The Power of Our Confession
Therefore, at the judgment seat of Christ, we will give an account for every idle word we have spoken. Jesus said, “…for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned” (see Matthew 12:36–37). Do you see why it is important for us to keep our words to a minimum on earth?
Our statements can be very powerful. The words we speak go up into the atmosphere and are heard by those involved in the invisible war: God’s angels and Satan’s demons. This lesson will examine the effects of negative self-talk and the benefits we can gain from right confession.
“My words are from my upright heart, and my lips speak knowledge” (Job 33:3).
“Do not be hasty with your mouth, and let your heart not be hasty in the presence of God. For God is in heaven, and you are on earth; therefore let your words be few” (Ecclesiastes 5:2).
“And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. It is set among our members, that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell” (James 3:6).
Emotional reactions in life can lead to satanic consequences. Negative affirmations are like bacteria. Picture what comes out of your mouth and what it does to your heart and your soul. Every time you utter those words, the bacteria multiply, spreading more infections.
“My lips will praise, because you teach me your statutes” (Psalm 119:171). These words were spoken by Ezra as a teenager in captivity in Babylon. He had been taught the principles of God’s Word, and his lips praised him while he was going through unimaginable trials. It is vital that we learn to think in terms of finished work, in terms of matters of the heart and life (Proverbs 4:23).
When we allow our words to condemn our lives, those words can affect many different areas. By admitting our thoughts to the wind, we can talk ourselves into depression. Satan and his demons cannot read our minds, but the moment we know what we are thinking, we have given them a field for attack.
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Sin of the Mouth and the Tongue of Unrighteousness
“A man’s belly shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth, and with the fruit of his lips he shall be filled. Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it shall eat its fruit.” (Proverbs 18:20–21).
“Do not let your mouth cause your body to sin, nor say before the angel of God, ‘It is an error.’ Why should God be angry at your excuses and destroy the work of your hands?” (Ecclesiastes 5:6).
The mouth can cause the body to sin, and God is angry at the voice that confesses anything that is not in accordance with the law of faith. When we sin with our mouth, we are not simply to say, “That was an error. I should not have said that.” That is not repentance. We must specifically confess our sin to God.
When the mouth causes the body to sin, we have violated the law of faith and the royal law of love. When we speak negatively about our spouse, our bodies sin against them.
Also, through careless comments, we can release sexual vibrations into the environment that can in turn lead to sinful relationships. The mouth, with its little organ called the tongue, releases a connection with sin.
I recently spoke with a man and a woman who were dating, and I asked them frankly: “When you were ready for marriage, did you have a relationship that didn’t involve sex?” (1 Corinthians 7:1). “Well,” one of them told me, “it’s been very difficult.” They admitted that it was difficult, that they had already let their bodies sin.
I found the opposite to be true when I dated my wife for seven years. It was easy to keep pure because I refused to admit that it was difficult. I was determined to have only pure thoughts. Anything else would lead to disappointment and personal sin down the road. I had no right to do that, so I didn’t do it. It wasn’t difficult. Jesus’ yoke is easy and his burden is light. To
admit that something is “hard” is to set yourself up for failure. You are essentially admitting that everything you do is carnal. It
is important to understand that death and life are in the power of the tongue, according to Proverbs 18:21. Every time we open our mouths to speak, we have a decision to make. Do we want to have a tongue of unrighteousness fueled by the fires of hell? Or, will we accept that we are wearing the yoke of Christ?
Real love is based on faith, not emotion. Examine what love really is. Do you think Jesus had a great feeling of love for those who spat on the cross? Of course not. He felt terrible. But he obeyed his Father and said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” That was his confession: “Forgive them.”
Right thinking equals a right confession
“I have declared righteousness in the great congregation; indeed, I cannot refrain my lips, O Lord, as you know. I have not hidden your righteousness within my heart; I have declared your faithfulness and your salvation; I have not concealed your lovingkindness and your truth from the great assembly” (Psalms 9–10).
The psalmist did not hold back his lips from preaching righteousness. He accepted positive, edifying, convicting, and God’s working messages of righteousness.
There are many who draw near to God with their mouths and lips, but their hearts are far from Him (Matthew 15:8). The Word is in our mouths and hearts. We do not need to call upon God to hear us. Rather, we accept the words of faith from a heart protected by God’s Word, and we draw near to Him.
The Law of Faith
“If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9).
When we accept the Word by faith, we are saved. That verse in Romans 10 is not just about salvation, although it certainly can be applied. In fact, this letter was written to a church full of people who were already saved, but they needed to be freed from the bondage of the flesh.
Our confession will save us. Consider this carefully, and do not be unfaithful to God’s Word. We must accept the Lord Jesus Christ. Whether it is an important business meeting, a counseling session, or a family discussion, we will always have problems to solve. Yet in every situation, we must simply accept the Lord Jesus. There is nothing you or I can do about a problem. In fact, everyone involved usually knows what the problem is and what to do about it, if they will only look to God’s Word.
This is the key: Consistently thinking right things begins with consistently accepting right things. Then, regardless of how we feel or what the circumstances seem to be and the emotional experiences, we begin to accept the Lord Jesus. Because of the law of faith, nothing can stop our acceptance (Ecclesiastes 5:6). Through the law of faith, we communicate that acceptance to demons, angels, the world, and ourselves.
The Power of the Spirit of Prayer
“About that time Herod the king stretched out his hand to persecute some of the church. Then he killed James the brother of John with the sword. And when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he went on to arrest Peter also. Now it was the day of unleavened bread. So when he had arrested him, he brought him and put him in prison. He
The Power of the Spirit of Prayer
“About that time Herod the king stretched out his hand to persecute some of the church. Then he killed James the brother of John with the sword. And when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he went on to arrest Peter also. Now it was the day of unleavened bread. So when he had arrested him, he brought him and put him in prison. He
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after the Passover before the people.
So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was praying to God for him. And when Herod was about to bring him out, that night Peter was sleeping, bound with two chains between two soldiers. And the guards were guarding the prison at the door. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the prison. And he struck Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, “Get up quickly!” And his chains fell off his hands. Then the angel said to him, “Gird yourself and put on your sandals”; and he did so. And he said to him, “Put on your cloak and follow me.” So he went out and followed him, and did not know that what the angel was doing was real, but thought that he was seeing a vision. When they had passed the first and second guard posts, they came to the iron gate leading to the city, which opened for them of its own accord. And they went out and went into a street, and immediately the angel departed from him. And when Peter came to himself, he said, “Now I know for sure that the Lord has sent his angel, and has delivered me from the hand of Herod and from all the hope of the Jewish people” (Acts 12:1–11).
People need our prayers. Prayer should be part of our confession in the environment. Starting with the most serious situations—troubled marriages, illness, finances—go to God and pray constantly.
In Genesis 18:20–23, the Lord told Abraham about the destruction coming on Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham stood before God and said, “Will You also destroy the righteous with the wicked?” Then he prayed for the cities, asking the Lord to spare them for the sake of fifty righteous people, then forty, then thirty, then twenty, and finally, he asked them to spare them for the sake of ten righteous people.
Ten righteous people could not be found in Sodom, but “God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow when he overthrew the cities where Lot dwelt…” (Genesis 19:29).
This does not say that the Lord responded to Lot. God remembered Abraham. Abraham prayed, and his prayer saved Lot, because God remembered his prayer.
Prayer Puts Angels to Work
What happened in the circumstances that hindered Lot and Peter is described in Psalm 35:5: “Let them be as chaff before the wind: and let the angel of the Lord chase them.” God’s angels will remove the source of harm from us.
How did God deliver Lot? With Lot’s angels. How was Peter delivered in Acts 12? By
Prayer Puts Angels to Work
What happened in the circumstances that hindered Lot and Peter is described in Psalm 35:5: “Let them be as chaff before the wind: and let the angel of the Lord chase them.” God’s angels will remove the source of harm from us.
How did God deliver Lot? With Lot’s angels. How was Peter delivered in Acts 12? By
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angels. The prayers were heard, and God sent angels to deliver Peter. And according to Psalm 35:5, angels will chase away the enemies who seek to destroy our souls.
This is a wonderful principle. It is difficult to explain the concept of personal power that comes to a person who is filled with the Spirit and prayer at any age. Moreover, we cannot know what a person who prays without holding back can do for someone else. The angels will follow the chaff.
“So on a certain day, Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat on his throne and gave them a speech. And they began to shout, “The voice of a god, and not of a man!” And immediately an angel of the Lord struck him, because he did not give God the glory. And he was eaten of worms and died. “But the word of God. 12:21–24).
The angel of the Lord removed the source of Peter’s persecution.
First, a man prays. Second, he keeps praying. Third, he acknowledges that God has heard his prayer. He doesn’t even think that his prayer will not be answered. He doesn’t receive negativity, and he doesn’t accept negative thoughts from anyone.
Prayers are said, and immediately, angels come on the scene. Lot is taken out of Sodom and Gomorrah. Peter is released from prison. Then, Herod dies. God removes the source of the problem.
Accept the love of Calvary
Either we have God’s love, or we don’t. Strong feelings are simply the result of emotions. If it is God’s love, it comes from Calvary and the wind and our angels accept God’s word. When this happens, our angels go to work to deliver us in our time of need.
If we don’t confess our negativity to God as sin and never truly repent but continue to say the same things, the things we want will not happen. God allows angels to thwart our desires because our confessions are not of faith and our lives do not acknowledge His righteousness.
God’s Word makes it clear that angels are watching the events of our lives (1 Corinthians 4:9) and our salvation (1 Peter 1:12). They encamp around us (Psalm 34:7), and they are always ready to serve us (Hebrews 1:14).
“He who guards his mouth guards his soul, but he who opens wide his lips will come to ruin” (Proverbs 13:3).
Our confession should always be of faith, “that it may be by grace; that the promise may be sure at the end…” (see Romans 4:16a). Remain in God without change, even when circumstances change. Confess God’s truth when your feelings are bankrupt. No one will know it, for just as a false confession can make the body sin, so a godly confession makes the heart right with God.
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The Minister’s Grace to the Audience
“My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise you with joyful lips” (Psalm 63:5).
“My lips shall rejoice when I sing to you, and my soul, which you have redeemed.” (Psalm 71:23).
“My covenant will I not break, neither will I alter the word that is gone out of my lips” (Psalm 89:34).
Do not change a godly confession. We do not talk on the phone, “Things are still bad.” We will confess that things are good. We trust only in God. Just as we did at salvation, we trust in Christ by faith. Therefore, if our enemies raise us up to kill us because of our faith in Christ, we should not change our confession. If we die because of our confession (Esther 4:16; Hebrews 11:36–39), we will go home to be with God and be blessed.
We speak ourselves into sin. We speak ourselves into sickness, into depression, into despair. We speak ourselves into arrogant thoughts against others about things that are not real.
Christians should never be negative toward one another. Doing so causes us to sin and gives Satan a place to take over. When communication about a problem is necessary, we should speak the truth in love. We allow our speech to be seasoned with the resurrection life of Christ (Colossians 4:6) because we live where they live (Ezekiel 3:15). That kind of communication is not threatening; it is not reactionary; it is not vindictive; it is not blameworthy. It is communicating the wonderful truth of love and the power of resurrection. Instead of blaming them where they are, we stay where they are.
Sacrifices of Praise
“Through Him therefore let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name.” (Hebrews 13:15).
“With my lips I have declared all the judgments of Your mouth.” (Psalm 119:13).
By the fruit of our lips, we thank God for His attributes, which are associated with His name. “Judgment speaks of principle. With our lips we declare the categories of His Word.
The believer who lives by every word of God with a heart that is abundantly abiding in Christ can say, “I will accept what God says, and I will accept this only. I will not accept the negative. I will not accept defeat. I will not accept despair. I will not accept indifference. I will not admit that I do not have a single love.
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According to Galatians 5:6, we must do all things by faith that work through love. That verse says “faith.” It doesn’t say “feelings.” This faith is given by Jesus Christ, and His love is poured out abroad by the Holy Spirit (see Galatians 2:16, 20; Romans 5:5).
“Well, I feel terrible,” you say. “What am I going to do?”
You can only do one of two things: believe in God or not. Choose life or choose death. But don’t choose death—it puts you under a curse. Instead, choose life so that you can live and have God’s blessing. (See Deuteronomy 30:15–19).
Live and be God’s blessing. (See Deuteronomy 30:15–19).
Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but only what is good for edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers” (Ephesians 4:29).
I discipline my wife because Ephesians 4:29 says that if I love God, that is what I will do. If I don’t know God’s love, I will accept bad circumstances, financial problems, health problems—and all the negative things. But these things have no place in a believer who walks by faith and pleases God, who rewards those who seek him (Hebrews 11:6).
There is a very close relationship between a person and the words he speaks. So God says, “I am in heaven, you are on earth. “Therefore keep your words short upon the earth” (Ecclesiastes 5:2).
The point is this: Every time I open my mouth, it either justifies me or condemns me. (Matthew 12:37). My angel is listening to my confession. Based on that confession, either I am delivered by the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit and His divine future plan of ministry, or the works of my hands are destroyed because of my false confession.
It was Abraham, through an angel, who helped Lot get out of Sodom – Lot had nothing to do with it. It was the prayer of the church and an angel that freed Peter from prison. But it was also an angel that destroyed Herod when he refused to acknowledge the power of God.
A Positive Statement Yesterday
I was thinking about all the students in our Bible College. These precious students come from all over the world – from New York to Las Vegas, from Brazil to Russia, from New England to the Pacific Northwest. Until. God’s wonderful plan has brought Christians from all these cities and countries to Bible College where they learn to know God and to know each other. As God does this, He teaches them how to develop the character of faith in the nature of love through the discipline of grace according to the Word of life.
Sometimes, God will call us to leave our current place to find a new adventure. Once we have responded to that call, we must continue until we have learned all we need to know, and the character of faith has been developed in us. Walking by faith leads us to rely completely on the Lord, to allow God to mysteriously come to us in situations that might otherwise overwhelm us. And all the while, we must accept faith in God’s Word.
No matter where you are today, one thing will bring you through that is a confession that rules your heart.
Many times as a believer, you have experienced situations that don’t feel right, yet your confession has been godly. Eventually, through the Holy Spirit, that confession is anointed and you experience what you are actually confessing in your heart without any real evidence or emotional confirmation.
“My heart will rejoice when my lips speak what is right” (Proverbs 23:16). Feelings rejoice when you speak what is right. If I don’t speak the right things, then my emotions will reinforce my negative communication, which is based on unrighteousness. (James 3:5–6). I speak from the fire of hell when I am under the negative power of emotional reaction to the obvious reality of the situation and the scene.
“Every man will kiss his lips that answer rightly” (Proverbs 24:26). Do you want to solve marital problems? Just start confessing to God. Then the other party will kiss your lips and it will be a good old-fashioned marital kiss.
Job’s wife spoke foolishly when she told her husband to “curse God and die” (Job 2:9–10). She was a foolish woman because she did not think with God, which would have produced healthy emotions. Therefore, her speech controlled her emotions instead of rejoicing in the truth with her lips.
God’s Word has much to say on this subject: “The lips of truth shall be established forever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment” (Proverbs 12:19).
“Set a watch, O Lord, over my mouth; set a watch over the door of my lips” (Psalm 141:3).
“The king’s lips are a prophet, and his mouth shall not transgress in judgment” (Proverbs 16:10).
“Hear now my reasoning, and give ear to the pleas of my lips” (Job 13:6).
“You shall keep and perform the words that go forth from your lips, for you have made a freewill offering to the Lord your God, which you have promised with your mouth” (Deuteronomy 23:23).
If you speak something with your lips, and you keep it, it will come to pass. Contrast that idea with what is found in Job 15:6: “Your own mouth condemns you, yes, your own lips testify against you.” This occurs many times in
“Hear now my argument, and give ear to the pleas of my lips” (Job 13:6).
“You shall keep and perform the vows that have gone forth from your lips, for you have made a freewill offering to the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 23:23).
If you speak something with your lips, and you keep it, it will come true. Compare that thought with what is found in Job 15:6: “Your own mouth condemns you, no; yes, your own lips testify against you.” This happens many times.
The next time you are faced with a problem, instead of letting your desires control your lips, let your lips speak divine truth to determine your will. Then, by faith, your divine confession will control your heart, soul, and mind.
When the power of God controls a person’s life, the effects are dynamic, revealing God’s purpose for
each of us. Circumstances do not change us. A car may break down every day in the worst of summer heat – but that does not stop a man of God. God did not call us to failure. So when everything seems to be going
wrong, the way to glorify Him is to refuse to accept negative thoughts. Accept God’s truth in every situation. For example, you want a certain job. But if it doesn’t happen, let your confession be in accordance with God’s character. That kind of
confession releases the faith of the Son through His love poured out abroad by the Holy Spirit.
Our faith is in the Word of Jesus Christ. That is how we deal with relationship problems, our finances, our weaknesses, and our illnesses. We must continually acknowledge God’s provision. Accept God’s power, His grace, and His love. If the situation seems to say “no,” we simply acknowledge, “Yes! God will come.” He will keep us in the time of trouble. The confession that Christ is real will come from our hearts, and what He has said will come to pass.
