The Power of Word

A recent experience while in a counseling session brought new revelation, underscoring something I had long believed. For years I have held, and counseled others, that making a vow is sin against the Lord, and also oneself. The essence of why it is sin is that any vow, whether spoken out or determined silently within, is putting a wall of separation between the person and God. It declares that God may have entry rights to every part of the persons life with the exception of the area addressed by the vow. OK God, I surrender my life to you, lock stock and barrel, but, oh by the way, I am still god of this little area over here! It is ultimately a sin of rebellion. Declaring I will NEVER do _____, or the opposite I ALWAYS have to _________ in order for my life to be at peace are vows with as much strength as if they were forged iron chains. These vows are shaped and uttered long before there is understanding about the power of our words. Coming to awareness of that power sometimes takes years as we prate and chatter, gossip and declare, curse or cheer, revile or regale one another in endless stream of vocal (m)utterings. We do not stop to consider why is it that words have power. What is the reason Jesus warns us that we will be judged over every careless word? Since most talk is careless, this says we are all in trouble long

before we reach adulthood. What could possibly lie behind Gods attention to our words, our speaking? A scripture in Genesis One, easily read over with no regard of its force, introduces a concept in seed form which comes to fruition in the revelation of Jesus Christ. It indicates we humans are purposely created in the very image and likeness of God. The greater understanding of what that involves comes through the passage of the ages. The mystery of God, His ultimate purpose of lling the earth with His glory, was hidden from early mankind. As each man and woman walked the earth in close relationship with the Creator, His mind and will were to nd perfect expression through their lives. The rst job assignment: establish dominion on the earth. Have you ever wondered just what dominion means? Whose dominion? Was it for man alone? Was the earth given to man the way we give toys to our children, only to watch them stomp on the box and leave both toy and box broken within days? Obviously not. Then, what is exercising dominion? Men and women of esh were not only created in the image of God, they were assigned to establish His rulership on the natural, physical earth. It was and always has been about Him. Empowered by Him, crafted in His image, on His assignment, Man was in effect God eneshed. As His visible agents on earth, every man was to stand as a coregent who exercises the ruling power in a kingdom during the minority, absence or disability of the sovereign. That power to govern, manage and subdue the unruly has been delegated to man by Gods design. Part of His plan was to equip man with God-like attributes in order to accomplish that task. The very rst attribute revealed in Genesis is that God was able to create with the power of Word. He spoke and it was so. He spoke and it was good. He spoke, and the mind of God was revealed, for word follows and reveals thought. Every design, every plan was in the mind of God in the beginning. Until it was released by

speaking the Word, all that design and creativity, all that potential was bottled up, in effect. It was still uncreated. When God SPOKE, power inherent in Him changed thought into force and matter. Vibrations throughout the cosmos on untold frequencies rearranged what appeared to be nothing, bringing forth something with shape, form, substance. The created arose from the uncreated through the sound which was the Word. One step in the equipping of Man for exercising dominion was the empowerment of his words as well. The short phrase in Genesis 2:19 He brought them (the animals) to the man to see what he would call them, and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name is of little importance to the casual reader. However, to look at it more closely is to see that the very act of naming is empowering. It was Man, not God, who identied each creature. Man was learning to use the sound of his voice to sort, classify, and assign meaning. When he spoke it, it was so. Then came the Fall with separation from Gods wisdom and input. The mandate to have dominion still stands; the close connection to the Creator has been fractured. Since that time, Mankind has largely been unaware of his purpose to have dominion. He knows little of the power inherent in his words. He curses himself and others with pronouncements. His skewering words cause pain more acute than the slash of a curved dagger. He uses words to crush spirit and soul, and bring dis-ease to the body as well. His creative abilities, inbuilt in the plan of God, are now creating a trail of havoc. The good and godly gift of empowered words to create and bring order have, since the Fall, seldom been used as intended, but the power to create with them has not been lost. This then is the source of the power behind the vows you make. Those willful words declaring what you WILL do or NOT do are far more than a short sound disappearing like the wind and soon forgotten. Rather, they have a force because you are created in the image of God. They create a reality in the spiritual realm which stays in effect eternally unless identied and nullied at a later time.

This same principle holds for all of mankinds binding words -- covenants, contracts, pacts, and all agreements -- whether sealed with a handshake, an attorneys signed paper, a blood bond or a pillar of salt. No matter how long ago they were entered into or declared, they are still in force. No matter if both parties to the agreement have died. No matter if the document has crumbled to dust. The words used and agreed to have established a reality which did not exist before and which have a life and power of their own. How seriously God views covenants is illustrated by a story in Joshua 9 and 2 Samuel 21. The Israelites were nally out of the wilderness and on their way to conquer the Promised Land. God gave them specic instructions not to make any agreements or treaties with the inhabitants of the land, but to destroy them utterly. The reasons for this would ll another lesson or chapter, but the order was clear: Make no covenants or agreements with the people of the land. The Gibeonites, hearing that the multitude was coming, and wanting to save their necks, came up with a plan. By subterfuge, they deceived the Israelites into believing they were really from a far-away land and not locals. In so doing they tricked the invaders into entering a covenant of protection with them. This was directly contrary to Gods command. Yet, many years later, when Saul, King of the Israelites broke that covenant, putting some Gibeonites to death, the whole nation was strongly disciplined by the Lord God with a famine in the land for having gone against that word. To God, observing the covenant once made, was of such a high value that breaking it was a greater sin than the original disobedience. Lesson learned: our words are binding and must be trustworthy. As He is trustworthy. Of course, not all covenants and pacts are founded on godly principles; indeed they are often the opposite. As such, they then give tacit permission to the demonic realm to operate in and around the lives not only of those who made the agreements, but also in the lives of their descendants. Misusing the gift of creating with words of power is a sin which opens the door to enemy oppression.This often results in people walking through life under a cloud of curse without knowing what is wrong. In other cases, a person cannot seem to get a breakthrough in anything he tries, no matter how much effort he

puts into it. It is like beating ones head against an invisible wall. There is sometimes a sense of futility, a belief that life is like this for our family and thats the way it is. Any reading of Jesus words I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly (John 10:10) seems beyond belief. What can be done about it, especially since much of the problem can be attributed to sin of ignorance? How does one get free from the oppression from wrongful use of words? Few people know of any agreements made by their forebears, or even recall any vows made in their own lifetime. Vows are often made at an early age, and forgotten as days and years pass. Is help even available? Indeed, there is, because of the total nished work of Jesus on the Cross. His obedient suffering and death completely upended the rightful claim of any demonic entity to hold people in bondage to their past, or the past of their forebears. His work was so complete that nothing is left outside of its power. Reuniting lost mankind with Father God was the goal, an objective He reached as He proclaimed It is nished! The problem of course has been, if that is true, why is my life such a mess? Why do I not feel whole? Where is that abundant life I hear about? If He died for all, why are not all saved? The answer is found in application and appropriation of what has been made available to us. Salvation is readily available, but is never forced. The Lord is found by those who earnestly seek Him. He will at times even woo by His Spirit, gently drawing people, but the desire has to come from man. Because Jesus restored the link broken at the Fall, God is immediately available to those who desire Him. In the same way, it is necessary to appropriate deliverance from oppression rising from any kind of sin. The freedom wont happen automatically; it must be sought and applied.

The rst step toward healing and release from the oppression brought by the sin of wrongful misuse of words is to acknowledge it. Recognize that the ungodly vows, covenants and agreements that have been made by your ancestors and yourself are sinful. if you are uncertain about having made any vows as a child, ask the Lord to reveal them to you. After the recognition and ownership of the sin in you or your family line, confession to God of the particular sins is necessary. Just agreeing with Him that you or the ancestors have sinned is not enough. He already has that information! Confession leading to true repentance is a vital step to freedom. Always, a heart of true repentance is a changed heart, one that recognizes what that sin has done to oneself and to God. The third key that unlocks the prison door is renunciation. You (or your ancestors) have made the ungodly vows, covenants and agreements. It is you who must renounce them, ofcially and legally declaring them null and void. These three steps remove every right the demonic realm has to hover around to oppress and bind you. Without a leg to stand on (as it were) they leave. Finally, you or another Christian, can address the vow, breaking its power over you in the Name of Jesus Christ, declaring even that the body is not to respond to it in any way. It was at this point that the counselee declared I feel whole! That part of me was shut away and now I am together! Her childhood vow had kept part of herself hidden for years. When repented of and addressed, all parts of her were freed to participate in life. This is true spiritual warfare, taking back ground from the enemy. It is also a major step to wholeness.