Your Words Place You
You can tell if a person is believing right by what he/she says. If his confession and declarations are wrong, his believing is wrong. If his believing is wrong, his thinking is wrong. And if his thinking is wrong, it’s because his mind is not renewed with the word of God.
I am becoming more and more convinced that our successes and failures, our limitations, are due to the way we think, believe, and confess about ourselves. And one of our limitations in that area is that we’ve had a hard time thinking we can change.
We can be anything the word of God says we can be!
We can be anything that the word of God says we should be. It would be unjust for God to require us to do something if it were impossible. Maybe it is impossible in our own strength and ability, but with God all things are possible. With the commandment He also gives the ability.
Here are some scriptures that might be “hard to swallow” at first glance. But remember – we can do everything the Word tells us to.
2 Corinthians 2:14 KJV 14 Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.
Ephesians 5:25 25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
Philippians 4:6 6 Be anxious for nothing (don’t worry about anything!), but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;
Mark 11:23 23 For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.
Matthew 5:48 48 Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.
“Well, I believe I can flap my arms and fly to LA.” The Word does not promise that. If you need to fly to LA, God can provide an airline ticket. Then I suppose if you want to flap your arms while in the air, you could.
Mark 16:20 20 And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.
Notice God confirms His word. If it’s not His word, He is not obligated to confirm it.
People who bring up examples like this, of other people believing something that is not promised in the word of God (although maybe not so outlandish) usually have a hard time believing the things God does promise in his word. They are so afraid of being in presumption that they won’t take risk.
It takes risk when you are in the grocery store, and the Holy Spirit speaks on the inside of you and tells you to go pray for that person. “But what if nothing happens?” But what if it does? You’ll never know unless you step out.
Even if nothing miraculous happens, most people appreciate being prayed for.
Todd White started praying for people in stores. Over 100 times, nothing happened (I don’t think I would have his tenacity!). But then, the miracles started happening. A few at first, then more and more often.
What drove him? The word of God.
Mark 16:17-18 17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues;
18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.“
So God will work with us, confirming His word. If we’re not confessing/declaring His word, we don’t give Him much to work with.
A lot of time what we’ve done is confess our doubts, shortcomings, and failures. There is someone who works hard to bring those things to pass; who goes about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8).
If you confess and believe doubt, weakness, and failure you become one of those that he may devour – you give him permission.
“Oh Scott, you scare me. You make me afraid the devil is going to get me.”
If you’ve been confessing doubt and failure, the devil’s already got you – and that’s why your life is in such a mess. I don’t say these things to scare anybody, but to wake them up about doing something about it!
Faith’s Confession Creates Realities
Mark 11:22-24 22 So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God.
23 For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.
24 Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.
Notice it mentions saying three times in vs. 23, and believing once. This tells me that there is as much or even more emphasis on saying it as there is on believing it. It requires both to work.
What do you do when you have doubts? When you know what the Word says, but you don’t really believe it on the inside?
“I just feel like I’d be lying if I said that”. Your feelings do not determine the truth of something. God’s promises are obtained by faith and trust, not feelings.
2 Corinthians 5:7 7 For we walk by faith, not by sight (that which is perceived by the physical senses).
Ask yourself the question: is it God’s word? Is God a liar? Then how can you be a liar saying what God says?
“I know God said says it, but it’s just not true in my life”.
Why do you say it’s not true?
“Because I can see that it’s not. I still have that bad habit. I still have that condition in my body.”
Remember we are not to walk – to order our behavior – by what we perceive with our physical senses, which includes our feelings. If you wait until you feel like it’s true before you say it and believe it, you’ll never feel it. Feelings follow faith, not the other way around.
I’ve taught on this before, but James 3 talks about how the tongue is like a bit in a horse’s mouth or a rudder on a ship. Both of those things control the direction you are going in – the “course of your life”. Nowadays we might liken it to a steering wheel on a car. If you want to change direction, you need to turn the wheel – and remember that wheel is your tongue and what you say.
Romans 4:17 17 (as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations”) in the presence of Him whom he believed–God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did;
This scripture is talking about Abraham. God changed his name from Abram, meaning father, to Abraham, meaning father of a multitude. He did this before Abraham had any kids! He talked about things that did not yet exist as if they already did.
“Well of course God could do that because anything He says always comes to pass”. But it is clear in the scripture that God wants us to emulate Him in this and do the same.
The first verse in Mark 11 that we read was “Have faith in God”. A side note in the KJV reads “have the faith of God” – i.e., have the kind of faith that God has. God believes that the things He says will comes to pass. He wants us to do the same.
You want to be an overcome, and more than a conquerer? You’ll never be one until you start calling yourself one.
Faith’s confession creates realities. Declarations you make in faith will alter the course of your life.
Really Hearing
“Okay, I’ll say it, but deep down in my heart I know I don’t really believe it yet.”
That’s OK, at least you’ve taken the first step. Some people won’t even take that first step and acknowledge that God’s word is truer than what they hear, feel, or see.
Romans 10:17 17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Most people shorten this to say “faith comes by hearing the word of God”. But it doesn’t really say that, there are two parts: “Hearing” comes by the word of God. Then faith comes by “hearing”. It is a special kind of hearing.
Remember when Jesus would say things like “He who has ears to hear, let him hear”? Just because the words have registered in your eardrums and signals sent to your brain, doesn’t mean that you’ve “heard”. We have the expression, “in one ear and out the other”. That means you heard the words with your ears, but they did not register on your consciousness (my wife has accused me of this).
Hebrews 4:2 2 For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it.
Galatians 3:2 2 This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
There is this idea that the hearing has to be mixed with faith – i.e., believing – for it to do you good.
The “hearing” spoken of in the Bible is not a passive thing. It requires you to participate in what you hear.
- Give heed to the Word – pay attention to it
- Accept what you hear – receive the Word. Acknowledge the truth of it
- Believe it
- Act on it
It is doing steps 1 and 2 that gives you the ability to do steps 3 and 4. Receiving the word of God gives you the capacity to really “hear” it, and it is that kind of “hearing” that builds faith in you. And one of the best ways of making that transition is to speak the Word.
I know it sounds like I am repeating myself, but it is a practice that most Christians don’t do. They would rather say what they have rather than want they want to have. But if you only say what you have, you’ll continue to only have what you have now.
Changing what you think
2 Corinthians 10:3-5 3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh.
4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds,
5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,
Good thoughts and bad thoughts. What constitutes a “bad thought”? Most people would think thinking bad upon a person and wishing them ill will is a bad thought – and it is. But most of our “bad thoughts” are directed towards ourselves.
It talks about an argument (KJV imagination) that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. So if it contradicts what God says, it is a “bad thought”.
It’s no harder to think good thoughts than it is to think bad thoughts – it’s just a matter of habit.
So how do you change a habit? Scientists studying the brain have made great inroads into understanding this within the past few years. Thoughts create neural pathways in our brains, and as we think along the same lines, that pathway is reinforced and established. At some point, that way of thinking becomes a habit. The brain wants to conserve energy, so it takes the “path of least resistance” where you’ve built up that pathway.
Think of a forest with dense underbrush, that a path has been established through. It’s easy to walk down the established path. But establishing a new habit is like building a new trail through the underbrush. It’s not easy! You have to push your way through. But if you do it over and over, you will eventually build a new path that will be easy to traverse.
The scientists say that it takes approximately 63 days to establish a new neural pathway to the point where it becomes a habit.
So the key to it is this – persistence and consistency! You have to keep at the new behavior, or way of thinking, and not quit. The best way to do this is to establish a routine of some type. Keep it up, every day, over a couple of months and it will become easy.
I have an example of this in my own life. I was overweight. Why? Because I ate too many calories for the exercise I was doing (that is the only way to lose weight – you have to burn more calories than you take in). Just thinking the thoughts, “I need to lose weight” did nothing.
My wife gave me a couple of months of the NutriSystem diet plan as a Christmas present. Now some might think of that as an insult, but it really was a blessing to me, because I had used it before in the early 2000’s to lose 80 pounds. But over the years it had crept back up (but not to the level as before), especially during COVID.
What NutriSystem did for me was establish a routine. They supplied the food, which was actually pretty decent. It came with an app where you could punch in what you ate and the amounts and it would give you the calorie count. You ate the NutriSystem food during the week, and your own food on weekends. That way you learned what type of things and how much you could eat of “regular” food. Good stuff, too, and I was not hungry.
When the two months’ worth (there’s that 63 days) of the Nutrisystem food was gone, I had re-established my eating habits, and it was very easy to keep it up. I reached my goal and lost 42 pounds.
So there is a natural example. But how do you apply this to changing your thoughts and beliefs? Have you ever tried to not think something?
Identify where you need to change your thinking or beliefs.
Make an assessment of where you are believing a lie – i.e., something contrary to what God says.
Every area in your life that is not glistening with hope is an area where you are believing a lie.
–Igniting Hope Ministries
Pick something to concentrate on
If you do an assessment of your beliefs like above, you are most likely going to find a whole lot of areas that don’t measure up to what God says. This can be totally overwhelming, and send you into deeper hopelessness. Pick one or two to concentrate on.
As the Holy Spirit for help. What you think might be the most important thing to concentrate on isn’t necessarily the first things God would want you to concentrate on. I.e., tackling the 16 lane superhighway stronghold in your mind right off the bat might not be the wisest thing to start with.
Research what God says about you in those areas
The goal is not to find out what we are doing wrong, but what we can do that is right. Find the scriptures! Who does it say you are, what does it say you have, and what does it say you can do.
Use your imagination to build a picture of what you would be like if you were a conqueror in that area – if you were doing what God says.
Establish a routine of confession / declaration
The best way is to set up a time when you make declarations of what God says about you, taken from the Word. You want to make it easy to be consistent.
Make a list. Pick a time that you can keep. It might be in the early morning if you are a morning person, or in the evening if you are a night owl.
You want to establish a routine so that you are consistent, but you don’t want it to be so “routine” that you don’t put thought into it, i.e., just go through the motions. Be intentional and concentrate on what you are doing.
As you become familiar with these declarations, when a thought pops up that is contrary to them, the declaration will automatically come out of you.
Begin acting according to the new image
When and where appropriate, begin acting according to the new image you are building.
As you begin to change your inner image, some of the behavior change will come naturally. In other areas, it will involve getting out of your comfort zone.
Notice I say when and where appropriate. Your first goal should be changing your thinking and believing, not changing your behavior. You will not be able to sustain acting in a way that you don’t believe you are.
Celebrate Progress, not Perfection
You are successful because you are getting better, not because you have arrived. Even when you have failures – if the time is increasing between when you have those failures, you are making progress!
Some Declarations
- I am a believer, and not a doubter. I mix faith with the word I hear (Hebrews 4:2). Believing is not hard for me, it comes easy.
- I am a doer of the Word, and not a hearer only (James 1:22)
- I am God’s sheep, and Jesus is my Shepherd. I hear and recognize His voice, and I follow. (John 10:3-5)
- Whenever I read God’s Word, I get revelation and it speaks to me. He grants me wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him (Ephesians 1:17-20)
- I am being transformed because I am renewing my mind with God’s word (Romans 12:2)
- I thank God because He always causes me to triumph, and leads me in a continual victory parade! (2 Corinthians 2:14)
- I am the righteousness of God in Christ. That means all the blessings of the righteous belong to me (2 Corinthians 5:21)
- I flow in the gifts of the Spirit, and especially prophesy (1 Corinthians 14:1)
- I have a spirit of Self Control. My appetites don’t control me, I control them (Galatians 5:22)
Remember to make your own list!
Acknowledgments
Much of the premise of this post comes from Right and Wrong Believing, by Kenneth E. Hagin
Lately I have been greatly influenced by Steve and Wendy Backlund, or Igniting Hope Ministries. They have a whole course on beliefs training.
