“And He said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest. Again He said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live…”
Ezekiel 37: 3-5
Throughout the scriptures, God uses His people to speak on His behalf. Notice God did not prophecy to the bones directly. He had the prophet speak the command to them. The same is true of Moses. When the Red Sea parted, The Lord told Moses: “But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.” Exodus 14:16
Mark 11:22-24: “And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.”
The Lord is showing us the formula for victory over every situation. We are to believe and then speak the desired result. Find the promise of God over the situation, then couple it with your faith and release it out of your mouth. Once you pray and ask God, it is then time for you to now decree the word. In other words, prophecy over your situation. Job 22:28 declares: “Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways.”
We use the authority that God has already given to us as believers in Christ. We speak the desired result by faith and know that it will surely come to pass, calling things that be not as thou they were. This is why in Ephesians 6 we are told that the sword of the spirit is the word of God! The word of God in our mouths is the weapon we use to fight our battles.
In fact, our words are so powerful in determining what course our lives will take, that the Lord had to take drastic measures with Zacharias when his wife was pregnant with John the Baptist. An angel appeared to Zacharias to bring the great news that he and his wife were going to have a child. They were now old and past the age to have children, yet their prayers were finally coming to pass. Even though Zacharias would have been familiar with the story of Abraham and Sarah, he could not bring himself to believe the words of the angel, and instead questioned how it could come to pass. The angel responded: “I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings. And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed; because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season.” Luke 1:19-20
Suddenly Zacharias could not speak. In fact, he was unable to speak one word until after the baby was born. When they asked Zacharias what the baby should be named, he wrote the name that the angel Gabriel had decreed to him. At that moment his mouth was loosed, and he was able to speak for he was now in agreement with God. Now he would use faith filled words, not words of doubt and unbelief. The Lord could not have Zacharias abort the promised child with doubt filled words, so he had to shut his mouth until he could believe in his heart what God had said.
This same principle applied to Israel when they were told to take the great walled city of Jericho. God commanded them to march around the walls once a day for six days. However, on the seventh day they were told to compass it about seven times and then when the trumpet sounded a long blast, to shout with a great shout. He let them know that the walls would then fall flat. Joshua shared this word from the Lord with the people and commanded them: “Ye shall not shout, nor make any noise with your voice, neither shall any word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I bid you shout; then shall ye shout.” Joshua 6:10
Joshua knew the importance of their words. If they questioned God as they walked around the walls, complaining about the strange instructions like their parents did in the desert, they could’ve ended up like their parents who never entered the promise land. He understood how toxic words of doubt and unbelief can be. It can spread like wildfire. In fact, when it was time to take the promised land originally, it was the evil report that the 10 spies had given that spread doubt and fear throughout the camp. Only Joshua and Caleb returned with a faith filled report. That faithless talking caused the Israelites to have to wait 40 years before they could enter the promised land. All those who were of age and kept confessing that they would die in the desert, ended up dying in the desert just as they believed and spoke. Instead, their children and grandchildren ended up fulfilling the promise God had given and took the promise land. This promise was intended for all the Israelites. However, because they refused to speak faith, but instead spoke fear and doubt, their children ended up fulfilling the promise they were meant to fulfill.
Therefore, let’s choose to enter in all that God has promised for us! Let’s start 2024 by speaking the promise of God over our lives. Let’s determine this year that we will speak life, not death. We will speak blessing not cursing over every situation we encounter. Let’s use our mouths to prophecy good not evil over our circumstances. Speak the word only and see God operate on your behalf! As you do, you will have more than you’ve ever had before in 2024!
Further Reading: Exodus 14, Numbers 13-14, Joshua 1, Joshua 6, Mark 11, Luke 1: 1-25 & 57-80, Romans 4, Ephesians 6:10-16
