We’ve all heard messages instructing us to SPEAK the Word of God out loud, but as I was talking to one of the FAM Fellowship members yesterday, the Lord gave me a totally new insight about how significant that is. He was struggling with discouragement after receiving divorce settlement papers and we were discussing how to overcome that, because he knows what he believes and was understandably disappointed with his reaction. Of course, that’s something ALL of us struggle with from time to time, and why the answer we need is found in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5, which says For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

Just like speaking the Word of God out loud, most of us are quite familiar with the above passage of scripture; BUT WE DON’T DO IT! Since Malachi 2 makes it VERY clear that the Lord HATES divorce and that HE will defend and uphold the covenant of our marriages as long as we remain faithful to them, there’s NO DOUBT that ANYTHING that leads to or justifies divorce is an argument or pretension setting itself up against the knowledge of God and it has the potential to become a stronghold in our hearts and spirits. So when we find ourselves dwelling on such things, we have to take those thoughts captive and MAKE them obedient to Christ through the Word of God. AND THEN THEY WILL BE DEMOLISHED BY GOD’S DIVINE POWER! And the BEST way to take such thoughts captive and MAKE them obedient to the Word of God is to SPEAK the Word right back to them; such as: “God HATES divorce!” “No weapon fashioned against me or my marriage and family will prosper!” “No wisdom, NO plan and NO insight can succeed against the Lord.” “God is for me; who can be against me!” “God is working ALL things together for my good, because I love Him and I am called according to His purpose!” “I have put my trust in God and I’m committed to doing things His way, so HE WILL make my righteousness shine like the dawn and the justice of my cause like the noon day sun!” “To man belong the plans of the heart, but from the Lord comes the reply of the tongue!” “God’s grace is sufficient and I CAN do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me!” Regardless of the verses of scripture you have found that have brought you comfort and encouragement during your stand; the time to rely on them is when thoughts of what the devil is doing to hasten and bring about a divorce cause you to feel discouraged or doubtful. WE HAVE TO SPEAK THE WORD OF GOD AGAINST EVERY ARGUMENT AND PRETENSION THAT SET THEMSELVES UP AGAINST THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD! AND WHEN WE DO, THEY WILL BE DEMOLISHED! But the problem is that we don’t do that. Instead, we just go on down the road with our “woe is me” thoughts, without realizing that we are magnifying and exalting the works of the devil over the power and promise of God’s Word and His ability and faithfulness to make sure that it NEVER returns void!!! Well, that means that instead of demolishing those thoughts, we let them demolish our faith and confidence in God Almighty and what His word promises concerning the restoration of our marriages and then they can become strongholds in our own hearts and spirits. So it’s no wonder we struggle with faith and confidence when we do that! And the importance of SPEAKING the Word of God is very clearly stated in Romans 10:17 (NKJV), because it says So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. When we speak the Word of God out loud, WE obviously HEAR IT, and that’s how faith is manifested in our lives in the moments when we need it the most! Don’t forget that Jesus told us to SPEAK to those mountains we want to see move and to TELL them where to go! So the next time thoughts and pretensions exalting themselves above the knowledge of God try to invade your mind, speak the Word of God to them; and just as the devil did when Jesus SPOKE the Word in response to him, they WILL FLEE!

Psalm 107:19-20 (NKJV), tells us Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, And He saved them out of their distresses. He sent His word and healed them, And delivered them from their destructions. Since God sent His Word to heal and save us, He obviously expects us to rely on it for healing and deliverance! In fact, one of the favorite passages of scripture for “standers” that illustrates the power and importance of speaking the Word of God to the things in our lives that are broken or dead comes from Ezekiel 37:3-5, which says He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I said, “O Sovereign LORD, you alone know.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! This is what the Sovereign LORD says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. So when the facts of our circumstances threaten to overwhelm or overcome us, we need to TELL them to “HEAR THE WORD OF THE LORD…” AND THEN TELL THEM WHAT GOD SAYS! After all, it is God who has the LAST Word according to Proverbs 16:1! And it was by no means just a coincidence that one of the FAM members sent me another wonderful message from Bayless Conley yesterday about God being Jehovah Rapha, The Lord Our Healer, which I strongly urge everyone to watch or listen to, because he really makes the point of how important the Word of God is to all of us as we stand for the healing and restoration of our marriages. And when we take the time to sow the seed of God’s Word into our hearts, it will be there when we have to SPEAK it in times of distress and rely on it to breathe new life into our dead marriages!

Another very powerful illustration for everyone standing against the forces of hell for marriage restoration is found in 2 Chronicles 20; especially verses 15 through 22, which says:
15 He said: “Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the LORD says to you: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s.
16 Tomorrow march down against them. They will be climbing up by the Pass of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the gorge in the Desert of Jeruel.
17 You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the LORD will give you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the LORD will be with you.'”
18 Jehoshaphat bowed with his face to the ground, and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell down in worship before the LORD.
19 Then some Levites from the Kohathites and Korahites stood up and praised the LORD, the God of Israel, with very loud voice.
20 Early in the morning they left for the Desert of Tekoa. As they set out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Listen to me, Judah and people of Jerusalem! Have faith in the LORD your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets and you will be successful.”
21 After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the LORD and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying: “Give thanks to the LORD, for his love endures forever.”
22 As they began to sing and praise, the LORD set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated.
It’s very significant to note that the instructions given to God’s people at a time of great need was preceded by the very specific instruction “listen” (in verses 15 and 20), followed by God’s Word; obviously instructing the listeners to “hear the Word of God.” And then just before the moment of victory, verse 21 tells us they were “saying” the Word of God, because they said “Give thanks to the LORD, for His love endures forever.” And verses containing that or similar phrases appear in the Bible SIXTEEN times! So it sounds like we all need to remember to give thanks to the Lord and proclaim that His love endures forever…and to SAY it out loud all the time, because they’re obviously VERY powerful words! And whenever we’re in a battle with the devil and need to deflect the fiery darts of temptation, deception, doubt and discouragement he hopes will lead us into disobedience of some kind; we need to remember to follow the very concise and powerful, yet simple example Jesus gave us of EXACTLY how to defeat Satan with the Word, as given in Matthew 4:1-11 as follows:
The Temptation of Jesus
1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.
2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.
3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'”
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple.
6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'”
7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'”
8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.
9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”
10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'”
11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.
Now that sounds like victory, and Jesus showed us exactly how to DO it! So why don’t we?

When we inevitably struggle with faith and putting all of our trust and confidence in the power and promise of God’s Word; and when we are in need of healing and victory, as we all are as we stand for the restoration of our marriages and families, the obvious solution is SPEAKING and HEARING the Word of God. But the sad thing is that it’s really so simple that it’s almost too hard for people to believe! Yet, when we do, we WILL DEFINITELY BE blessed and encouraged!

Posted Tuesday, January 8th, 2008 at 6:13 pm in Seeds Of Faith.