Everyone knows that the childhood chant of “sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me” is patently false. Words do hurt and wound, but most people do not understand that spiritual life and death flow from what we speak and what has been spoken over us.
The Tongue: A Force for Life or Death
Proverbs 18:21 says this: “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit” (NIV). Life and death! Do we fully understand the power of that little muscle in our mouth?
The book of James expands on this, and in verse, it is called a “restless evil. With it, we bless God and curse men who have been made in God’s likeness.” Blessings and curses, the power of life and death, rest in the tongue.
God spoke the world into being in the book of Genesis. Jesus commanded us to speak to the mountain, and it will be cast into the sea (Mark 11:23). Jesus was not into hyperbole or exaggeration. That is the kind of power that we have at our disposal, within us: the same power that raised Christ from the dead (Romans 8:11).
Charles Capps, in his insightful book, “The Tongue: A Creative Force”, describes this power more fully and how we can use it for great good or evil.
The Spirit World Is Activated When We Speak
How does this creative force get unleashed? What is the mechanics behind turning spoken words into “real life” manifestations?
The answer is simple and much more powerful than the power of suggestion at work: The Holy Spirit and the demonic realm will move according to words that get spoken.
Do we have that kind of power? The bible says we do. We can get the Holy Spirit to move by speaking and declaring according to God’s will. Parents are to “bless” their children by declaring God’s promises over them. Spouses are to bless one another the same way and so it goes for others that we care about. When we declare these blessings (and call those things into being that are not (Romans 4:17)), we must believe by faith that He will carry them out.
The other side of the coin, unfortunately, is that the demonic realm works in like and opposite manner. People who operate in the occultic realms of witchcraft, voodoo, santeria, roots and so on can direct demonic power to carry out their declarations.
Many Christians erroneously believe that they are somehow protected from all this when they receive the gift of salvation. We have, as deliverance ministers, broken many word curses spoken over believers and see the manifestations when the spirits are called out.
We have seen that the primary source of word curses over people comes from those closest to them: mothers, fathers, teachers, spouses, ex-spouses and the like.
What Next?
If you’ve used your tongue as a weapon of destruction, rather than blessings, receive forgiveness and turn in a new direction (repentance). Ask forgiveness for those you have word cursed. Break the word curses.
If you have been the recipient of word curses from others, you may need counseling or deliverance ministry help to deal with these.
Finally, choose to be a vessel of blessing to your family, loved ones, friends and church body. The Father blessed the Son in a very public way in Matthew 17:5 (NIV):
“While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”
He modeled it for us: “I love my son, I’m proud of him and you should listen to him because he knows what he’s talking about!” We should do no less for those God has put in our lives.
I highly recommend a book called “The Blessing” by Trent and Smalley. If you are willing, it will help you get on the right track and begin to work this new discipline into your life. It’s never too late to start!
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