The power in your words

By Joel Osteen

Self-Fulfilling Prophecies

We get what we say. Our words become self-fulfilling prophecies. If you allow your thoughts to defeat you and then give birth to negative ideas through your words, your actions will follow suit. That’s why we need to be extremely careful about what we think and especially careful about what we say. Our words have tremendous power, and whether we want to or not, we will give life to what we’re saying, either good or bad. Sadly, many people are living discouraged lives because of their words.

Words are similar to seeds. By speaking them aloud, they are planted in our subconscious minds, and they take on a life of their own; they take root, grow, and produce fruit of the same kind. If we speak positive words, our lives will move in that direction. Similarly, negative words will produce poor results. We can’t speak words of defeat and failure yet expects to live in victory. We will reap exactly what we sow.

The Bible compares the tongue to the rudder of a huge ship. Although that rudder is small, it controls the direction of the entire ship, and, in a similar manner, your tongue will control the direction of your life. If you habitually speak words of failure, you are going to move in the direction of a defeated, discouraged life. If your conversation regularly includes phrases such as “I can’t. I’m not able to. I don’t have what it takes,” or other negative comments, you are setting yourself up for defeat. Those negative words will keep you from being the person God wants you to be.

Guard What You Say

If you’re in a storm today, now more than ever you need to guard what you say and not allow any negative, destructive words to come out of your mouth. Scripture says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue; and you will eat the fruit thereof.” In other words, you create an environment for either good or evil with your words, and you are going to have to live in that world you’ve created. If you’re always murmuring, complaining, and talking about how bad life is treating you, you’re going to live in a pretty miserable, depressing world. You may be tempted to merely use your words to describe negative situations, but God wants us to use our words to change our negative Situations. Don’t talk about the problem, talk about the solution.

The Bible clearly tells us to speak to our mountains. Maybe your mountain is a sickness; perhaps your mountain is a troubled relationship; maybe your mountain is a floundering business. Whatever your mountain is, you must do more than think about it, more than pray about it; you must speak to that obstacle. The Bible says, “Let the weak say I’m strong. Let the oppressed say I’m free. Let the sick say I’m healed. Let the poor say I’m well off.” Start calling yourself healed, happy, whole, blessed, and prosperous. Stop talking to God about how big your mountains are, and start talking to your mountains about how big your God is!

Those are the kinds of words you must learn to speak in your everyday circumstances, and especially in times of crisis and adversity. When you’re facing obstacles in your path, you must boldly say, “Greater is He who is in me than he who is in the world. No weapon formed against me is going to prosper. God always causes me to triumph.” Quit worrying and complaining about the obstacle, and start speaking to it. Quit complaining about poverty and lack and start declaring, “God supplies all of my needs in abundance.” Quit nagging that friend or family member who is not serving God and start declaring, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Quit complaining that nothing good ever happens to you and start declaring, “Everything I touch prospers and succeeds.” We must stop cursing the darkness. Let’s start commanding the light to come.

a) Speaking Life-Changing Words
b) Boldly Confess God’s Word
c) Speaking a Blessing
d) Declare God’s Favor
e) Words Can’t Be Taken Back

We need to be extremely careful about what we allow to come out of our mouths. The next time you’re tempted to talk down to somebody, to belittle your child or degrade him, remember, you can’t ever get those words back. Once you speak them, they take on a life of their own. Use your words to speak blessings over people. Quit criticizing your child and start declaring great things in store for her future. We should never speak negative destructive words toward anybody, especially toward people over whom we have authority or influence. Just because you have your own business or supervise a large number of employees doesn’t give you the right to talk down to them and make them feel badly about themselves. Quite the contrary! God is going to hold you accountable for what you say to those individuals under your authority, and He is going to judge you by a stricter standard. You should go out of your way to speak positive words that build up and encourage.

Declare God’s Goodness

You must start declaring God’s goodness in your life. Start boldly declaring, “God’s face is smiling toward me, and He longs to be good to me.” That is not bragging. That is how God says we’re going to be blessed when we start declaring His goodness.
Allow me to make some declarations in your life:

a) I declare that you are blessed with God’s supernatural wisdom, and you have clear direction for your life.
b) I declare that you are blessed with creativity, with courage, with ability, and with abundance.
c) I declare that you are blessed with a strong will and with self-control and self-discipline.
d) I declare that you are blessed with a great family, with good friends, with good health, and with faith, favor, and fulfillment.
e) I declare that you are blessed with success, with supernatural strength, with promotion, and with divine protection.
f) I declare that you are blessed with an obedient heart and with a positive outlook on life.
g) I declare that any curse that has ever been spoken over you, any negative evil word that has ever come against you, is broken right now.
h) I declare that you are blessed in the city. You are blessed in the country. You are blessed when you go in. You are blessed when you come out.
i) I declare that everything you put your hands to do is going to prosper and succeed.
j) I declare that you are blessed!

I encourage you to receive these words and meditate on them; let them sink down deeply into your heart and mind and become a reality in your life. Practice doing something similar with your family. Learn to speak blessings over your life, your friends, your future. Remember, a blessing is not a blessing until it is spoken. If you’ll do your part and start boldly speaking blessings over your life and the lives of those around you, God will provide everything you need to live the life of abundance He wants you to have.