The Power of Our Words – Part 1
(July 14, 2025)
A nuclear bomb has tremendous power. The first, and only, nuclear bombs used
in war destroyed the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end the war
with Japan in WWII. But there is something even more powerful and that is the
power of words.
Friedrich Nietzsche said, “All I need is a sheet of paper and something to write
with, and then I can turn the world upside down.” Nietzsche influenced Adolph
Hitler and Hitler sent the world into World War II. Prosperity teacher Joel Osteen
said, “You can change your world by changing your words…Remember, death and
life are in the power of the tongue,” quoting Proverbs 18:21.
And, finally, even Jesus said, “If anyone says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and
cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what they say
will happen, it will be done for them” (Mark 11:23-24).
Since words have so much power, do they, as the name it and claim it false
teachers say, have the power to create reality? Is this the faith God wants His
children to exhibit? The short answer is ‘no!’
Teacher Warren Wiersbe says about this passage, “Nor should we interpret Mark
11:24 to mean, ‘If you pray hard enough and really believe, God is obligated to
answer your prayers, no matter what you ask. That kind of faith is not faith in
God; rather, it is nothing but faith in faith, or faith in feelings. True faith is based
on His word, and His Word reveals His will to us.” We must always remember that
what we want may not be God’s will for us.
GotQuestions.Org says this about the teaching, that if we believe hard enough
God is obligated to give us everything we want, “In essence, faith is redefined
from “a trust in a holy and sovereign God despite our circumstances” to “a way of
controlling God to give us what we want…Faith becomes a force whereby we can
get what we want rather than an abiding trust in God even during times of trials
and suffering.”
Moreover, faith and speaking what we want out loud does not create anything!
True faith does not demand but trusts in God’s sovereign will. God never HAS to
do anything we as humans want, and aren’t you glad? How many times has your
loving Lord saved you trouble by NOT giving you what you want?
Notice that the emphasis of the name it and claim it teachers is not accomplishing
God’s will on earth but getting what we want on earth. This is in stark contrast to
Jesus’ teaching to lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven. More on this next
week.