I am so passionate about this.
One thing that the Lord has made very clear to me is the power of the tongue. Time and time again, I have witnessed the words I speak over situations, events or relationships come to pass- whether for good or for bad.
The three major incidents that come to mind are:
1.) My sophomore year of undergrad, I was determined to study abroad. As a fashion major, my first choice was to study in China, however, that program wouldn’t be offered until the following summer, but that did not deter me. I made up my mind to spend the summer outside of my comfort zone and wanted to experience the Lord in a deeper way–however that looked like. I spent days looking for programs outside of my major before landing at an opportunity to study in Costa Rica with the communications department studying interracial relations amongst Costa Ricans. I had NO money to afford this $6k+ trip AND pay for my rent in Georgia during the summer, BUT, by faith I made the $300 deposit and gave my concerns to Jesus. I remember emailing the program coordinator (who unknown to me at the time is a strong woman of faith) and telling her I really want to go and will submit the deposit to secure my spot, but did not have enough coins to fund this month-long trip. For the next few months, I prayed and petitioned to God if this trip is according to His plans for me to please make a way. Now mind you- though the trip was not paid for, I was telling everyone my summer plans to study in Costa Rica and how excited and expectant I was. LOL. Long story short, my words came to life through several scholarships I applied for in faith and through the program coordinator going to BAT for me. I was able to afford the trip in full and use the REMAINING funds to pay for my summer rent 2 months in advance. JESUS.
2.) The same incident happened the following year. Remember in point 1, I mentioned the fashion trip to China was taking place the following summer? Well fast-forward to a year later, it was time to submit applications and put in a deposit to secure my spot. Again, I did not have the funds to completely fund the trip, however, by faith I spoke that Jesus will make a way and this too will be taken care of… and YET AGAIN.. I received scholarships and random payments that covered this trip as well.
3.) A humbling and truly amazing incident was getting accepted to Columbia University with full tuition covered. For as long as I can remember, I always said Jesus will pay for my graduate studies if that is something He wanted me to pursue. After taking out loans for undergrad, I refused to take out any more for the pursuit of higher education.. no, no, no. I constantly spoke, “Jesus will pay for my masters”. I’m sure some people looked at me with the side eye and thought “okayyy girl, but keep that FAFSA tab open too”. But in my spirit, I know that this was for me and by faith, I applied to schools knowing I wasn’t in the position to afford it but fully knowing I should not lean on my own understanding. He has made a way in the past and His track record is solid and undeniable. I even took it a step further and wrote this caption WEEKS BEFORE I heard back from the admissions department.
Again, I wrote this caption weeks before I even knew I was admitted. These incidents were life-changing and were a direct result of faith. There are both small and big incidents in my life where I did not see the Lord’s hand in but trusted him anyway and I have not been led astray.
DECLARE IT! DECLARE IT! DECLARE IT!
As children of God, our tongues (words) have a lot of power. Proverbs 18:21 confirms this by saying, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits." While it is common practice to complain, speak negativity, underestimate people and situations, I am a firm believer that the words you speak will play out in the same way you have spoken it. Are your words about others, your relationships, your family, your finances, your health life-giving or producing death, anxiety and worry? Seriously, monitor your conversations for the next few days and honestly answer that question. The Bible consistently talks about calling things that are not as if they are and watch how things start to shift both in the physical and spiritual AND in your heart.
Quick pause: This isn’t about satisfying your own desires at all nor self-serving, our prayers should be according to His will.
Let me attempt to explain the above point further. So we are spirits. We have our physical bodies, our souls and our spirit. The physical realm is what we see and experience everyday in our physical bodies, however, we are spirits and there is indeed a spiritual realm that is also just as real as the physical, though you cannot see it, you can definitely experience it. Spiritually, what our tongue produces has eternal implications and it reveals what is in our heart. Jesus said that “the good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him” (Matthew 12:35). In other words, if you find yourself constantly speaking negatively about people and circumstances or just have a general pessimistic outlook on life, it is a good idea to give that to the Lord and ask Him to reveal and to remove whatever has taken root in your heart that is producing death. The good that He has placed in our hearts are meant to be experienced and spoken over people and circumstances– nothing less. But first, we have to acknowledge that within ourselves we cannot produce any good outside of His spirit working in us giving us the thoughts, ideas, confidence and faith to speak life even if we are surrounded by dead-end and hopeless situations. Whew. Hope you’re still with me.
Now onto the physical, Words create actions, good and bad. Think one does not need much explaining because we’ve all been in situations where we knew we should have kept our mouths closed but didn’t and things ended badly. Or speaking up at the right time and experienced positive effects. There’s so much I can say on this topic from what I have experienced personally and what I have witnessed through others. In addition, another verse that comes to mind is: Isaiah 59:2-3 where Isaiah is talking about how we will have to give an account for every single word we’ve ever spoken.
“Men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken” (Matthew 12:36).
I do not know about you, but I take the Bible at its word (still growing but this isn’t a truth I can easily discard). This verse is the real deal. I don’t want to be judged based on gossiping, lying, cursing, speaking death over things He has called to life and wants me to water daily. I speak life over my family, my partner, his family, friendships, others and their lives, my edges, future businesses, future marriages, my future children, the future in general, the present, my pastor and his ministry, the U.S., countries in war, heck countries in peace, everything. And I have seen the fruit of this time and time again of doing this regularly over every area of my life. I am speaking from real experience that spoken words produce real life results.
I pray that as you read my words that you will get encouraged to take the Bible at its word and believe every single promise the Lord has written and it blesses you deep in your soul. I pray that it is well over you and everything that concerns you. I pray that you are a huge blessing in the lives of others through your words and your actions.
Until next time!💋💋
