What Do You Believe? Chapter Five
BLOG A BOOK: What Do You Believe? Chapter Five
Moving Obstacles
Jesus taught the prayer of faith. He’s specific about what we say.
“For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith” (Mark 11:23 KJV emphasis mine).
Jesus is talking about how we use our spiritual weapons called words.
“Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them” (Mark 11:24 KJV).
How do you believe you receive when you pray? You say. Like we do for salvation. We believe in our heart and say (confess or profess) with our mouth. Our heart believes and what we say (our words) makes it ours (Romans 10:8-9). We take our desire with our tongues. When we receive Jesus as our Savior our words turned the direction of our lives. As we learned in chapter four, James taught that our words would change our course like a bit in a horse’s mouth or a rudder on a ship.
Jesus said, “… for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34). We believed what we heard about Jesus in our heart and with our mouth we spoke what was in our hearts.
There’s good news. We can train our mouths. “The heart of the wise teaches his mouth, And adds learning to his lips” (Proverbs 16:23).
How do we get what brings life into our hearts? “. . . my tongue is the pen of a ready writer,” (Psalm 45:1). King David knew this spiritual principle. The application is in the saying.
Jesus VS. Satan
The devil tempted Jesus in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-11). Just like he did with Adam and Eve, Satan used words to twist what God said. He tried to lure Jesus into a trap. Jesus didn’t fall for it. He used His words right back.
Jesus responded to the devil by quoting what God said correctly, and preceded by, “It is written.”
This was spiritual warfare and it centered around words. Jesus is our example.
When Satan attacks the Word and attempts to belittle our confidence in God we can say, “It is written, “‘I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me,’” (Philippians 4:13 KJV).
When the devil wants to make us feel bad or challenges our identity in Christ we can say, “It is written, “‘There istherefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus…’” (Romans 8:1 KJV). “Praise God that includes me!”
When he wants you to accept disease say, “It is written, “‘Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed’” (1 Peter 2:24 KJV). “By the stripes of Jesus, I was healed at the cross therefore I’m healed now. Praise God, I’m already healed!”
Peter says we are as healed as we are saved. According to God if we were healed, then we’re still healed. Turn that into the profession of your faith on your tongue. “Jesus bore my sins on the cross and by His stripes I was healed at the same time.”
We move mountains and decree the answer to our need with faith-filled words. We shut the devil’s mouth by standing against him with God’s Word of power.
In doing so we’re also writing God’s promises in our heart with our tongue. The next time Satan taunts us we won’t stagger. We get the Word rooted in our heart as we believe and say it until it becomes a reality in our life the same way Abraham and Sarah spoke God’s Word.
If Satan threatens with a virus say, “It is written! The Lord delivers me from the snare of the devil and every deadly pestilence” (Psalm 91:3). Psalm 91 is a protection Psalm we should all be familiar and have written in our heart, not just reciting from memory.
Spiritual Principles
The Apostle Peter also writes that grace and peace are multiplied to us through the knowledge of God, and of our Lord Jesus (2 Peter 1:2).
Knowing how God operates is knowledge that will multiply grace and peace in our lives. Knowing how faith works is knowledge.
“As His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue” (2 Peter 1:3).
Through the knowledge of God, we gain understanding and the wisdom of God to receive all things that He’s given. There is nothing left out of “all things that pertain to life and godliness” that God has given.
If we don’t have knowledge of what belongs to us in Christ, we’ll go without.
The Apostle Paul wrote, “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).
God supplying our needs means we shouldn’t live in lack or sickness and disease. God is not in short supply or stingy.
Knowledge of what God says about the power of our words will multiply the grace and peace we enjoy in life.
“And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall sayunto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith” (Mark 11:22-23 KJV).
We don’t have to understand how everything works, we just need to have faith in God and believe what He says.
Mountains
Jesus said that with faith we’re to speak to the mountains (obstacles) that confront us in life. He didn’t say talk to God about our mountains or to complain about them to others. Jesus always offered spiritual guidance for an abundant life.
I’ve often stated that the only thing I was ever good at was doing what I was told. Obedience to the Word of God is important. For more on that read my book, Never Meet the Devil Naked. We can’t knowingly live in disobedience and expect the principles Jesus taught to work in our lives. Knowingly is the key word.
When Jesus teaches a principle about how the kingdom of God works, it’s imperative that we follow the entire principle. We’ve only talked about Mark 11:22-23. There are three more verses we need to write on our hearts. We’ll pick up there in Chapter Six.
Until next time, stay strong. Stay connected by register to receive Chapter Six in my first blog-a-book series: What Do You Believe?
#grace #Godsword #Christian women #Christianwoman #spiritualwarfare #faith
