You
have authority to change things
by Sandra Turner
John Osteen (founding pastor of
Lakewood Church in Houston, now deceased) in his book The
Confessions of a Baptist Preacher told of a certain Christian
who talked continually of his failure, his weakness, his sickness,
and his troubles.
As a result, he got weaker and weaker, sicker and sicker, poorer
and poorer, and more and more fearful. His lot in life and that
of his family went from bad to worse.
One day this Christian happened upon three verses from the Bible.
"Death and life are in the power of the tongue; and they
that love it shall eat the fruit thereof." Proverbs 18:21
"Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken
with the words of thy mouth." Proverbs 6:2
"For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto
this mountain, Be thou removed and be thou cast into the sea;
and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe which those
things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever
he saith." Mark 11:23
He discovered a great spiritual law - that a person creates and
brings to pass what he continually says with his mouth. This
law works either for good or for bad, as this man well knew,
for he was having nothing but bad in his life.
Osteen said this man realized he had to change what he was saying.
So he went to the Bible and began to study the great promises
contained therein. He studied and began to understand the benefits
Jesus Christ gained for mankind through his death, burial and
resurrection. Through the Word of God, he began to see himself
as God sees him.
This man changed what he was saying. He began to say what God's
word says about him.
He began to make these confessions boldly in the face of all
the trouble, fear, sickness, and bad circumstances he was living
in.
I am God's child for I am born of the incorruptible seed of
the Word of God.
I am a new creature.
I am delivered from the power of darkness and translated into
the kingdom of God.
I am blessed.
I am redeemed from the curse of the law.
I am healed by the stripes of Jesus.
I am strong in the Lord.
I am more than a conqueror.
I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.
I have the Greater One inside me.
I have received the power of the Holy Ghost.
I have power to lay hands on the sick and they will recover.
I have power to cast out devils in the name of Jesus.
I have power over all the power of the enemy.
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
The man was very timid in his confession at first. But as he
began to believe in his heart what he said with his mouth, he
became very bold about it. People made fun of him, but he persisted
in saying what God's Word said about him because he knew that
God is not a liar.
There was no change at first. But after months of confessing
what God said instead of what the devil and the world said, this
man realized his life was different. He now had victory instead
of defeat. He now had faith instead of fear. He had success instead
of failure. He had prosperity instead of poverty. He had health
instead of sickness.
His life and his circumstances had been completely transformed
by the Word of God coming out of his mouth.
Ask for Osteen's book Confessions of a Baptist Preacher
at any Christian book store. Ask also for his book, There's
a Miracle in Your Mouth, the story of how he and Dodie used
this principle to receive healing for their baby daughter.
Copyright© 2003 by Sandra Turner.
Reproduction in any form prohibited.
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