Open your mouth and speak!

Proclaim by Ali Patel

Today's thought is an excerpt from Spacious Place: Closer to Jesus Through Imaginative Prayer…

Thoughts become spoken words. And words have the power to create ideas, guide your emotions and change the atmosphere around you.

Words are so powerful that God used them to speak the world into being.

“And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.” Genesis 1:3

The devil is the father of lies. He is skilled at speaking lies and half-truths in such a way that they will feel like truths.

His battlefield is your mind…

His weapon is lies… and his aim is to destroy you.

The devil uses words to make you doubt God and God’s promises over your life.

How does he do this?

The devil speaks lies directly into your thoughts…

You get sick… for a long time. He whispers ‘God doesn’t care about you, you are forgotten.’

You get rejected… again. He whispers ‘It’s not a surprise, you are damaged goods.’

You fail a test… that everyone else passed. He whispers ‘You are a total failure.’

You get the idea.

So, how can you spot when you are thinking and believing lies about yourself?

Firstly remember that you can’t trust your feelings.

Just because it feels like a truth doesn’t mean it is.

The Bible is the source of truth. The rock on which you can build your life.

And this is how Jesus uses it to stop the devil in his tracks.

“The tempter came to him [Jesus] and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” 4Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Matthew 4:3,4

Firstly… Jesus knew what the Bible said.

Secondly… He spoke the truth back to the devil.

Thirdly… The devil had to leave.

“Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.” Matthew 4:11

So, why not ask the Holy Spirit to make you aware of the lies you are believing as you go about your day? You could try praying something like…

“Holy Spirit, when I speak and think about myself today, make the lies I believe so obvious that as I speak them out or think them, I notice them. I choose now to give you permission to challenge me and bring to the light specific lies you want to deal with today. Once I hear myself thinking or saying them, help me then to give them to you. To say sorry for believing them. And to exchange them for your truth about me. Amen.”

For more on the power of your words, or to try out the ‘Cross as the place of exchange’ visualisation prayer, why not get the book?