“This Book of the Law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe and do according to all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall deal wisely and have good success.” – Joshua 1:8 AMP
Moses just died. Now Joshua stands before the Lord as the baton is being placed in his hands. It’s his leg of the race now. The finish line to be crossed is the promise land. The weight of the moment as he stood before God and the people was unprecedented and now God pulls him aside as a coach to give him the encouragement and the instructions that will carry him to the end. (Joshua 1:8)
Joshua was instructed to implement the speaking or declaration of the Word of God to possess what God had already given through promise.
THE PROCESS
“For what has been stored up in your hearts will be heard in the overflow of your words.” Matthew 12:34b TPT
The purpose of confession is not to change God’s mind about your circumstances to get what you desire. Rather, biblical confession changes YOU! It’s the process of meditating, memorizing, and speaking the truth until that truth goes beyond just head knowledge into your heart. Our hearts must come into Full agreement with Gods Word and the great majority of the time this doesn’t just happen because we listened to a good sermon. The good fruit that the Lord desires to see come from our lives is a result of the soil of our hearts being toiled until the rocks of unbelief are removed.
For example you may find yourself in a desperate financial situation that you can’t see any way out. Doubt, fear, anxiety are all you feel. Where do you go from this point? Your heart needs to come into full agreement with the ABSOLUTE TRUTH found in the Word rather than what your facing in the natural. The Lord brought me to Psalms 23 at one point when I found myself is this scary and very difficult dilemma. I couldn’t see God as the Good Shepherd that saw to my needs and lack in that moment. So with all the faith I could muster up, I wrote out on index cards the full chapter. I would speak Psalms 23 over and over, making it my own sometimes 20 or 30 times a day. Slowly my heart began believing the truth more then the lies. What happened next was nothing short of miraculous! However, the greater miracle of this moment was not merely the much needed provision, but rather it was that I met my Provider in this valley and I was changed! We al must look into the valleys of our own lives that are without fruit. These dry places are invitations to meet with God, but it’s only discovered as we receive the same instructions given to Joshua as our own and walk toward the promise land full of courage!
QUESTIONS:
1. Review and discuss other scriptures that speak of the power of words.
2. Do you recognize dry places in your life that are without fruit?
3. Is it possible that your heart needs to be toiled because you have agreed more with lies rather truth?
4. What is that truth you need to face those areas with?
