When Jesus rose Lazarus from the dead, there was so much power in his command to "Come forth" that he had to specifically call out Lazarus. Had he just made the generic command to "Come Forth" every grave in the whole of the earth would have spewed forth its occupants. His word was that powerful. It carried that much weight and authority.....
The Word clearly says there is the power of life and death in OUR tongue (Prov 18:21). That he has set before us life and death and we needed to chose which we will serve (Duet. 30).
The Great Commission says, "And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. ....And behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city, until you are clothed with power from on high." (the words "power" and "authority" are interchangeable depending on translations).
So God placed the power of life or death in our tongue. And then clothed us in the same authority that Jesus had. I may be a "small thinker" but I don't think it requires a scholar to put this complete thought together:
The very word spoken from our mouths oozes with authority. And by our daily decisions, we are speaking either life or death into situations.
Consider the example of intercession between Abraham and God concerning Sodom (Gen.18). Abraham spoke up and his words changed the very mind of God.
And again, in Isaiah, when God said that King Hezekiah was going to die. Hezekiah spoke up and asked for mercy. And God extended his lifespan by 15 years (chpt.38)!
And then again when Mary the mother of Jesus brought the matter of the wedding wine being all gone....
A friend of ours brought up this last example of the wedding miracle a week ago. I never thought to consider what he pointed out: Jesus first miracle at the wedding, where he turns the water into wine, was actually performed before his God-ordained ministry was set to begin.
For when his mother approached him about the lack of wine, Jesus said, "Why do you involve me? My time has not yet come." But then he, for the sake of his mom's request, performed a miracle. Turning the water into wine. Before his time.
Mary's simple, but bold request...as were Abraham's and King Hezekiah's...apparently caused a heavenly shaking to occur. And God moved in a way that went against his original spoken intent. Wow.
Lord? Empower my tongue.
No...that's wrong. For you said that you already have. So would you empower my heart to be courageous? To not shudder or back down when things seem impossible. But to allow *faith* to take the reins. And lead my words to speak life over the dead.
And please, would you open my spiritual eyes (2 Kings 6:17) to the true weighty authority of my earth-bound prayers?For I want my words to be effective. Not defective.
5 comments:
Cute birthday week photos!
This post was awesome! Good, good stuff. I like you....even if you're not a coffee drinker. :)
Thanks, Christin. I needed to read this today. Love you!! :)
Well, we are about to do all the birthday celebrations...Ethans with in-laws then they leave then on his actually b-day, my parents, friends etc., then my birthday, then my sisters and in there somewhere there will be a baby boy (#4) born to my sister...hopefully by Friday!
I can totally relate to the "middle finger" story...I can't tell you how many times you THINK they are listening (and I do think they do, I just think adults continue to go on about a minute after they are done listening!) out they come with something that makes you go "WHAAAAT?"
I was reading something along the same lines recently. Very good stuff. I think we had a sermon at our church awhile back on the whole "1st miracle" thing too. That was very interesting. Eager to read your "part 2"! :)
Wow girl - that was some good stuff. I love when we see the power of faith in His word - oh that we would take hold!!!!
BTW - middle finger story cracked me up. I can't keep up with your posts to comment, but I read them all. I was laughing so hard!
Post a Comment