Declarations Make A Difference
It is important for us to realize that when we declare God’s Kingdom coming, we are releasing Heaven to earth with our words. In fact, the Bible tells us that we have the power of life and death in our tongues (Proverbs 18:21, James 2). The reason Jesus warned us that we would be judged according to the words we speak is that our words make a difference in people’s lives and circumstances — our words can either curse or release the Kingdom to bring blessing.
Recently, I was backpacking in the Tahoe Desolation Wilderness area with some of the other pastors of Bethel Church. As we arrived at the trailhead, we were told by a group of guys who had just finished a week in the wilderness that we would not catch any fish. Everyone they met had shared the same sad tale. Without hesitation, I declared, “But we have favor!” Everyone laughed.
Amazingly, when we arrived at the first lake, the first cast produced a miraculous 14-inch rainbow trout! In fact, we caught so many fish every day that anything under 12 inches was thrown back. They were so plump that we were able to filet them into trout steaks. Each delectable bite resulted in rowdy rejoicing as we were reminded of the extreme favor we had experienced from God through a simple off-the-cuff declaration.
It is important to keep in mind that our words, like those of Jesus, have authority. Often, Jesus simply spoke to a situation or circumstance and Heaven invaded and brought change. In Matthew 8:26, He spoke to the storm, and the wind and the waves stopped. The disciples responded, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!”
The Roman centurion understood the authority Jesus carried when he said, “Just say the word and my servant will be healed. Jesus declared, “Go! It will be done just as you believed it would (Matthew 8:5-13).”
Jesus spoke to the paralytic, saying, “Pick up your mat and walk,” and the man did so and was healed. Jesus stood outside Lazarus’ tomb and spoke, “Come forth,” and Lazarus was raised from the dead. Our words (our declarations) create an avenue by which Heaven’s resources and power are released.
I’ll never forget an occasion in which a woman, who was completely bald and gaunt from many radiation chemotherapy treatments, approached me at a conference at Bethel. She explained that the doctors told her that they could do nothing else for her, and that she had approximately one month left to live. I immediately looked her in the eyes and declared, “I don’t even need to pray for you. The glory of God is all over you, you’re going to be just fine!” I went on to explain that my declaration over her was in response to a gift of faith that had come to me as I heard about the destiny of doom the doctors had declared over her.
Five months later, at another Bethel conference, a shorthaired woman approached me with a grin from ear to ear. She jubilantly shared that she was the woman I had declared life over. Thanking me profusely, she shared that not only was she obviously still alive, but she had no cancer in her body to the amazement of the doctors!
As royal priests, representing God on earth, our declarations make a difference. Our declarations determine our destiny and the destiny of those around us. Our declarations unlock Heaven.
A Birdie
I was playing golf with a pastor in Yuma, Arizona, along with a medical doctor friend, who was very skeptical of the reality of supernatural divine healing. The pastor had arranged for us to golf together so that I could share testimonies that would convince the doctor otherwise.
By the sixth hole, we had not made a whole lot of headway in convincing the doctor, despite sharing several testimonies of people being healed in God’s presence. The pastor teed off on the par three hole and hit a great looking shot headed right toward the flagstick. Amazingly, and sadly, his ball struck a bird about twenty feet in front of the pin, causing both the ball and the bird to fall onto the green!
At first, we were joking around about the pastor getting a literal birdie, but after realizing that the bird was lying on its side with it’s wing fixed straight up without moving, we became concerned that the bird was dead.
Meanwhile, the doctor and I hit up onto the green, while the bird continued to lie motionless. As we drove our carts toward the green, the other birds landed near the dormant bird. Once we got to the green, all of the birds flew away, except for that one bird, still lying on its side.
Observing this, the doctor pronounced the bird dead, to which the pastor expressed that he should dispose of it since being a doctor he seemed the most qualified to deal with the carcass. At that, I responded, “No way. Let’s raise it from the dead.” I then declared, “I release you into new life.” Just when I got to “re,” the bird jumped up and flew away!
The doctor looked at me in total shock, as he witnessed the supernatural power of God first hand, as the bird was seemingly raised from the dead! Regardless of whether the bird had been dead or just knocked out, the reality was that as I declared God’s Kingdom come, the bird recovered, and the doctor had no more problems with the issue of supernatural healing.
God is just waiting for us to co-labor with Him in releasing His Kingdom. Living naturally supernatural is simply unlocking the doors leading to breakthrough with the Kingdom keys we have received. Partnering for breakthrough, then, requires us to take responsibility to release God’s presence, power, and resources into every situation and circumstance in which people need His intervention.
That is the power of partnership. When we pray (declare), He comes.
We Have the Keys!
We have been given the keys to the Kingdom to be able to unlock Heaven whenever we need His presence and power. In Matthew 16:19, Jesus promised, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom….” In other words, we can unlock the door to the resources of Heaven to get whatever we need, whenever we need it. That is an amazing privilege!
I oversee several ministry responsibilities at Bethel Church, which require that I have several different keys to access needed rooms and resources. There are several people on my leadership team who need to have the same access as I do. There was a time, however, when I was the only one with the keys.
Each time one of my team needed to access a room, he or she had to come to me and borrow the keys, and then afterwards would have to bring them back. Sometimes, he or she would forget, and I would have to go out of my way to track him or her down when I needed to access something. It got to be such a hassle trying to juggle one set of keys between our entire team that I finally wised up and got them their own keys!
Jesus did not say, “I will lend you the keys.” Jesus gave us the keys, meaning He no longer has them. It is now up to us to open up Heaven so that His presence and power can be released through the opening we have made for Him to come.
How often do we hear Christians pleading with God to open up the Heavens and rain down His power to intervene, when all along, God is pleading with us to use the keys we have been given to release His rule so that intervention can come? We cannot expect God to do what we are expected to do in the partnership.
When we do what is expected of us to unlock Heaven, then He faithfully does His part. It is His good pleasure to give us the Kingdom (Luke 12:32).
Often, as I begin a conference, I announce that there will be many miracles and healings. The reason I am so confident is that I have been given Kingdom keys to unlock Heaven in order to access the resources needed. In reality, when I pray, He comes, and when He comes, He does good things because He is a good God in a good mood!
The natural question, then, is if we have the authority and power to represent and bring God’s Kingdom to earth, why don’t we see more breakthroughs in the miraculous?
Many Christians wrongfully believe that God just sovereignly intervenes in our lives whenever He chooses, or does not. Their response is, “Well, I guess it was just God’s will that I remain sick, debilitated, or dying.” As a result, many Christians do not pursue divine intervention or they stop short of getting the breakthrough they desire.
Many Christians believe that God chooses (predetermines) who will be healed and who will not be healed. They state that God is sovereign — that He is in control of everything — and therefore, nothing happens outside of His predestined will.
Therefore, if someone becomes sick, it must be God’s will because nothing happens outside of His sovereign control. As a result, the prayer, “Your will be done…” is a concession to accept whatever God has sovereignly predestined, instead of a declaration: “…on earth as it is in heaven.”
People all around us are waiting for Heaven to come to earth. God is waiting for us to bring Heaven to earth. I want to encourage you that you have the ability to make a difference in someone’s life and the world around you. Your declarations make a difference!