Summary of the Sermon by Pastor Neil Smith, International Director at Planetshakers Ministries, Sunday, 1 December 2019

The Power of Declaration

 

We need to recognize that we have the power of life and death in our mouths.  Romans 4:17 as it is written, a father of many nations in the presence of Him, whom he believed in, even as God gives life to the dead and cast out demons.

How do we look at things that need breakthroughs, in a natural way?

God is actually speaking to Abraham, that his descendants will be numerous as the sands on the seafloor. But at the same time, Abraham and Sarah had passed child bearing age. When Abraham became 100 years old, Isaac was born to him by Sarah. Sarah at that time, the age of 90 years but she managed to conceive the son that God had promised them.     

God asked Abraham to sacrifice his one and only son Isaac on Mount Moriah.  Abraham began to comply when a messenger from God interrupted him. Serving God means there is always sacrifice required. The journey is as important as the destination. Isaac was used as a means to give up for the sake of a cause.

When we declare God’s words, our enemy is not happy. The enemy wants to put to death God’s promises in our life, because the devil wants our hopes and dreams to die - that is his primary mandate.

There is death all around us - our finances, our dreams, our health; it could be any area of our life, and that is why we need to declare over dead things in our life.  The ultimate purpose of our life is to make Jesus famous, to know who our God is and to know His plans and purposes beyond ourselves. 

Declaration means making an explicit statement or announcement about something. Something that is stated or made known in a public way.  Take God at His words - we speak things that are not as though they were.  Our words contain power. God is committed to His promises, for He is faithful. 

Pastor Neil once went to Papua New Guinea to see how they could meet with the Prime Minister of that country, to share the gospel there. As he asked what was the greatest need of the country at that point of time, he was told that they needed rain, as it had not rained for about 1.5 years in the capital. He told one individual who picked him up from the airport, that it would rain by the end of the day. When the rain fell in the afternoon, people were amazed! That paved the way for the gospel to be spread into Papua New Guinea.

 

God is the life giver and He gives life to the dead. He calls things that are not as though they were. Our God can raise the dead - be it physical death, death in the womb or the death of the Gentiles who were dead in their trespasses and sins. Only God the almighty can bring them back to life. 

It is time to start making declarations using God’s words over our life and situation.  What do we believe in? Take God at His words, conquer the enemy and live victoriously.  Speak and declare God’s words naturally, for we have the power and authority of God when we claim and believe in it. Through God’s words, any death can turn to life just by declaring to the world that Jesus Christ is alive, the Savior of the world.

Speak life over our circumstances and be in an agreement with God’s promises to come to pass in our situation. What is it that we need God to come through for?  Deepen your relationship with God more and more, and not settle for less, as we are the children of God, the inheritors of His promises. Life and death lies in the power of the tongue and those who love it will reap its fruits. Use our tongue as a weapon of warfare and see God’s promises come to fulfillment in our situation.