Do you ever -- or often -- speak defeat? Do you expect good or bad? Do you have any idea how powerful words and thoughts (particularly words) can be?

"It makes me sick," we say. "I can't do that." "I'll never be able to pay my bills." "I can't stand it." "Nothing good ever happens to me."

When you utter words like that, do you know what you are doing?

You're putting a "curse" (of sorts) on yourself; you are declaring a negative result -- and you certainly don't want that; you want to put on a blessing!

So if you can't say anything good, try saying nothing.

Go silent. 

The most fruitful night in history was a silent one.

Perhaps this is why the vow of silence in monasteries was so powerful.

Words are potent. God created the world by His Word. In many ways, we create ours. The tongue is a small but incredibly powerful member (James 3:5). Look at Jericho -- and how they were told to maintain silence as they blew their trumpets -- wordless -- until the very end (when they shouted a victory). The silence around that city for six days caused the walls  (when finally Joshua and his troops shouted a command) to fall on the seventh!

If you're afraid of "cursing" yourself, be silent. Don't speak defeat. "I can't stand it." You'll get foot problems. Speak victory. A preacher was saying this the other night. Negative words keep you from your Promised Land. Beyond the walls (the blockage) is your destiny. If you can't say anything good, say nothing. This is as powerful as fasting.

So when you approach walls, march around them in silence. Wait for that "seventh day." Get in the rhythm of the "right expectation." Do you realize how many seeds or cones or nuts a plant often has to spread before one takes hold?

Be patient.

Your time of diligence, faith, and waiting -- your "seven days" -- may be different than Joshua's. A "day" can be quick -- an hour. A "day" may be longer: a week. A "day" may be a year! But if you persist, without self-defeating condemnation, your words, when in God's Will, will cause miracles.

Big "if" here:

Persistence.

It's the same in spiritual warfare: resist (with persistence) and the devil will flee.

Pronounce good things. Pronounce an anointing. Pronounce that your family will be healthy. Pronounce that you'll be protected against accidents. Pronounce that you and your children will prosper (in the right way). Pronounce that you will get that job or repair that friendship.

Meanwhile: don't let others pronounce the negative over you. We have asked this previously: Do you let other people define you? Do you let them tell you who you are -- or are supposed to be? Does your self-perception change according to who is around? If so, they may be impinging on your mission. Likely, they are also impinging on your happiness.

March around the walls -- but expect, when the timing's right, to go over or through them. Speak the Word of God. Do what the Lord did: when the devil tries to tempt you with discouragement, quote Scripture to him. Find one to use. Find one relevant to your struggle (we all have struggles).

Never prophesy defeat.

As author Maria Vadia brilliantly points out (in Pressing On in The Spirit): "Our faith must mature. The temptation when things don't go our way, what is common to our flesh, is to grumble, complain, accuse, point the finger or to become negative. Don't fall into this deadly trap! Using the tongue in this way will attract the serpents and scorpions (despair, discouragement, fear, anxiety).

"Instead use your tongue to decree, to declare and proclaim great plans, the victory, the breakthrough that the Lord has in store for you. Prophesy over your vision! Parents, declare and prophesy over your children's lives and destinies. We walk by faith. It's important that you proclaim it and speak it out, as something in the spiritual realm is established with our words. There is power in your tongue! The Lord wants to use us to speak and proclaim life into other people's destiny.

"In Uganda a lady came for prayer," continues Vadia. "Money that was owed to her, that belonged to her, was not being released as promised. We prayed in agreement (Matthew 18:19) and took authority over the enemy and commanded him to release the money, in the Name of Jesus. I 'decreed' and 'declared' that the money would be released into her hands. A few days later she approached me with a big smile on her face to tell me that she had received her money. Thank You Jesus!"

In other words, don't just walk the faith; also, talk it. For as it says in Isaiah 44:26, the Lord "confirms the word of His servant and performs the counsel of His messengers."

[resources: Pressing On in The Spirit and Special Michael Brown seminar, Florida, January 27] 

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