Bill Johnson - The Power of Speaking God's Word Over Your Life
«What’s more powerful: the word of the Lord in Jesus’s mouth or the word of the Lord in yours? If it’s the word of the Lord, it’s equally powerful regardless of whose mouth it comes from. That may sound blasphemous to some, but Jesus chose to live with the restriction of being human, even though He is eternally God. He would only say what He heard the Father say, and it was all powerful because it came from the Father. That same word comes through you and me.
Thank you, you’re so nice. Eric sends his love, by the way. He is on his way to New Zealand to our Bethel plant there, and he is going to be with a great group of people. All right, it’s been a while since I read this: Two elderly couples were enjoying a friendly conversation when one of the men asked the other, „Fred, how was the memory clinic you attended last month?“ „Outstanding,“ he replied. „They taught us all the latest psychological techniques: visualization, association, etc. It was great.“ „That’s great! What was the name of the clinic?“ Fred went blank. He thought and he thought but couldn’t remember. Then a smile broke across his face. „What do you call that flower with a long stem and thorns?“ he asked. „You mean a rose?“ „Yes, that’s it!“ Fred turned to his wife and said, „Rose, what was the name of that clinic?“ That’s just pitiful; that’s what that is. Just plain pitiful.
All right, open your Bibles to the 40th Psalm. We’ll bounce around a little bit. I’ve got to kind of feel my way through this. When I came here early this morning, I had a specific thing I was planning to teach today, and I just felt like God was tampering with me and prompting me to go in a different direction. I don’t have a full teaching; I have a subject, so I’m going to talk my way through it. By the fourth service, I should have it down, or at least I hope so! If any of you want to stay for the next one, well, I probably won’t have it down there either.
I really felt the Lord touching my heart about something. Let me ask you a question first: How many of you have had unusual breakthrough answers to prayer or miracles, or something happened in some area of your life in the last 90 days? Please put a hand up. About 90 days, or around 85 days ago, I made this proclamation about 90 days of breakthrough. What happened was I was in Vacaville on a Saturday, teaching at a conference. I found myself saying, „This begins a 90-day period of extraordinary breakthrough.“ It wasn’t premeditated; I felt it was a prophetic unction that came out of nowhere. I came here the next day and made the same announcement, believing that God wanted to bring unusual breakthrough. That’s always the case, but there are times when God is breathing on something that you just need to give attention to.
What I felt about today is that what I was going to teach on will have to be done another time. What I felt today, when I was praying here early, is that I am supposed to talk to you about something and give you a tool—specifically, a tool to help sustain a lifestyle of breakthrough. That’s what I want to do. We’ll look at a few verses, but it’s one of those one-point messages that I’ll drag on to fill the time. I’m going to talk to you for a little while, and then we’re going to celebrate communion together at the end.
Let’s read in Psalms 40, just two and a half verses starting with verse 9: „I have proclaimed the good news of righteousness in the great assembly; indeed I do not restrain my lips, O Lord; you yourself know. I have not hidden your righteousness within my heart; I have declared your faithfulness and your salvation; I have not concealed your lovingkindness and your truth from the great assembly.“ Verse 11: „Do not withhold your tender mercies from me, O Lord.“
Back to verse 9: „I have proclaimed the good news of righteousness in the great assembly; indeed I do not restrain my lips, O Lord; you yourself know. I have not hidden your righteousness within my heart; I have declared your faithfulness and your salvation; I have not concealed your lovingkindness and your truth from the great assembly.“ „Do not withhold your tender mercies from me, O Lord.“
Here’s what I want to talk to you аbout: there’s a theme woven throughout the New Testament that I don’t emphasize enough. Whenever there is a bold proclamation of the Gospel on the part of the people of God, there is a bold response from Heaven to bring breakthrough. They run parallel courses. When something is boldly proclaimed here, it is boldly responded to there. We see it in Acts 4:29, a verse I quote often because of its effect on my own thinking and life.
In Acts 4:29, Peter has just gotten out of jail with John. They go to a prayer meeting, and Peter prays this prayer: „Lord, take note of their threats, and grant that your bondservants may speak your word with all boldness while you extend your hand to heal, and signs and wonders take place through the name of your holy servant Jesus.“ Peter and John were arrested for boldness. It says in Acts 3, and in Acts 4, they are released from jail, and they go to a prayer meeting. They pray, „God, give us boldness!“
Here’s the request: „God, we want to be more bold and effective in our proclamation of what is true.“ And while we are asking for boldness, we are also asking that You would extend Your hand to heal and that signs and wonders would increase. This particular Psalm is a confession of David, in which he says, „God, I have not withheld what You’ve shown me about You. I have boldly proclaimed; I have declared; I have confessed. Now, I am asking You to respond to my personal need.“
The picture that works for me is almost like my proclamations are seeding the cloud of rain that is going to fall upon my own life. It’s the bold proclamation, the bold confession. I’m sorry that through the years, the subject of confession of faith has occasionally been twisted into a self-serving tool to get God to do what we want. I get that; I know that. But it doesn’t cancel out the absolute truth of the Gospel. The Bible teaches in Romans 10 that confession is made unto salvation. In other words, we make this confession of our faith, and it seals the deal; it’s what completes what is in the heart.
What is in the heart has to be proclaimed; it has to be declared; it must be confessed. Life and death are in the power of the tongue. Maybe one way to look at it is that God created us in His image and spoke the worlds into being. Many of the problems that exist in our lives were given places of influence, power, and strength through improper conversation.
For many people, their goal in life is to vent when they have something going wrong, and all they do is add to the strength of a particular problem. I’ve tried to make it a practice in my own life: I will not talk about a problem with anyone who is not part of the solution. That cuts down on a lot of conversation. I’m not going to talk to someone just to vent; I’ll only talk if I’m looking for a redemptive solution and believe they are a part of it.
Life and death are in the power of the tongue, which means that you and I have the ability with our speech to bring life to a dead situation or to kill a living situation. Peter denied the Lord three times, and in the Gospel of John, chapter 21, Jesus has the disciples together and asks Peter, „Do you love me?“ Peter replies, „I do.“ Then He waits a moment and asks again, „Peter, do you love me?“ He says, „Lord, you know I do. I love you.“ He asks a third time, „Do you love me?“
It’s interesting that for each denial, the Lord gave Peter an opportunity to reaffirm his place in Him through proclamation, through confession. It needed to be more than just a happy thought or a warm buzz feeling; it had to be the proclamation of truth coming out of Peter’s own mouth. Life and death are in the power of the tongue.
I went through a significant physical struggle three years ago, and I remember when it ended and I was restored to health. I was in a place of recovery, pondering and looking back over the previous several months and the lessons I had learned. I would lay in bed reading promises, watching videos of prophetic words, and in my Bible reading, I would read until He speaks to me. I found myself wanting some key that He would reveal to unlock everything. Maybe He did, but it came differently than I expected.
At the end of four or five months of real challenge, I came to the conclusion that bold faith stands on the shoulders of quiet trust. What He was working to build in me was the quiet trust—the anchor of the soul that says, regardless of circumstances, I know where my confidence is. The opportunity to make that proclamation—to confess boldly—is essential.
The most famous verse in this regard is from Mark chapter 11. If you turn there with me, that would be great. Many times in recent church history, people have used this particular verse thinking they can use it to get God to do whatever they want. While I apologize for that, I also want to say we shouldn’t react to error and create another error. Just because a principle is abused doesn’t mean we should disregard it.
My hands aren’t clean because I’ve drawn this subject out, but if it says so in the Word, then I must find out how to apply what God has said is true. Mark 11 gives us a profound lesson. To me, it’s a humorous chapter. Towards the beginning, we find that Jesus curses a fig tree for not bearing fruit out of season. I think that’s the coolest thing ever! Jesus cursed a fig tree for not bearing fruit when it shouldn’t. What does it mean? I don’t know; I just think it’s cool.
I have come to the conclusion that Jesus is the only one who has the right to expect the impossible fruit from our lives. The resurrection factor makes nothing impossible and qualifies you and me as participants in His unfolding conflict with life’s impossibilities. You and I are instruments of Jesus' redemptive work to see impossibilities bow.
So He curses the fig tree, and as the disciples and Jesus walk by it the next morning, verse 20 states, „Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.“ Peter, remembering, said, „Rabbi, look! The fig tree which you cursed has withered away.“ Jesus answered and said to them, „Have faith in God.“
Some translations express it as „have the faith of God,“ which is interesting because God has quite a bit of faith. Verse 23 states: „Assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and cast into the sea, ' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.“
Read it again: „Assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and cast into the sea, ' and does not doubt in his heart but believes those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.“ The emphasis is on the proclamation of truth.
I don’t think we have the luxury of saying whatever we want, even though life and death are in the power of the tongue. The heart of the believer is to find what God is saying, to find His word in a given situation. Once we’ve received the word of the Lord, it’s up to us to proclaim it so those things come to pass.
I can tell you from my experience, and I’m in the middle of this journey like everyone else, that I’ve had many times where I clearly heard from the Lord what His will was in a situation. I stood back, waiting for it to unfold, and most of the time it doesn’t until I step in and start enforcing what the Lord has spoken to my heart.
There is a role that you and I play, and for some reason, He has chosen to respond to the decree, the declaration of surrendered believers—those who say, „The will of God and God being glorified is all I want.“ I’m going to harness my own conversation and ensure I proclaim what you are saying, God, in that given situation.
Joel chapter 3 says, „Let the weak say, 'I am strong.'“ Say that with me: „Let the weak say, 'I am strong.'“ The reason He had to say that is that when you need to say it is when you’re least likely to. The command became necessary because it’s most effective when we least want to make that confession.
It’s easy when you’ve had this miracle and that miracle to stand up and feel strong and mighty in God. But there are other times—it’s a fight and a struggle—and in those times, it’s most necessary to say, „I am strong.“ My translation says, „Let the weak say, 'I am a mighty man.'“ For women, of course, „I am a mighty woman.“
I don’t want anything to happen while I’m up here, so I’m not making that confession just for fun. I’m declaring that this will be a year when we work hard to embrace what the Lord has declared over our lives and make that the only thing we say.
I don’t mean you shouldn’t seek counsel or bring a problem up, but there are times we actually fuel and feed conflicts and problems in life. We make them bigger because they are the topic of our complaints rather than speaking life. I feel like the Lord wants to increase the use of a particular tool that He taught His own disciples: that whatever you say, you’ll have. The problem is many of us have what we’ve said.
Where this is all headed today is that I felt, when I came in earlier, that we would share in communion together as a church family. I want to walk you through a practice I’ve done a couple of times in the last year and a half. We’ll take communion at the end of the message in just a few moments, and I want to walk you through the beauty and privilege of proclamation—of confession of faith—of looking in the face of an obstacle and making a confession.
I remember Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; they were thrown into a fiery furnace and made a confession: „God will deliver us.“ Then they added, „Even if He doesn’t, we’re not bowing.“ I like that approach; it’s like, „I only have one option—He’s it. There’s no plan B.“
There are certain moments in life where situations arise that require the word of the Lord to be proclaimed over them—situations that need your proclamation of faith.
I remember someone asked this question—I’m not sure who, but it might have been John Arn: „What’s more powerful, the word of the Lord in Jesus’s mouth or the word of the Lord in yours?“ If it’s the word of the Lord, it’s equally powerful regardless of who it comes from. That may sound blasphemous to some, but Jesus chose to live with the restriction of being human. Even though He is eternally God, He would only say what He heard the Father say, and it was all powerful because it came from the Father. That same word comes through you and through me.
I guess I want to encourage you to drive around town, making proclamations and confessions over circumstances and impossible situations. When you least feel like it, that’s when it needs to be proclaimed the most. We’re going to do that together today.
I want to ask the ushers and those helping with communion to come right now, and our staff and ministry team can line up along the front. We’re going to share in communion together in just a few minutes, so if you would come and pass out the elements, please don’t take them yet, as we want to share this journey together.
Did I mention that Benny has a book coming out on communion? She has a book coming out in just a few weeks on the power of communion. She had a friend who wrote her an email or text a while ago; her friend was in the hospital with seven different conditions and was terminal, dying, and the doctors had no solutions for her. Benny wrote back and said, „You need to take communion every day.“ And she did—after about three weeks, her friend wrote back and said she was completely out of the hospital; everything was fine.
Communion is not to be approached as a magic pill; it can actually hurt a person if we don’t give it proper estimation or value, the way Jesus does. Jesus took bread on Passover night, broke it, and made this statement: „This is my body.“ I know there may be some Catholics and Episcopalians here who have a different approach than my historical background, but I remember my dad teaching on this once, and he said Jesus said, „This is my body.“ He didn’t say it represents my body; He said, „It is.“
I feel it’s important for us to approach this with the same value and respect that Jesus intended. It’s not a magic pill that fixes everything; it’s the person we come to in absolute surrender. Jesus made full and complete provision for you and me to be healed, forgiven, and freed from poverty.
I believe we’re going to see every single person in this house who has had poverty as part of their background, perhaps through multiple generations, breaking free. The Lord is resetting that part of life for us.
When I take the broken bread (the body of Jesus), there are certain confessions I like to make over the whole community. I usually take probably 20 or 30 minutes for it; we only have a few, so we’ll have to abbreviate it.
I want to give you an idea of my approach: When I hold the bread, I like to confess, „By Your stripes, I was healed.“ It’s extremely important that we begin to contend for what Jesus made provision for, which is the subject of divine health. It would be tragic to reach the end of time and discover that the only generation that lived in divine health was Israel in the wilderness—not even born again and in rebellion against God—yet they had a period where they enjoyed divine health, and their clothing didn’t even wear out.
I believe it’s the Lord’s provision in His suffering on our behalf: Jesus bore stripes in His body through brutal beating as an atoning work to deal with the power of sickness and disease. So I’m going to ask if you would stand with me, and we’re going to make some bold confessions and proclamations together.
By the stripes of Jesus, I was healed.
By the stripes of Jesus, I am healed.
When I do this, I purposefully think of people who need miracles in their bodies—people I know, family members, or dear friends. I take this moment to come before the Lord and make that bold confession.
By the stripes of Jesus, Mark is healed of cancer. We’re not talking mind over matter; we’re declaring a reality that hasn’t yet been fully experienced. I want to take this time to make proclamations: By the stripes of Jesus, deafness is defeated in that man or woman. By the stripes of Jesus, Parkinson’s is gone in Allen’s body or Kathy’s. Let’s make these decrees together.
I want you to do it right now. Think of a family member or friend who needs a miracle and see the broken body of Jesus as more than enough for the problem they face. Do it right now. If you’re joining us at home on Bethel TV, do the same thing and make a proclamation: „By the stripes of Jesus, Kathy is made whole.“
Hold this body of Jesus in front of you. Lord, we give You thanks for the willingness you had to suffer the way you did, to disempower disease, infirmity, and afflicting spirits. We thank You for this in Jesus' name.
Now there’s one more thing Jesus said in Ephesians 2: He bore on His flesh the dividing wall between Jew and Gentile. This is a prophetic picture of Him bearing in His flesh the penalty for all division. Tomorrow is Martin Luther King Day, a time of remembrance regarding racial divisions. Guess what? The suffering of Jesus is more than enough to fix that problem—more than enough.
There may be division in a family, division in a home, or division at work. Let’s take a moment to look at any place where unity needs to be established and make this confession together: „The broken body of Jesus is more than enough to fix that division.“ Now, with thankfulness, let’s receive the body of Jesus into ours in Jesus' name.
Now we have the cup. There are two confessions I like to make: „The blood of Jesus sets me free.“ Say it with me: „The blood of Jesus sets me free. Oh, my goodness! That is just all-encompassing right there.“ Let’s say it again: „The blood of Jesus sets me free.“
As I hold the cup, I want you to rediscover in your heart of hearts the profound effect of the sacrifice of Jesus on everything about your life. In this moment, let’s make the confession: „As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.“
Now take a family member or two and bless them by name—anyone you know, a child, a parent, an uncle, whatever. If someone is not serving the Lord, just pray them back into the kingdom, making the declaration that the blood of Jesus is enough for them too—that every family member will serve You with great passion and purity.
I like to pray for my children and grandchildren. I often pray that Jeremiah 24 passage, that God would give them a heart to know Him. Make that confession over your children or grandchildren—or extended family.
We declare that You would give our children a heart to know You, that they would hear the wooing of Your voice to find out why they are alive. We pray that over them right now, in Jesus' name.
Before we wrap this up, there’s one more thing I want to do. Before I take the cup, there are individuals who have opposed me through the years—they’ve written against me in their books, on their radio shows, or at conferences. But I want to celebrate their zeal for the Lord and honor Him for their courage to live with such risk to honor His name. I want to pray that God would prosper them in every possible way—spirit, soul, and body.
Let’s pray especially that God would give them the joy of having children, grandchildren, and even great-grandchildren who serve Him with great passion and purity. I want everything about their life to be touched by the grace and mercy of God. If you have a point of conflict or difficulty, take this moment to pray the blessing of the Lord over them. If they’ve passed, pray for their family, but be proactive in contributing life to another family right now.
Let’s take a moment for that right now. Yes, Lord, we declare Your blessing over every family member—over every individual who has caused pain. We pray that You would bring healing to their brokenness and prosper them in spirit, soul, and body. Thank You, Lord.
Now hold the cup up before the Lord. Let’s make the confession one more time: „The blood of Jesus sets me free.“ Say it again: „The blood of Jesus sets me free.“ Let’s receive this together.
Thank You, Lord God. Now we have a team here that we’re going to open up in just a moment for you to come and receive prayer. We just partook of the legal precedent for your victory, regardless of what it is. I encourage you to come and have someone agree with you in prayer for that miracle.
But the greatest miracle we haven’t yet talked about is being born again. If there’s anyone here who would say, „Bill, I don’t want to leave this building until I know I have been forgiven of my sins; until I have found peace with God,“ I want you to raise your hand right where you are. I see one hand back there, another one over here. Anyone else, real quickly? Way in the back over here, here’s another one. Wonderful! Welcome!
This is so beautiful! What you’re doing is surrendering everything to follow Jesus and to receive forgiveness of sins and be changed from the inside out. I would like to ask the three I saw, along with anyone else I may have missed, to come right up here to my left—there are people with their hands up; they’re friends, trusted people. I just want them to pray for you.
So please come right on up here to my left, your right, and they will bless you, talk with you, and pray with you. Bethal family, encourage them, honor them, celebrate them! If you brought them, just come with them. Bless you, right over here. Come on down. Wonderful, Jesus!»