The Lord has been reminding me lately of a truth I know well, but still sometimes forget.  It is the authority with which we speak as children of God.  Sometimes my prayers feel powerless and my commands seem to have little impact.  Sometimes I begin to forget who I am in Christ and feel totally ineffective. I begin to feel as if my words don’t matter. Sometimes I need a refresher course in the power God has entrusted to his people. 

The first chapter of Jeremiah is incredibly instructive about the power of our words.  Early in the chapter, God reveals to Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, before you were born, I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations” (Jer.1:5).  Like many others called by God, Jeremiah’s first response was, “I do not know how to speak; I am too young!” Moses, Gideon, Jeremiah, and others strenuously objected when God called them to their destiny.  Each felt inadequate.  Each was acutely aware of his weakness.

But then God goes on to say, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.  You must go to everyone I send you and say whatever I command you…I have put my words in your mouth. See. today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and over throw, to build and to plant’” (Jer. 1:7-10).  

As you read the remained for the book, you discover that Jeremiah never led an army or directed a revolution.  Yet, by simply declaring the words of the Lord, he launched initiatives in the heavenly realms that tore down nations and built them up.  God could have certainly done those things without any prophet declaring them.  But God chose to use men to whom he had given authority on this earth. God waited on his people to declare what he was going to do before he would do it.  God honors the authority he has given us.

Remember, God’s original intent was to give men who represented Him dominion and authority over all the works of his hands (Ps. 8:6). Jesus demonstrated that perfectly in his ministry.  He walked in the Father’s authority to heal the sick, raise the dead, cast out demons, multiply bread and fish, and still the squalls of the Sea of Galilee…with words.  Then he gave authority to his disciples, who also healed the sick, raised the dead and cast out demon…with words. Jesus then declared that those who would follow and believe in him would not only do what he had been doing but would do even greater things (Jn.14:12).…with words.

As followers of Jesus, our words have power and authority.  But how often do we feel helpless and weak.  In a sense, just as Jeremiah recognized his own inadequacy, we too are inadequate by ourselves.  But, like Jeremiah, God makes us adequate by giving us and our words authority and backing up that authority with the power of heaven.  Our failure is to focus on our own abilities rather than His.

When we pray, we pray with authority.  When we command demons, we do so with authority.  When we command illness, we do so with authority.  Certainly, the outcome is not always immediate or automatic.  ‘There are many times we must contend for the outcome with persistence, faith, and fervor.  But when we are aligned with God’s word and will, then it is his word going forth from our mouths just as it was with Jeremiah. Then the promise is that whenever God’s word goes forth, it always fulfills its purpose.  

In the moments when you feel weak and are on the verge of giving up, remember who you are and the authority God has granted you. His word does the work, but we are the ones who must declare it. As followers of Jesus, we walk in authority.  When we are aligned with the Father, heaven heeds our words and the spiritual realm moves on our behalf. The key to authority is believing that we possess it as representative of Christ on the earth. From time to time, I encourage you to refresh your faith and remember who you are because of Him.

Most of us are familiar with the account of Daniel in the lions’ den.  We know he wasTossed into the den for not worshiping King Darius. In the morning he was found to be unharmed because God had shut the mouths of the lions during the night.  This, of course, is a story of faith and obedience and God’s care for those who serve him faithfully.  However, there is another element of the story I want to focus on in this blog.

In Daniel 6, we discover that a number of King Darius’ officials were envious of Daniel because he had the king’s favor and was given a very high position in the kingdom.  These officials schemed against Daniel.  They knew they would never be able to find him negligent or guilty of any mishandling of the king’s business, but might be able to accuse him on the basis of his relationship with his God. Appealing to the king’s vanity, these officials encouraged him to make a decree that for the next 30 days, no one could pray to their God or another human other than Darius.  

These officials knew that Daniel would continue to pray to his God and so “catching him the act,” they reported him to Darius and reminded him of the decree he had issued.  The text says, “When the king heard this, he was greatly distressed; he was determined to rescue Daniel, and made every effort until sundown to save him” (Dan. 6:14).  

Darius was caught by his own words.  He had declared the edict without thinking through the possible ramifications.  Because he was king, his words had authority and once spoken, could not be revoked.  I assume that his “every effort” was a hasty search of Medo-Persian law to find some legal loophole that would allow Daniel to avoid the death penalty.  He could find none, however, and Daniel was tossed to the hungry carnivores.  

When Daniel survived the night, scripture says, “The king was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel out of the den.  And when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him because he had trusted in the Lord. At the king’s command, the men who had falsely accused Daniel were brought in and thrown into the lions’ den” (Dan. 6:23-24). 

There are numerous lessons in this story, but my focus for the moment is the danger of declaring things we have not thought out when we are people of authority.  Once spoken, these words can become law and will be enforced whether we want them to or not.  Many of us, as we were growing up, may have ventured to talk back to our mothers.  If we did, we probably her tell us to “watch your mouth.”  That is a biblical concept.

In Matthew 12, we are told, “But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned” (Mt. 12:36-37).  We tend to discount our words and expect we will never be called to account for the things we say.  We declare that we didn’t mean what we said, we were taken out of context, we were misunderstood, we misspoke, etc. How many of our government officials have “plead the fifth” on words they have spoken as they deny what was even caught on video.

So, if we give little thought to our words and expect no real consequences for our verbal declarations, why is Jesus giving such a stern warning?  It is because, in the heavenly realm, our words as believers carry authority.  When we speak, spiritual beings may well act to enforce what we have declared over our families, our health, our finances, our marriage, our children, our nation, our church, etc.  We can plead we didn’t mean it, but if we didn’t mean it, like Darius, we should not have spoken it.

Our words often bring unintended consequences, but we spoke them just the same and we, as followers of Jesus, have authority. If we have the authority to command demons in an act of deliverance, then our other words can command them as well…even if we “didn’t mean it.” How often do we declare curses over ourselves and others because we have not thought through the ramifications of our words

Proverbs counsels us over and over to measure our words and to be thoughtful about everything we say for “the tongue has the power of life and death.”  The New Testament writers counsel (command) us to speak blessings rather than curses, even over our enemies.  Our words have power and authority. Too often we are like Darius who spoke something without considering the ripples his words would send out.  I know better, but I often become careless with my words and speak negatively over situations and outcomes.  I forget that I am speaking death rather than life and that Jesus warns me to measure every word.

May we pray for wisdom and the Holy Spirit to convict us of our words before they even leave our tongues when we begin to speak carelessly.  Our words have consequences for us, our families, our children, and our nation as we move into the days ahead.   We should submit to the spiritual discipline of measuring our words and always speaking life rather than death over any person of circumstance.  It is also true that so much of what we say is so automatic that we are not even conscious of words we say throughout the day as we “pop off” to others.  If we are wise, we may want to invite the people closest to us to remind us when we have been careless and thoughtless with our words so that we may repent and redirect our own tongues.  

We get lots of warnings about our words…and rightfully so. We all know the proverb, “The tongue has the power of life and death” (Provide. 18:21) and the stern warning from Jesus that on the day of judgment, everyone will have to give account for every careless word he or she has spoken (Matt. 12:36). We tend to focus on the negative effects of the tongue, but perhaps we should focus more on the positive effects or the positive potential of our tongue.

The truth is that words carry power and authority. As followers of Jesus, we have been given authority to represent Him on the earth. As children of the King, our words carry great weight in the spiritual realm and in a sense, direct the activities of heaven. When we pray with faith, things start stirring in the heavenlies. When we declare the word of God over something, we release the powers of heaven to fulfill that word.

Although God is clearly sovereign, in his sovereignty he has decreed that much of what happens on this earth depends on our prayers, declarations, commands, and actions. The psalmist declared, “The highest heavens belong to the Lord, but the earth he has given to mankind” (Ps. 115:16). When he created man, especially Adam and Eve, he gave them dominion (authority) over the earth. They were to rule as his representatives, extending the ways of heaven over the earth. I believe Jesus demonstrated the dominion man once had before he was separated from God by sin. Of course, they sinned and, in doing so, turned that dominion over to Satan.

Jesus redeemed us from the curse of the Law and from the sovereignty of Satan. God, then, relaunched his initial intent to rule the earth through his sons and daughters, as they represent the Great King on this earth. As a result, we have authority and our words have authority. So, let’s consider how our words might bring about tremendous good in the earth.

Most of us are familiar with the Old Testament passage in which God declares, “so is my word that goes out from my mouth: it will not return to me empty but will accomplish what I desired and achieve the purpose for which I sent it” (Isa. 55:11). We get some insight into how this works from the prophet Jeremiah. There, the Lord tells the prophet, “I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and over throw, to build and to plant” (Jer. 1:9-10).

Jeremiah never led an army or fought a battle, but accomplished those things by declaring the word of God over those nations as God decreed. When God’s word was released by Jeremiah, then the heavenlies got busy making those words a reality. When God’s word goes forth from his lips to ours, and then from our lips over situations and circumstances, that word of God will still fulfill its purpose. We simply need to be Spirit-led to know when to declare God’s will over a person or circumstance. I also believe he gives us some freedom to declare his word and exercise his authority based on our own judgment and discernment as long as our declaration or command is consistent with his word and his ways.

Now consider the power of your words for good. Healing comes when we declare healing with our tongue, just as Jesus did. Demons are driven out when we command them with our tongue in the name of Jesus. Heaven moves on behalf of a person when we verbalize prayers because we represent the Father. When we bless thoughtfully and with faith, we should expect that blessing to manifest because we have standing in heaven.

Remember we are seated with Christ in the heavenly realms (Eph. 2:6). Being seated is a position of authority. We sit with Christ, therefore, we share in his authority. When we encourage, something happens beyond the emotional realm of a person and bears some kind of spiritual fruit because encouragement is one of the spiritual gifts. When we prophecy over a person, we are releasing the Word of God over them just as Jeremiah released that word over nations. It will accomplish God’s purpose. God has given us an amazing position in heaven so that we speak with authority…which is why we need to be very intentional with our words.

Most of us fail to recognize the power of our words and their authority. Our words can release angels in the heavenly realm to bless and protect or, because of our authority, can release demons to fulfill a curse if we speak carelessly. James tells us that we are not to utter curses, but are to be a source of blessing for all those we encounter (James 3:9-11). How much fun can it be to release blessings over people and know that good is coming their way because you have spoken and you have authority in heaven? That knowledge should brighten every day.

Because God has put much of this in our hands, he often wishes to do something but waits on us to declare a thing or pray a thing. He honors the authority he has given us. We have so much more power than we imagine because we forget who we are. It’s true that we need to ask with godly motives, but when we do, we should expect heaven to respond to our lead. You are a designated distributor of God’s blessings and heaven has no supply-chain issues to keep those blessings from manifesting. Know who you are. Speak blessings, healing, freedom, provision, encouragement, destiny, etc. over others and yourself. Speak with faith and purpose. See the good you can sow in the earth and enjoy the good fruit of your words. Oh by the way…be blessed today with the fulfillment of your greatest need.