Many years ago, the Lord spoke clearly to us about going to Taiwan for an outreach. The cost in those days was about R11 000 (South African monetary exchange), but we didn’t have the money. We saved what we could, and as the time came nearer, we only had R700, but we knew God had spoken. So, in our excitement, we told people we were going on the outreach to Taiwan.

About two weeks before the outreach, a business man who was married to a lady that attended our home group called me up and wanted to meet me for coffee. I went along, not knowing what to expect. I knew he was not saved and since I had never met him, I had no idea what he wanted. We met for coffee, and he asked me a lot of questions. Just before we I left, he mentioned that he had heard we were going on an outreach to Taiwan. I confirmed that to be the case. He then gave me a big envelope and simply said, “This is for your trip; open it at home.” When I got home, I opened it and found R10 000. Michelle and I were blown away by God’s amazing provision.

This man and I would continue to meet for many years. Not only did he get saved, but he proved to be a most generous man who gave a great deal of money to serve the purposes of the kingdom of God—money used to buy equipment for churches, feed the poor, clothe many, start churches, etc. God had spoken to us and we had simply believed; and while we did not yet know the power of the spoken word, in our excitement we spoke about our trip all the time. There is such power in words of faith.

Let us look at the following Bible passages and note how they are emphasized:

  • “I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes what he  says will happen, it will be done for him.” (Mark 11:23)
  • “It is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and with your mouth that you confess and are saved.” (Romans 10:10)
  • “I believed, therefore I have spoken. With that same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak.” (2 Corinthians 4:13)

As we can see from the words in bold in the above Scriptures, an element of genuine faith is the confession of what we believe. God never does anything without first saying it. Embedded in the nature of God is faith, which is released with words.

Christianity is called the great confession (Hebrews 4:14), but many lead a defeated life because they believe and confess wrong things. Their words hold them in bondage. Proverbs 18:7 reminds us, “A fool’s mouth is his undoing, and his lips are a snare to his soul.”

For faith to be effective in operation, we need to speak what we believe. It is one thing to believe in your heart, but it is yet another thing to speak it. Without the confession of our faith, we will see no results. Speak to the mountain and it will move.

  1. Words are powerful vehicles in the universe.
    1. Words are containers: They carry faith or fear, belief or doubt, conviction or confusion.
    2. Words are seeds: They will always produce after their kind. The words that you speak are seeds, and just as sure as they are planted, you can be equally sure that a harvest will follow.
    3. Words affect your spirit: Spoken words influence your spirit either to success or defeat. The heart of man is comparable to soil. Whatever you plant into it, that is what it will produce. Faith comes quicker when you keep yourself quoting, speaking, and saying what God has said.
    4. Words paint pictures: Faith-filled words will cause you to see the answer in your spirit.
    5. We release our faith with our words: Our words are a reflection of what is in our hearts. (Josh. 1-8)
    6. Our faith will never rise above the level or our confession: We may not be able to enjoy the reality of the truth of God’s word because our confessions have bound us. We should remember that we are the first to “hear” what we say, and our actions are then spurred on by the faith we speak or are inhibited by the doubts we confess.
  2. Words do three things:
    1. Our words locate us: Our words reveal what is inside of us. (Matt. 12:23-37, James 3:2)
    2. Our words fix landmarks in our life: The words spoken yesterday make life what it is today.
    3. Words affect our spirit: We have two sets of ears—outer and inner ears. (James 1:26) The words that we speak register on our spirit. (Mark 4:9:23)
  3. Words have an effect:
    1. Words in the home: The atmosphere in our homes is a product of words. Get your words filled with power, love, wisdom, and faith. (Proverbs 16:21-24)
    2. Guard against negativity: A Christian can release something by consistent negative words about something or someone. This can be about our homes, families, business or jobs. Complaining about tough times and how bad things opens a door for the evil one. If satan can have our tongue, he has us.

Faith must speak. There is no faith without confession. Confession is faith’s way of expressing itself. Be real, authentic, and speak the truth with integrity; but do not confess negative things over your life. Faith is not a trick performed with our lips, but a spoken expression that springs from the conviction of our hearts.