We can make a large horse go wherever we want by means of a small bit in its mouth. And a small rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot chooses to go, even though the winds are strong. In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches.
James 3:3-6
As my squad leader Jenny Brown would sing, “Bold statement.� On Monday we went and spoke to the girls in a high school nearby and talked about the power of our words. We do these things called declarations sometimes; they are basically phrases of truth to declare backed up by scripture. I will share some of my personal favorites…
“I am dead to sin and alive to obeying Christ.â€� (Romans 6:11)
“My prayers are powerful and effective.â€� (2 Cor 5:21, James 5:16b)
“I uproariously laugh when I hear a lie from the devil!â€� (Psalms 2:2-4)
“I expect to have divine appointments today, to heal the sick, the raise the dead, prophesy life and lead people to Christ, to bring deliverance, to release signs and wonders and bless every place I go.â€� (The Book of Acts)
Those are just a few; we generally stand on furniture and do them. Now I realize this may seem a bit odd, but look at the weight of the passage above. Our words have power. If our negative words have the power to set fire to an entire forest, imagine what speaking the truth of our Heavenly Father could do! I love the imagery of a little rudder steering a boat in a big storm. I am the boat, the waters are life, and my words are that little rudder. When the waters of life rage we have the power to speak death or to speak like into our situation. Not to mention how we have the power to speak God’s truth over other people! We shared all of this with the girls and proceeded to ask them all to stand up to do some declarations.
It was one of those moments too great to capture. There was so much truth in that little school room. With 100 plus young women declaring their identities and authority in Christ, it just about brought me to tears. There is power in our words. There is power in the things we speak over ourselves and others; they are a reflection of what is in our heart. James 3 talks about the fires of hell being released from our mouths, but there is another flame that burns in the hearts believers; a flame of love, the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. I wonder what would happen if we released THAT flame to the world?
Sing it with me, “Bold statement.�
“Therefore, since we are receiving a Kingdom that cannot be
shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God with reverence and awe, for our
“God is an all consuming fire.�
Hebrews 12:28-29
