~ Open in Prayer ~

Icebreaker
·What affirmations do you speak over yourself daily/weekly?
·When you were a child what did you want to be when you grew up?
·Do you have any plans/goals for the summer?

Message Review
We’ve talked about the blessing that comes through giving and unity but there is one more way in which the blessing is initiated – the spoken word. Our words have more power than we think so we must be careful what we speak. God spoke His word when He wanted to change things and He gave us the power to speak when we want to change things. When we speak the word of God over our lives we speak life but when we speak our circumstances or negative emotions we speak death. The blessing comes when we are wise with our words and speak the word of God over our lives.

Let’s dig in more…

Read Proverbs 18:21
“Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.”

Death and life are not in other’s opinions of you. Death and life are not in what people tell you. Death and life are not in what you’re going through. Death and life are in the power of your tongue. And the Bible calls the tongue, the most unruly member. That’s why our tongues must be tamed. Death and life are not in your situations; it’s what you say to your situations. Death and life are not in your circumstances; it will be what you say in the midst of it. Death and life are in how you talk to it, not who it is. Nothing else in your body can set the course of nature; only your tongue can do that. Course means cycles and the way you talk can create cycles in your life. It can create lifelong cycles that give life and cycles that bring death. You remain in seasons God already wanted you to have exited due to your tongue. Your season got in you, instead of you going through it. You’re perpetuating a season you were just supposed to go through, not sit in, because of your words. Prior to this message did you think the impact of your words could be so significant? What things in your life have you been perpetuating because of your words?

Read John 19:25-27 | 2 Kings 4:14-17 | 2 Corinthians 4:13 | Genesis 1:1-3
Your words keep things alive or put them to death. Mary’s words were keeping Jesus alive and preventing Him from fulfilling his purpose – to die for our sins. So Jesus had to tell John to take her away. Elisha’s words in 2 Kings 4 spoke life and a child was born the next year. Our words have so much power; we must be careful what comes out of our mouth. We must speak only what we desire, not what’s happening around us. In the beginning God didn’t speak what He saw (darkness), He spoke what He wanted (light). You believe, therefore you speak. And whatever you speak is a reflection of what’s in your heart. The mouth is the ventilation of the heart. To get your mouth right you have to get your heart right. What’s coming out of your mouth is an overflow of what your heart can’t take anymore. What you believe in your heart so it is, and you give life to it when you speak it. That’s why you can’t speak what you’re going through….if you do you will perpetuate it. Have you experienced a time when your words or the words of someone else came to fruition whether negative or positive? Is it hard for you to speak positively during tough circumstances? What are some ways we can guard our mouths from speaking against the plans God has for us? How can we keep our hearts pure?

Read Psalm 23:4
You were meant to walk through storms but when you let the storm get in you, you become a storm. You let the storm get in you by focusing on it and keep talking about it. We can’t keep complaining about or speaking of the storm. We must speak the word of God as we travel through the storm to avoid getting the storm in us because whatever is in you will eventually be around you. If there is chaos in you there will be chaos around you; whatever is in you will be around you. It can be difficult to be experiencing one thing but to say another. However, being a faith talker is not a denial of facts; being a faith talker is believing if you say the right thing the power of your words can take the facts and turn them around in your favor. Let the weak say I am strong; let the poor say I am rich – you’ll look foolish but you’re not saying what’s going on. You believe; therefore you speak so you say what you believe. Our lips easily say what we feel in the moment; faith talk is difficult. But we must remember that if you can say it, you shall eat the fruit thereof. If you can say what you believe; then you will have the things that you believe in your heart. Has there been a time when you have “let the storm get in you”? What was the result of that? How did you come out? What is going on around you? What does this say about what’s in you?

Words have power but Words in the mouth of an authority are even more powerful. If the words spoken over you aren’t renounced they will stand. Your emotion will come and go but what you say will remain. Adam and Eve operated in the power of the word that was spoken over them by God. Some of you are living under words that were said and some of you don’t know how to live because you never had something said. What authoritative word (negative or positive) has been spoken over you? What words do you need to renounce?

Prayer Focus and Requests
Ask your members if they have any prayer requests or praise reports. Pray that each member is careful with the words they speak and learn to speak the word of God over their lives and circumstances.

Scripture References
Proverbs 18:21-22
Genesis 1:1-2
Genesis 1:3
Genesis 1:6
Genesis 1:9
Genesis 1:11
Genesis 1:20
Genesis 1:24
John 15:1-9
John 4:24
John 4:26
Matthew 6:9-15
2 Corinthians 4:13