When God speaks, things happen.
He spoke the universe into being and Jesus' words changed hearts, foiled Satan, healed people.
Now, many prayer warriors use God's words - his promises and commitments - as they pray for themselves and others around them.
I have been reflecting on this and I believe that declaring God's word is powerful. Of course, any effective prayer must be according to God's will (1 John 5:14-15).
Kyle Winkler, author of Activating the Power of God's Word, says the Lord's word is "a signature inked in heaven that cannot be annulled but is supernaturally binding and everlasting".
"When God speaks, His Words contain the authority of His majesty, which all creation obeys."
Winkler notes that God has delegated to us the authority to use his words for his purposes. For instance, the apostle Paul says in Ephesians 6:17 that we are to use the "Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God" in dealing with dark forces active in this world.
"You and I are able to give voice to God's Word so that when we speak it, it maintains God's authority as if He has spoken it Himself," the author says.
Winkler says that he was "excessively shy" as a child and felt "alone, timid, rejected and not good enough". Satan exploits such feelings in believers, stealing their joy and confidence.
Then, he learned about his "new identity" as a believer - a new person who is loved unconditionally. Jesus had become Winkler's righteousness.
"Who you are in Christ is made up of the qualities of His image that you get to call your own, simply because of His effort and striving at the cross. It is the result of His finished work, not yours."
Winkler discusses Satan's effort to derail Jesus by tempting him in the wilderness after he was baptized in the Jordan River. In each of Satan's attempts, Jesus responded by quoting God's word until the Devil gave up and left (Matthew 4).
"Paul said that we shut down Satan's mind games by taking negative thoughts captive to God's Word," he writes. "In other words, if Satan says 'You are worthless', replace that thought with the truth of God's Word . . ."
He suggests several steps to transforming our thinking - begin with the correct truths from scripture; declare the truths aloud; act upon this truth; and return to this truth whenever we fail until it becomes a habit. Then, our character will change.
Winkler says he changed as he applied scripture to his life. His growth "depended on a consistent, daily habit of speaking God's Word, not an occasional emergency dose".
As Jesus told Satan when he was tempted in the wilderness:
"It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"
He spoke the universe into being and Jesus' words changed hearts, foiled Satan, healed people.
Now, many prayer warriors use God's words - his promises and commitments - as they pray for themselves and others around them.
I have been reflecting on this and I believe that declaring God's word is powerful. Of course, any effective prayer must be according to God's will (1 John 5:14-15).
Kyle Winkler, author of Activating the Power of God's Word, says the Lord's word is "a signature inked in heaven that cannot be annulled but is supernaturally binding and everlasting".
"When God speaks, His Words contain the authority of His majesty, which all creation obeys."
Winkler notes that God has delegated to us the authority to use his words for his purposes. For instance, the apostle Paul says in Ephesians 6:17 that we are to use the "Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God" in dealing with dark forces active in this world.
"You and I are able to give voice to God's Word so that when we speak it, it maintains God's authority as if He has spoken it Himself," the author says.
Winkler says that he was "excessively shy" as a child and felt "alone, timid, rejected and not good enough". Satan exploits such feelings in believers, stealing their joy and confidence.
Then, he learned about his "new identity" as a believer - a new person who is loved unconditionally. Jesus had become Winkler's righteousness.
"Who you are in Christ is made up of the qualities of His image that you get to call your own, simply because of His effort and striving at the cross. It is the result of His finished work, not yours."
Winkler discusses Satan's effort to derail Jesus by tempting him in the wilderness after he was baptized in the Jordan River. In each of Satan's attempts, Jesus responded by quoting God's word until the Devil gave up and left (Matthew 4).
"Paul said that we shut down Satan's mind games by taking negative thoughts captive to God's Word," he writes. "In other words, if Satan says 'You are worthless', replace that thought with the truth of God's Word . . ."
He suggests several steps to transforming our thinking - begin with the correct truths from scripture; declare the truths aloud; act upon this truth; and return to this truth whenever we fail until it becomes a habit. Then, our character will change.
Winkler says he changed as he applied scripture to his life. His growth "depended on a consistent, daily habit of speaking God's Word, not an occasional emergency dose".
As Jesus told Satan when he was tempted in the wilderness:
"It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"
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