Lately, I have been hearing a lot of preaching/ teaching about the words of our mouth. This is nothing new to me. Brother Norvel Hayes constantly taught us that life and death is in the power of the tongue. For this reason, my daughter and I are always shocked when we hear spirit-filled, born-again believers saying something that is opposite the word or will of God.
Proverbs 18:21 teaches us that life and death are in the power of the tongue. Think about that a moment, every single solitary word we speak is doing one of two things: creating life or releasing death. Our words have immense power to produce life – that is the good news. Unfortunately, they also have the power to release death into situations.
When I hear people says things like; “My head is killing me.” Or “My kids will never come back to God; they are going to kill themselves.” I cringe. I really do. And if my daughter is around, we get this big eyed looked and look at each other thinking “did they just say that?!” It comes from many years of being told about the power that resides in our words.
For months, I have been dealing with a physical issue. At first, I only said what God says about it. However, after many months of doctor visits and having to share the ‘facts’ my words began to slip. And yes, I ate the fruit of those words. However, it didn’t take long for me to turn my words around.
Back to what I was sharing – lately I have been hearing a lot of preaching about the words of our mouth, especially from Pastor Terry Trussel. Often, he would remind me to say what God says. I’m so thankful for men and women of God who keep us accountable.
My grandmother used to say, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.” On the days I was battling the worst, I became quiet and didn’t say much. I thought I was doing the right thing by keeping quiet. However, I was gently corrected by God.
One morning I walked through my kitchen, determined to not allow facts to come out of my mouth. Worship music was playing in the background, and I was simply being quiet. God spoke to my heart and said these words. “Silence is deadly.”
What did He mean? It’s not enough to not speak negatively. No! We must declare the word of God. If we don’t, life it not being released. I am not saying you must constantly speak a certain scripture but I am saying, if you want to release life, you must say something.
So, that day, I prayed and felt the Lord put a certain scripture in my heart. I confessed that scripture all day long. Every time something came to mind, I confessed that scripture. What was I doing? I was releasing life.
Many years ago, while I worked for Norvel Hayes Ministries, it was my habit to get up and confess healing scriptures over myself. Every single day, I did that. It was many years later that I realized during that time I was never sick. Not even a cold or virus. I walked in health. How? By releasing life into my body daily.
I was talking with my friend, Marsha, about this one day. She shared with me how she broke herself from saying negative words. Each time she would say something negative, she would make herself say afterward, “And that’s the way I want it”. Think about that, if you were to say, “I am catching the flu, and that’s the way I want it.” Or, “My kids don’t listen to anything I say, and that’s the way I want it.” How long would it take you to stop saying those things.
The Bible says we will eat the fruit of our lips. Therefore, whatever is coming out of your mouth, better be the way you want it, because that is what you will eat of.
My friend, our words carry life. And death. Make sure you are imparting life and nothing else. We will, no doubt, have what we say. And remember, it is not enough to refuse to say anything negative. Silence is deadly – we must continually speak life.
