Joyce Meyer - The Secret Power of Speaking Gods Word

2004 by Joyce Meyer

All rights reserved.

Unless otherwise noted Scriptures are taken from The Amplified Bible (AMP). The Amplified Bible, Old Testament, copyright 1965, 1987 by The Zondervan Corporation. The Amplified New Testament, copyright 1954, 1958, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Scriptures noted (THE MESSAGE) are taken from The Message: The Prophets by Eugene Peterson. Copyright 2000 by Eugene H. Peterson. NavPress Publishing Group, P.O. Box 35001, Colorado Springs, CO 80935. Used by permission.

Scriptures noted (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible: New International Version. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

Scriptures quotations marked (NKJV) are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1979, 1980, 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc., Publishers.

Scriptures noted (TLB) are taken from The Living Bible, copyright 1971. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (GNT) are taken from the Good News TranslationSecond Edition 1992 by the American Bible Society. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Warner Books

Little, Brown and Company

Hachette Book Group, USA

237 Park Avenue

New York, NY 10017

Visit our Web site at www.HachetteBookGroupUSA.com.

ISBN: 978-0-446-51968-7

First eBook Edition: August 2004

Do You Want to Know a Secret?

Everybody does! And I have discovered a powerful secret that I want to share with youa secret that literally changed my life.

In 1976 God graciously granted me revelation on the power of confessing His Word out loud. Prior to 1976 I was a very negative person who always had negative things to say. Due to abuse in my past and growing up in a very negative atmosphere, my outlook on life was: If I dont expect anything good to happen to me, then I wont be disappointed when it doesnt.

God had been dealing with me about the very destructive problem of being negative, and I had made a lot of progress in changing the way I thought and spoke. I was careful not to speak negatively, but I was not yet experiencing the positive changes in my life I desired. One day as I was talking to the Lordbasically complaining because I felt I had stopped being negative and had not seen positive changesI sensed God speaking to my heart: Joyce, you have stopped saying negative things, but you have not started saying positive things. It is good to stop doing wrong things, but the real harvest comes in our lives when we plant seed by doing the right thing.

Instantly I knew in my spirit what I needed to do. I spent the next few days compiling a confession list. It consisted of Scriptures from Gods Word and changes that I wanted to see happen in my life. I made sure everything I was planning to confess was in agreement with Gods Word. For most of my confessions I actually had chapter and verse to back them up. Using that list, I began confessing Gods Word out loud twice a day. I can honestly say that was the beginning of wonderful changes in me, my family, and my life.

Romans 4:17 states that God speaks life to the dead and calls nonexistent things as if they already existed. I began doing the same thing. I was calling those things that did not yet exist in my life into being by confessing Gods Word. I must stress that the things I confessed are in Gods Wordthey were not just things that I had decided I wanted. Confessing Gods Word is not a way to get our own will accomplished but, rather, the will of God. As we believe and confess Gods Word we are setting ourselves in agreement with Him for His plan to come to pass in our lives.

As one acquaintance of mine says, you cannot defeat Goliath with your mouth shut. We all have enemies or giants in our lives that need to be defeated. First Samuel 17:42-48 tells us that when David was preparing to do battle with the giant Goliath, he ran toward him confessing out loud what he believed the end result of the battle would be.

Then said David to the Philistine, You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the ranks of Israel, Whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will smite you and cut off your head. And I will give the corpses of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.

1 SAMUEL 17:45-46

We can easily see from Davids example how we should approach the enemies that we face in our own lives. We must open our mouth and speak the Word of God.

He prophesied the end result from the beginning of the event. God does the same thing according to His Word.

[Earnestly] remember the former things, [which I did] of old; for I am God, and there is no one else; I am God, and there is none like Me, Declaring the end and the result from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure and purpose.

ISAIAH 46:9-10

You have heard [these things foretold], now you see this fulfillment. And will you not bear witness to it? I show you specified new things from this time forth, even hidden things [kept in reserve] which you have not known. They are created now [called into being by the prophetic word]....

ISAIAH 48:6-7

We also have angels available to help us, and they hearken to the voice of Gods Word.

Are not the angels all ministering spirits (servants) sent out in the service [of God for the assistance] of those who are to inherit salvation?

HEBREWS 1:14

Bless (affectionately, gratefully praise) the Lord, you His angels, you mighty ones who do His commandments, hearkening to the voice of His word.

PSALM 103:20

This is exciting! When we confess Gods Word out loud, the angels hear it and go to work for us. It is easy to see we cannot defeat the enemy unless we wield the two-edged sword of Gods Word. As David ran toward Goliath (not away from him), the Word was going forth out of his mouth, and angels were activated to assist him.

The angels are not activated by our complaining, murmuring, doubting, and unbelief. They want to work on our behalf, that is their assignment from God, but we need to release them by speaking or praying Gods Word.

Just as we need natural disciplines such as discipline to work and disciplines concerning appetites, finances, and so on, we also need spiritual disciplines such as prayer, Bible study, and confessing Gods Word out loud. We may not always want to, but as we discipline ourselves to do these things, they will become habits. Then we will see good results just as we see good results from any other discipline that is applied over a period of time. Doing something good one time does not produce long-lasting good results. Discipline doesnt produce immediate joy, but it is an investment that will pay great dividends in due time. (Hebrews 12:11).

I strongly encourage you to confess the Word of God out loud dailyeven two or three times a day, or throughout the day as the Holy Spirit prompts you. Each time a thought comes to your mind that does not agree with Gods Word, confess the truth of Gods Word out loud, and you will find the wrong thought disappearing.