“Then Hannah prayed and said, ‘My heart exults in the Lord; my strength is exalted through my God. My mouth is enlarged against my foes; because I rejoice in thy salvation.”
- 1 Samuel 2:1, JM Powis Smith translation
Having just read Charles Capps’ book, The Tongue: a Creative Force, about the power of speaking the Word of God and aligning our confessions with what He says, I was struck by this verse this week. Hannah said that her mouth was enlarged against her enemies as she rejoiced in the Lord. The New Berkeley translation says it this way, “In the Lord my heart is joyful; in the Lord my strength is heightened. Against my enemies my mouth is freely opened because of my enjoyment of Thy deliverance.” And I found myself wondering – if I’m truly rejoicing in the Lord and His deliverance, if I’m living in the power of Psalm 103 which tells me in verse 2 to bless Him and not forget all the wonderful things He’s done for me – how is it that my mouth is not enlarged and opened freely with faith-filled words to put the Enemy of our souls back in His place? Hannah says the two things – rejoicing in the Lord and His deliverance, and enlarging our mouths – go together! Mark 11:23-24 tells us the same thing – that when we have faith, what we say will cause the mountain (our enemy) to be cast into the sea. David and Goliath provide us another awesome example. David had been delighting in God, singing Psalms to his King, and when he faced an enemy, the first thing he did was speak to him! Having rejoiced in the Lord, he spoke faith-filled words to Goliath, telling him exactly the outcome he was expecting from the battle, exactly the answer to prayer he trusted God would provide. David didn’t go out and say, “I prayed and if it’s the Lord’s will, maybe I’ll kill you, and if it’s not, I guess I’ll die and you can take the nation of Israel for yourself.” He didn’t waver. He went with faith, with determination and tenacity and declared the victory he knew was his, saying, “You’ve come out to fight me with a sword and a spear and a dagger. But I’ve come out to fight you in the name of the Lord All-Powerful. He is the God of Israel’s army, and you have insulted him too! Today the Lord will help me defeat you. I’ll knock you down and cut off your head, and I’ll feed the bodies of the other Philistine soldiers to the birds and wild animals. Then the whole world will know that Israel has a real God. Everybody here will see that the Lord doesn’t need swords or spears to save his people. The Lord always wins his battles, and he will help us defeat you (CEV).” Sounds like his mouth was enlarged against his enemies, wouldn’t you say? So why isn’t ours?
Charles Capps writes at the beginning of his book, based on John 16:23-24, that, “Prayer is your legal right to use faith filled words to bring God on the scene in your behalf, or for another, that your joy may be full.” That’s what David was doing. He was bringing God on the scene with faith-filled Words, was inviting God to bring the victory, and afterwards, as he claimed his reward (King Saul’s daughter as a bride), I’m sure his joy was full! You see, God responds to our faith-filled words of prayer! Instead of complaining to God for excessive periods of time about the things in our lives that are frustrating to us (which, if you’ll notice, David decidedly did not do), we need to release our faith for change and thank God for His answers. I’m as guilty of this as anyone. I’m still learning to pray this way – and yet it’s amazing to me. Over the last few months, there have been two specific statements that I remember saying out loud (“Thank you God that you are preparing us a house in the country” and “Lord, I thank you that you will provide me a friend to share my heart with”) that have been answered within twenty-four hours. They weren’t long prayers. They weren’t flowery. But I didn’t release doubt and anxiety and spend time complaining about their current lack in my life. I thanked God that He was already moving to answer my prayers – and He did. There is something to this. On page 51 of his book, Charles Capps writes, “Jesus always spoke TO the problem. He spoke the desired results: the end results. We would be wise to follow His example,” and on page 56, he encouraged us by writing, “You can create a different world that you live in, by the words of your mouth, by speaking faith-filled words instead of speaking words of fear.” How does that work, you ask? It’s simple! In Jeremiah 1:12, God tells us that He watches over His word to perform it (KJV). When we are speaking His Word, when we are diligently aligning our words with His and releasing faith without doubting (always remember James’ caution about doubting in chapter 1 verse 6; we cannot simply try this once to see if it will work), our world will change, our experiences will change and come in line with the Word – they have to. It’s a spiritual law.
The two things I think I was most convicted about though, as I was reading this book and pondering this verse about Hannah, probably come later in the book:
1) On pages 68-69, Capps wrote, “Then [God] told me this, ‘Study and search my Word for promises that pertain to you as a believer. Make a list of these and confess them aloud daily. They will build into your spirit over a period of time. Then when these truths are established in your spirit they will become true in you’ … [And so] I began a process of training my spirit with the Word of God.”
I’ve heard this kind of teaching often, about the importance of my words, about speaking the Word constantly, and there have been times in my life where I’ve seen the fruit of it, where I’ve seen changes in my attitudes and behaviors and abilities to minister to people because I have been actively speaking the Word over myself every day … but in recent years, I’ve grown slack in this. To be honest, there’s really not a reason for it, either. I’ve simply grown lazy in this area of my walk with Christ, and I need to get back into that, need to study out the Scriptures I want to most inform my daily experiences, want to study out Scriptures that I can speak and celebrate over. I need to enlarge my mouth against my enemy and put him back in his place.
And:
2) On page 123, Capps wrote, “Faith filled words spark others’ faith that is dormant or inactive and cause it to be released. There is creative power released when you proclaim boldly things that are in agreement with the Word of God, and it causes others to release their faith.”
This probably ties back to the first. As I’ve grown lax in the first area, I’ve noticed that faith words don’t flow out of me to encourage people and elicit faith in them as much as they used to, for the following simple reason: if I’m not practicing when I’m by myself, speaking and confessing the Scriptures with diligence and strength of mind, they don’t get into my heart and don’t flow out of me when I’m with other people. And other people need my faith to spark theirs, you know? So I was horribly convicted by this point.
How about you? Have you read this book or others like it that talk to you about growing in faith? What have been your biggest struggles? Your biggest successes? How can you see that God is changing your life and your realities through your faithfulness to speak the Word? In case any of you out there are like me and are struggling to get back into the practice of speaking the Word of God in faith, or if you’ve never done this before, I’ll help you get started, and will dare you to speak these aloud daily – and watch as your heart and your mind are renewed, watch as your experiences change to align with the Word (and please – come back and tell us all about how it does!):
- Because I know the Lord my God, I am steadfast and accomplish notable feats (Daniel 11:32b, Berk.), brave deeds (Har.), mighty acts of valor (LB), fighting like a hero (Jerus), for the Kingdom of God. – Psalm 108:13
- My faith is turning dreams into deeds and betting my life on the unseen realities of God’s promises. – Hebrews 11:1, Jordan
- The path I walk is charted by faith, not by what I see with my eyes. Therefore there is no doubt that I live with a daring passion … 2 Corinthians 5:7-8a, Voice
- I persevere in believing in Christ, doing the same things He did and even greater things because Christ went to the Father (and intercedes for me there). – John 14:12
- I can do everything I need to do because Christ is the energizing center of my life. – Phil 4:13, Johnson
- The spirit that He has bestowed on me is not one that shrinks from danger; it is a spirit of action, of love, and of discipline. – 2 Timothy 1:7, Knox
- I don’t let anyone move me off the foundation of my faith. I always excel in the work I do for the Lord. I know that the hard work I do for the Lord is not pointless. - 1 Corinthians 15:58, GW
- Since I know what lies ahead of me, I am not bored with being a Christian, nor am I spiritually dull or indifferent (LB). I am not a spiritual moron, rather, I am an imitator of those great souls who by creative and persistent effort achieved their dreams [for the glory of God] (Jordan). – Hebrews 6:12
- Yes, I keep alert. I am firm in my faith. I am brave and strong in the Lord. – 1 Corinthians 16:13, CEV
- I quickly carry out the tasks assigned me by the God who sent Jesus into this world, for I know there is little time left. – John 9:4, LB
- I live life then, with a due sense of responsibility, not as someone who does not know the meaning and purpose of life, but as one who does! I make the best use of my time, despite all the difficulties of these days. I am not vague, but I firmly grasp what I know to be the will of God. – Ephesians 5:15-17, Phillips
- I submit to God. I resist the devil and he flees from me! I draw near to God and He draws near to me. – James 4:7-8, ESV
- I walk along in the ever brightening light of God’s favor. – Proverbs 4:18, LB
- God’s beauty and love chase after me everyday of my life. – Psalm 23:6, MSG
- The Lord forgives my sins, heals me when I am sick, and protects me from death. His kindness and love are a crown on my head. Each day that I live, He provides for my needs and gives me the strength of a young eagle. – Psalm 103:3-5, CEV
- As I stand in awe of the Eternal One, following wherever He leads, committed in my heart, I experience His blessings. God uses my hard work to provide me food. I prosper in my labor, and it goes well for me. – Psalm 128:1-2, Voice
- The Lord makes me successful in my daily work. – Deuteronomy 28:6, CEV
Comments
Post a Comment