Speak It.

“When I open up my mouth, miracles start breaking out. I have the authority, Jesus has given me.” These lyrics from the song Champion from Bethel Music have been ringing in my mind a lot recently. Such a powerful song with some amazing truths throughout.

I want to talk about prayer for a minute and tell you guys about a book that has changed my prayer life/strategies.

Let me start with Proverbs 18:21 “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”

The power of the tongue. Do you speak your prayers out loud, or do you pray in your mind most times? I used to be a pray in my mind kind of person for so long, and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that, however, I think there is something to be said about speaking and praying out loud. This verse in Proverbs tells us that death and life are in the power of the tongue. Our words have power.

Mark 11:23 says “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them.” It doesn’t say if anyone thinks, if anyone imagines, if anyone writes...it says if anyone says. Saying something requires your tongue and a voice. Speak it.

Again, I don’t think there is anything wrong with praying in your mind, God knows your thoughts, but again, there is power in your words. And I really feel that it’s time for believers to start using their voice. I’m sure you’ve been hearing this all over, about believers using their voice to stand up for what’s right and speak up for whats right and I 100% agree, but I’m gonna stick this one in there with all of that; it’s time for believers to use their voice to activate God’s promises, his solutions and his power with our voices as well. Jesus has given you the authority to SPEAK His solutions, to speak His heart, to speak Life. We sing it, we hear it preached, and I think as believers, most of us believe it. But are we walking in it? Do we believe it enough to do it?!

I just finished reading a book that was just released called, Releasing Prophetic Solutions by Christy Johnston. I tell you what, I have never read a book so quickly, and then upon finishing it, turn back to the beginning to read it all over again. Wow! This book is so timely for the season we find in ourselves right now, but honestly for beyond this season and into every season.

Awhile back, I found a page in a journal from high school or shortly after where I wrote “I want to be a woman of prayer.” And I found it interesting that I wrote that and here I am how many years later feeling so pressed to pray and to encourage others to pray! I’ve always prayed, but recently within the last 6 months to a year, prayer has been on my heart in a whole new way than it was before. I began feeling the need to pray for things I never used to pray about/for. I always knew prayer was a game changer, but it felt like the reality of that just hit me one day and I realized truly how important it is to pray, not just for our needs, but just that intimacy with God in all things, and the privilege it is to parter with God and be a part of His plan and His solutions and just the fact that we do have the authority of Jesus to come against the enemy and bind his plans and dismantle his agenda and release the power of God unto every situation. The Bible tells us that the enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy. And sadly, we see it and hear about it every day. In the news, in our lives, everywhere we turn, we see that. But Jesus came to give us life and life too the full! So right there is, in itself, a call to be alert in everything, knowing the enemy’s agenda but we are also told that  God has an agenda, so that we may have life and live it to the full. So prayer is a way that we are able to partner with Him in bringing that solution and agenda to earth!

I had kind of been journeying through learning and understanding this and God was showing me and revealing this to me in different ways, but when I got this book and began reading, it  was like she articulated everything I had been learning and thinking about and wondering if I was understanding correctly. And it felt like the biggest, wildest confirmation of everything I’d been discovering! He has been waiting for us to partner with Him. To get serious. To believe Him. To truly walk in the authority we’ve been given.

I think about the Lord’s Prayer, the line that says “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” We live in a fallen and sinful world. There is evil all around us. In this book she talks about how we are the Gatekeepers of the territory we’ve been given. We are the gatekeepers over our families, our schools, our places of work, our City, our State, every space that you are involved in, every place you go, every relationship you have, you have been given the assignment and authority to protect and speak God’s heart and plans over it prophetically and through prayer. And if we don’t, it’s an open door for the enemy to take over that territory. So when praying “your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” we should not just ask God to move, but declare God’s will and His heart over it as if it’s already in motion, speak it prophetically over that situation.

Have you ever walked into a place or thought of something and gotten a feeling of terror or just an icky feeling but you’re not sure why? I know I have. Whenever that would happen to me, all I knew to do was pray. And most of the time I didn’t even know what to pray, sometimes Id just pray over the person I thought about when I got the feeling, or pray Gods protection over myself or the place I was when I got the feeling..I didn’t know exactly what to do but I knew to pray and invite God to come into the situation. In this book, she talks about this and how those feelings of terror or just those weird feelings you may get sometimes are actually you discerning the enemy within or over that territory. It’s an invitation to partner with God.  We have the power to acknowledge it and then ask God for His solution over it, listen for what God says and then prophetically declare it over that place, person or situation. I was on the right path, but just got game changing strategy; that I can ask God his solution and declare it. Through Jesus Christ who lives in you, you have the authority to dismantle and break the plans of the enemy. That’s a life changing revelation! What if we all walked in that? Bind up the enemy and his plans and any force of darkness and release Gods heart and word! She tells in this book of some of her experiences of those feelings and how she stopped and prayed and declared God’s solutions and then later (in some cases months later) it came to light that in that place she was, there were events planned or being planned that would have been very destructive and how they were disrupted and found out and unable to unfold. So crazy to read! God has solutions for our everyday!

I could continue writing about all of the amazing truth and stories she shares in this book. But really, if this at all moved you or intrigued you, you need to buy this book. It will change your prayer life in the most amazing way.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. - Ephesians 6:10-12

It’s war. And it’s time we act like it, armor up and fight. Let’s pull down heaven, we need a touch of heaven on this earth.

Jasmine