Joel Osteen - Be Positive Or Be Quiet (01/22/2018)
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In this sermon, Joel Osteen teaches that our words have immense power to either bring God’s promises to pass or delay them, drawing from scriptures like Proverbs 6, the stories of Jeremiah, Zechariah, Joshua at Jericho, and the Shunammite woman. The key message is to speak faith and positivity—or if you can’t, remain silent—to avoid being snared by negative words and to allow victory to come.
The Power of Our Words
Every one of us has promises that we are standing on, things that we are believing for. Maybe it is to get out of debt, or to be healthy again, to meet the right person, to start our own business. We know God has spoken to us, but we do not see any sign of it happening. Nothing is changing; it looks just like it did six months ago.
The mistake we make too often is we start to talk ourselves out of it. «Well, I do not think I am going to get out of debt; business is too slow.» Or «I could never accomplish my dreams; I am too old, Joel. I missed my opportunity.»
We do not realize our words are what is keeping the promise from coming to pass. You cannot talk defeat and expect to have victory. The moment you speak something out, you are giving life to what you are saying, either good or bad. That is what allows it to become a reality.
Negative thoughts come to every person. You cannot stop the thoughts from coming, but the key is: do not verbalize the negative. You may think it, but do not speak it out.
If you are not going to say anything good about your health, your finances, your children, your future, do yourself a favor—zip it up. Do not say anything at all. Be positive or be quiet.
Snared by Our Own Words
Proverbs 6 says, «We are snared by the words of our mouth.» Do you know you can talk yourself out of your healing? You can talk yourself out of a promotion. Negative words can keep you from your God-given destiny.
This is what almost happened to a man in the Scripture named Jeremiah. God gave him a great promise that he would become a prophet to the nations, but when he heard this, he was very young and unsure of himself. He said, «God, I cannot do that. I cannot speak to the nations. I am too young; I would not know what to say.» God said, «Jeremiah, say not that you are too young.»
The first thing God did was stop his negative words. Why did God do that? God knew if he went around saying, «I am not qualified, I cannot do this, I do not have what it takes,» he would become exactly what he was saying. So God said, in effect, «Jeremiah, zip it up. You may think it, but do not speak it out.»
It goes on to tell how Jeremiah changed what he was saying, and he became a prophet to the nations. The promise came to pass.
In the same way, God has called every one of us to do something great. He has put dreams and desires on the inside, but it is easy to say like Jeremiah, «I cannot do that. I am too young, I am too old, I have made too many mistakes, I do not have the education, I do not have the experience.»
Negative Words Delay Promises
We can all make excuses, but God is saying to us what He said to Jeremiah: «Stop saying that. Do not curse your future.» Those negative words can keep you from God’s best.
And sometimes the reason a promise is being delayed is because of what we are saying. Imagine your answer is on the way. God has already dispatched the angel with your healing, your promotion, your vindication, but right before it gets here, God says to the angel, «Hold on. Do not go any further; stay right where you are.»
The angel says, «Why, God? This is what You promised; it is in Your word.» God says, «No, listen to what they are saying. They are talking about how it is not going to happen, how the problem is too big, how it has been too long, how they will never meet the right person.»
Negative words stop God’s promises. And I wonder how many times we are just a couple of months away from seeing the answer, a couple of months from meeting the right person. You have been praying for years that God would bring somebody great into your life, but right before they show up, you let your guard down and start saying, «Oh, it is not going to happen; I am too old; nobody is interested in me.» God has to say to the angel, «Do not go any further.»
Switch to Faith
The good news is that promise is still in your future. God did not cancel it because we get negative. He still has the right person for you, and if you will zip up the doubt and switch over into faith, at the right time they will show up.
God will release what negative words have delayed. God still has your healing, your promotion, your restoration.
Now do your part: quit talking about how it is not going to happen. You may not see a way, but God still has a way.
It may look impossible, but God can do the impossible. Just because you do not see anything happening does not mean God is not working. Right now, behind the scenes, God is arranging things in your favor. He is lining up the right people; He is moving the wrong people out of the way; He is positioning you exactly where He wants you to be. Now, do not delay the promise by speaking negative words.
Our son Jonathan is 17 years old, and we are in the process of applying to different colleges. Some schools only accept 5% of the students that apply. That means, of course, that 95% of the applicants get turned down. It is easy to think, «Why do we even want to apply to those schools? It is practically impossible—more than nine out of ten get denied. Jonathan, do not get your hopes up; I do not see how you could get in there.»
If we are not careful, we will talk ourselves out of it. You may think those thoughts, but do not make the mistake of verbalizing them.
Turning Thoughts Around
Learn to turn it around: «God, I know You have my son in the palm of Your hand. You have already picked out the right college for him to attend. There may be only a 5% chance for some schools, but God, I know with You there is a 100% chance he will get in exactly where You want him to go. God, You control the whole universe.»
That is much better than going around, «All the odds are against me. It does not look good; I do not see how it is going to happen.» No, zip that up. If you cannot be positive, at least be quiet. You are prophesying your future. If you say, «I will never get in,» then you will never get in. If you say, «This problem is going to sink me,» then it will sink you. If you say, «I will never be able to afford a nice house,» you will never be able to afford a nice house. You are being snared by the words of your mouth.
Zechariah’s Silence
Luke chapter 1—an angel appeared to a man named Zechariah. The angel told him that his wife, Elizabeth, was going to have a baby and they were to name him John. Zechariah was very surprised because he and his wife were way up there in years. He said to the angel, «Are you sure this is going to happen? It sounds great, but do you see how old we are? To me, it just does not seem possible.»
The angel said, «Zechariah, I am Gabriel; I stand in the presence of Almighty God, and what God says will come to pass.»
But God knows the power of our words. He knew if Zechariah went around speaking defeat, it would stop His plan, so God did something unusual. The angel said, «Zechariah, because you doubted, you will remain silent and not be able to speak until the baby is born.» Zechariah left there unable to talk; he could not say one word for nine months.
Why did God take away his speech? God knew he would go out and start telling his friends how it was not going to happen. «Hey, man, this angel appeared, said we are going to have a baby; he must have got the wrong person—we are too old.» God knows with our words we are prophesying our future.
A lot of times we think, «Well, Joel, God is God; if He wants to bless me, He will bless me.» No, God works by laws, and yes, God wants to bless you, but it will not happen if you are speaking defeat over your life.
That is why the Scripture says, «Put a watch over your mouth.» In other words, be careful what you allow to come out of your mouth. This is especially important in difficult times. That is when it is easy to get negative, start saying, «Well, I do not think I am ever going to get well. I have had this sickness for three years.» No, put a watch over your mouth. Do not prophesy that defeat.
Speak What God Says
If you are going to say anything, say what God says: «I will live and not die. God is restoring health back unto me. The number of my days He will fulfill.» That is what we should be saying.
The thought comes: «You will never accomplish your dreams. You will never rise any higher. You have gone as far as you can go.» You cannot stop the thoughts from coming, but you can choose not to give them life by speaking them out. When you do not speak it, that thought will die stillborn. It cannot take root and become a reality. But when you say it, you are giving birth to what you are speaking.
All through the day, you need to ask yourself, «Is what I am about to say what I want to come into my life?» Because what you are saying, you are inviting in. When you say, «I will never get out of debt; the economy is too slow,» you are inviting struggle and lack. When you say, «This problem is too big; I do not think I will ever get out of it,» you are inviting defeat, mediocrity.
You need to send out some new invitations. When you say, «I will lend and not borrow. God’s favor surrounds me like a shield. Whatever I touch prospers and succeeds,» you are inviting increase, good breaks, success. When you say, «I will overcome this problem. If God be for me, who dare be against me?» you are inviting strength, healing, restoration, vindication, breakthroughs.
Inviting the Right Things
Now, pay attention to what you are inviting. «Well, I will never pass this algebra course. I have never been good in math. I just do not understand it.» Change the invitation: «I can do all things through Christ. I have good understanding; I am full of wisdom; I am an A-student.» When you do that, you are inviting A’s, you are inviting wisdom, you are inviting God’s blessings. Make sure you are sending out the right invitations.
When I first started ministering back in 1999, I had never done this before, and I was very nervous and very unsure of myself. Every negative thought imaginable would come to my mind. Things like, «Joel, you are going to get up there and make a fool of yourself. You are not going to know what to say. Nobody is going to listen to you. You do not have the experience.»
All through the day, I had to ignore those thoughts, and I would go around saying under my breath, «I am anointed. I am equipped. I am strong in the Lord.» Before I would come to church and minister, I would look at myself in the mirror and say, «Joel, you are well able. You have been raised up for such a time as this.»
The services would go out all over through the television. Those thoughts would come saying, «What are you doing on television? Other ministers are so much more qualified. Nobody is going to tune you in.»
Instead of repeating that, from the very first I started saying, «Father, I want to thank You that people are being drawn to me, and when they turn me on, they cannot turn me off.»
Do you know I get letters every day from people saying, «Joel, I never watch TV ministers, but I was flipping through the channels, and when I turned you on, I could not turn you off.»
That is much better than going around saying, «I am not qualified. I do not have the experience. I do not have what it takes.» Well, the Scripture says you have got to call the things that are not as if they already were. I did not feel confident, but I called myself confident. I did not feel anointed, but I called myself anointed.
Call Things by Faith
Now, you may not feel blessed, but you need to call yourself blessed. The circumstances may not say you are prosperous, but by faith you need to call yourself prosperous. You may not feel healthy today, but do not go around telling everyone how you are not going to make it. Start calling yourself healthy, whole, strong, full of energy, full of life.
The Walls of Jericho
When Joshua was leading the people of Israel toward the Promised Land, they came to the city of Jericho. It stood between them and their destiny. They could not go around it; they had to go through it. The problem was Jericho was surrounded by a huge, thick, tall wall made up of stone and mortar.
It did not look like there was any way the Israelites could get in. But God told them to do something that sounded strange—to march around that wall for six days, and on the seventh day they were to march around seven times. If that was not odd enough, God gave them one final instruction, the key to the whole thing working: He said, «While you are marching around the walls, I do not want you to say one word—not a whisper, not a short conversation, not an update on how it is going. Keep totally silent.»
Why did God not allow them to speak? God knew after a couple of times around they would start saying, «What in the world are we doing out here? This wall is never going to fall. Look how thick it is; it has been here for years. Joshua must have heard God wrong.» Somebody else would speak up, «Yeah, and I am tired, and I am hot, and I am hungry. This dust is getting in my face.»
God knew they would talk themselves out of it. In fact, it had happened years before. Their parents and relatives were camped next door to the Promised Land, but when the spies came back and told everyone how big their enemies were, that negative report spread like wildfire throughout the rest of the camp. Before long, all two million people were complaining, saying, «We do not have a chance. We will never defeat these enemies.»
Even though they were next door, their negative words kept them from going in. God knew it had happened once and it would happen again, so He told them to be quiet. He was saying, in effect, «I know you are not going to be positive, so just stay silent.»
There are times in all of our lives where it is difficult to be positive, and that is okay—just stay silent. Do not tell everyone what you are thinking. You know how the story ends. On the seventh time around on the seventh day, the walls came tumbling down.
Are Negative Words Holding You Back?
Here is the question today: Could it be that negative words are keeping you out of your Promised Land? Could it be if you would remain silent—not talk about how big the problem is, not complain about what did not work out, not tell a friend how you are never going to be successful—that if you would zip it up, maybe the walls that are holding you back would come down?
Imagine behind that wall is your healing, your promotion, your dream coming to pass. Every day, so to speak, you are walking around the wall. What are you saying? «This wall is never going to fall, Joel. I have had this addiction since high school. I will never be able to start my own business. I do not know the right people.»
No, God is saying to us what He said to the Israelites: If you cannot say anything good, do not say anything at all. Do not let your negative words keep you from God’s best. If you will stop talking defeat, lack, how it is not going to happen, and simply remain silent, God can do for you what He did for them—He knows how to bring those walls down.
When we are marching around the walls, sometimes we go day after day and we do not see anything happening. Just like them, the thoughts come saying, «You did not hear God right. Nothing is changing. You go to work every week, do your best—you are not being promoted.»
No, that is a time of testing. Like the Israelites, you are marching around the wall. You may be on day five, day six—that translates into you have been doing it a year, two years, five years. Surely it would have happened by now?
No, pass that test. Do not start complaining. Do not do like the first group and say, «Ah, what is the use; let us settle here.» No, when the negative thoughts come, let them die stillborn. Refuse to prophesy defeat over your life. If you do this, you will come into your seventh day.
Like the Israelites, those walls will come tumbling down. God is a faithful God; He will do what He has promised you.
The Shunammite Woman’s Faith
2 Kings chapter 4—there was a woman who was good friends with the prophet Elisha. In fact, she had built an extra room so when Elisha was in town he could come and stay there.
One day Elisha asked her what he could do for her to return the favor. She said, «Nothing, Elisha; my husband and I are doing just fine.» Elisha noticed that they did not have any children. Her husband was an older man.
Before he left, he prophesied, «By this time next year, you are going to have a baby.» She was so excited. And sure enough, the next year she had a baby boy. When that son was about ten years old, he was out in the field playing one day, and his head began to hurt very badly. They carried him home and placed him in his mother’s arms, where he later died.
You can imagine how this mother felt. She was heartbroken, devastated. She carried her son to Elisha’s room and placed him on Elisha’s bed. For most people, this would be the end of the story. But not this lady.
She told her assistant, «Saddle me up a horse. I am going to see the prophet Elisha.» The assistant said, «Ma’am, you do not need to do that; there is nothing he can do. I hate to say it, but your son is no longer alive.» She said, «Do not ask questions; just get me a horse ready.»
Men, we know better than to mess with a woman who has got her mind made up! (laughter)
She got on this horse and took off toward Elisha’s house as fast as she could. You can imagine—like a «Lone Ranger,» she was riding to bring justice.
When Elisha saw the dust billowing up in the sky a couple of miles away, at one point he noticed it was his friend—the woman who had built the extra room on her house. Elisha told his assistant, Gehazi, «Go find out what is wrong.»
Gehazi jumped on his horse and met the woman way down the road, stopped her, and said, «Hey, Elisha is concerned. Why are you coming unexpectedly in such a hurry? Is anything wrong?»
I love the way she answered. She said, «No, all is well.» And she kept heading full steam ahead. Gehazi thought it and said, «That does not make sense.» He called up to her a second time, «Let me ask you again: Is everything okay with your husband?» She said, «All is well.» «Is everything okay at your house?» «All is well.»
Then he asked, «Is everything okay with your son?» She said it again, «All is well.» She was speaking it by faith.
Speaking Faith in Tough Times
A lot of times when we face difficulties, somebody asks us how everything is going, we do just the opposite: «Ah, man! Let me tell you—my business is so slow, my stocks are down, my back has been hurting, dishwasher broke, somebody dented my car, and traffic was backed up. Usher would not let me sit where I wanted to sit this morning.»
It is easy to talk about the problem, how bad it is, how it is never going to work out. But in those tough times, when you feel like complaining, you have got a good reason to be sour—you lost a job, a friend did you wrong, you are not feeling well—that is when you have to dig your heels in and say it by faith.
«Business is slow, but all is well. God is still on the throne. He is Jehovah Jireh, the Lord my provider.» Or: «The medical report was not good, but all is well. God is my healer; nothing will snatch me out of His hands.»
She made it finally to Elisha’s house. She said, «Elisha, this son you promised me has died.» In other words: «I did not ask for the boy. Elisha, you prophesied, and God gave him to me, and I know if you will come pray for him, he will come back to life.»
He got on his horse, went to her house, prayed for the little boy, and he came back to life. A great miracle.
But here is what I want you to see: Even in her darkest hour, even when it looked impossible, she refused to get negative and speak defeat. When Gehazi asked, «Is everything okay?» she could have said, «No! I am in the midst of a great tragedy. I am facing the biggest challenge of my life.» Nobody would have faulted her for that. But this lady chose to speak faith even though her mind was being bombarded with doubt. She had a watch over her mouth. She was not going to be snared by her words.
When you are hurting, you have been through a disappointment, you have suffered a loss, you have got to do like her—say it by faith: «All is well.»
It may not look well; it may not feel well. In the natural you should be complaining, talking about how bad it is. But instead, you are making a declaration of faith: «All is well.» That is when the most powerful force in the universe goes to work.
Friends, God can resurrect dead dreams. He can resurrect a dead marriage. He can resurrect health that is going down or a business that is going down. When you get in agreement with God, all things are possible.
You may be facing a big obstacle; it does not look good. But here is a key: do not talk about the size of your problem; talk about the size of your God.
God stopped the sun for Joshua. He parted the Red Sea for the Israelites. He breathed new life into this little boy. He can turn your situation around as well. He can make a way even though you do not see a way.
The Challenge
My challenge today is: do not let your negative words stop what God wants to do. If you cannot say anything positive, zip it up. You may think it, but do not give it life by speaking it out.
Your healing, your vindication, your promotion is right up in front of you. Like Jeremiah, God has already ordained you to do something great. Now put a watch over your mouth. Pay attention to what you are saying.
For some of you, when you make this adjustment, God is going to release promises that have been delayed. What you have been praying about—breaking that addiction, meeting the right person, getting healthy again, starting that business—suddenly things are going to fall into place. You are going to see God’s favor in a new way; He is going to open up new doors of opportunity.
I believe and declare, like Joshua and the Israelites, every wall that is holding you back is about to come crumbling down. You and your children will make it into your Promised Land.
If you receive it, can you say amen today?