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God's Word in Your Mouth

With my lips I have declared all the judgments of Your mouth.

(Psalm 119:13)

OUT lips are sacred vessels — they were made to declare the Word of the Lord! The psalm writer said, "With my lips I have declared all the judgments of Your mouth." Now, he wasn't talking about raining down condemnation on everyone and everything. In Psalm 119, the word "judgment" is used as a synonym for the "commandments," "statutes," "testimonies," "precepts," "ordinances," the "law" and the "Word" of God. Rather, he was talking about declaring, proclaiming and celebrating the Word of God, because that is the very thing our mouths were created to do.

Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth." (Genesis 1:26-28)

Man was created as the image of God, to fulfill His divine purposes upon the earth. The first assignment God gave Adam was to name the animals (Genesis 2:19-20). He was to open up his mouth and speak the words to them, imparting to them their God-given identities and destinies. Thus Adam was God's administrator, His mouthpiece, speaking on God's behalf.

God has always intended for His Word to remain in our mouths. God commanded Joshua,

This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. (Joshua 1:8)

We are to meditate on God's Word all the time, literally "muttering" it to ourselves. Whenever we speak, in whatever situation we find ourselves, we are to speak the Word, and line up our words in agreement with it. We are to do the Word, think the Word, speak the Word. Then we will be prosperous and successful in everything God has called us to do.

The Word of God is always effective. The Bible says, "So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it" (Isaiah 55:11). That is why God want us to keep the Word in our mouth — it comes from Him and is therefore full of power to accomplish all His plans and purposes. It is powerful in our mouth as well, because it comes first from His mouth.

The Ministry of Jesus

Now, let's take a look at the ministry of Jesus to see how He used words. Consider, for example, the story of how He healed Peter's mother-in-law.

Now He arose from the synagogue and entered Simon's house. But Simon's wife's mother was sick with a high fever, and they made request of Him concerning her. So He stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. (Luke 4:38-39)

Notice that Jesus rebuked the fever, that is, He spoke words to it — and it left her.

Here's another example. One day, when a powerful windstorm swept over the little boat that carried Jesus and His disciples, the disciples went to the stern of the boat, where Jesus was asleep on a pillow. "Teacher," they said, "do You not care that we are perishing?"

Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace, be still!" And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. But He said to them, "Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?" (Mark4:36-40)

Jesus spoke words of rebuke to the wind. He spoke words of peace and calm over the sea. They obeyed and everything became calm and still because of the words that came from His mouth.

The ministry of Jesus was very effective and successful because of His words. Now, here is something we need to understand about those words: They were not His own. Rather, He spoke only those things He heard the Father saying.

I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. (John 8:28 NIV)

"For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it. . . . So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say" (John 12:49-50 NIV).

Everything Jesus said and everything He did was straight from the Father. Jesus did not act or speak outside of those parameters. If the Father said it, Jesus said it. If the Father was not saying it, then neither was Jesus. This was the "secret" of His effectiveness-complete and total dependence on the Father. If the Lord Jesus Himself was careful to speak only those things that come from the Father, how much more careful ought we be to speak only those things.

Idle Words, or God's Words?

This is a very important issue, for Jesus warned the Scribes and Pharisees, "But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned" (Matthew 12:36-37). Idle words are words that are not in line with what the Word of God says. They have no power for good and do nothing to accomplish the purposes of God.

The truth about words is that they accomplish things. They may accomplish good things, they may accomplish bad things, but they do accomplish something. Even the words you think you did not mean may actually accomplish things, because Jesus said that the mouth speaks out of the abundance, or overflow, of the heart (Luke 6:46).

Some people go around damning other people and things in the name of God. They either mean it or they don't. If they mean it, then they are speaking blasphemy, because God is not in the damning business, and they are attributing to Him that which does not belong to Him. If they don't mean it, then their words are idle, and they will have to give account of them before God anyway.

God's Word in Your Mouth and in Your Heart

There is another way words may be idle, and that is when they are not mixed with faith. You see, there is a connection between your faith and your words, just as there is a connection between your heart and your mouth. In fact, it is pretty much the same connection.

But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith which we preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Romans 10:8-10)

Essentially, confession is agreement. When you confess something, you are in agreement with it. When you confess the Word of God, you are coming into line with it, setting yourself in agreement with it.

The Bible says that with the heart you believe and with the mouth you confess. That is how faith works: You take God's Word and you speak it out. It is not just the Word, though, but the Word mixed with faith, that is effective and powerful.

Speaking to Mountains

When the Word is mixed with faith, it is just as powerful in your mouth as it is in God's mouth. Jesus taught that to the disciples toward the end of His ministry.

Now the next day, when they had come out from Bethany, He was hungry. And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, He went to see if perhaps He would find something on it. When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. In response Jesus said to it, "Let no one eat fruit from you ever again." And His disciples heard it. (Mark 11:12-14)

Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. And Peter, remembering, said to Him, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered away." So Jesus answered and said to them, "Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. (Mark 11:20-24)

Notice that Jesus begins His answer with "Have faith in God." Literally, in the Greek text, this is "Have faith of God." That is, have the faith that comes from God. When God speaks, He has an expectation that it is going to be done. Jesus spoke to the fig tree and expected that word to be fulfilled. For one thing, He said only those things He heard the Father saying. For another, He mixed it with faith. He had faith in God, and He exercised that faith by what He said.

Speaking to the mountain and expecting to see results is a God thing. It is taking the words that come from Him and mixing it with the faith that comes from Him. When you do that, you will always get the results that come from Him.

Become a World-Changer

This is what happens when you determine that your lips were made to declare the Word of God: You get God-results. Now, I'm not suggesting that you have to go around speaking only Scripture all day long, but I am saying that every single word that comes out of your mouth needs to be in alignment with what God says, and not contrary to it.

If there is only one thing you learn this year, let it be this: Speak only those things that are in agreement with the Word of God. When you do, it will not only change your life, but it will turn you into a world-changer.

© 2003 by Jeff Doles.
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