for his people to declare his word or lift up prayers because he gave his people – his children – his representatives – dominion over the earth and the works of his hands from the very beginning. He simply continues to honor that intent and honors the authority he has given us. Much or even most of what God desires to do on the earth will depend on our prayers and declarations. God is willing to run and if he runs he will win the race. But he waits on his people to fire the starting pistol.
Even when we recognize the essential place of our prayers and declarations in releasing God’s will and purposes not he earth, it’s important to notice the analogy God uses for his word as it goes forth from his mouth. He uses the analogy of seed that sprouts and grows, of planting and harvesting. Jesus used the same analogy when he talked about the word of God being broadcast and the different soils it might encounter (Lk.8:4-21). As microwave Americans, we expect instantaneous answers to our prayers, instantaneous healings, and instantaneous shifts in relationships and cultural issues when we have prayed or declared God’s word over a situation. But when seed is involved, we must allow time for cultivation, watering, growth, and then the harvest.
It is true that sometimes, our prayers or declarations will release almost instantaneous results. A person may be healed immediately or within hours. A prayer will bring a check in the next day’s mail. A house will be sold in the afternoon when the prayer was offered in the morning, and so on. But typically, like seeds, the words we have offered up will seem to make no difference for a season. Like a woman who has just planted a garden, we will go out daily to see if anything is pushing up through the soil. Initially, there will be no evidence of God moving to establish what we have prayed or declared or even commanded. Like a master gardener, we will need to have faith, watch the soil, and continue to water with our prayers and declarations until we see the first green sprouts breaking through the soil. Even after the first evidence of life, we will need to guard the initial progress with faith, diligence, and prayer. We will need to pray against the involvement of the enemy in the same way that we would be vigilant to keep insects and “critters” from killing the young plants. Eventually, we will witness a plant growing but that is still only the promise of a harvest. Then, after a season of growth, the harvest will come and there will be the full answer to our prayers or the full impact of our declarations.
Paul encourages us by saying, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” (Gal. 6:9). The harvest comes if we do not give up. Undoubtedly, much of what God wants to do or is willing to do on the earth gets choked out because his people plant their seeds but do not continue to water them with prayer and expressions of faith. After a short season, we too often decide that God is not going to answer our prayer or honor a declaration so we stop tending the plant and it is choked out by the enemy or by our own unbelief. We need to be confident of our standing in the kingdom and of the authority our words carry in declarations and prayers. We need to be confident that if God has placed something on our hearts or has given us a word by his Spirit or a prophetic declaration, then we are the carrier of his word that is to go forth from our lips. We should then stand on that word until it is fulfilled or until God releases us. What a privilege and what a responsibility. Enjoy both. It comes with our dominion over the earth.
