I DECLARE (8 page)

We all face disappointments, setbacks, unfair situations. At times you may feel like you've been thrown into a pit. But instead of being discouraged and letting that cloud your vision, just look inside yourself. You will see that pit does not match up with the vision God put in your heart. Like Joseph, you can say: "This is not permanent. This is just another stop on the way to my divine destiny!"

One final thought I'd like to leave with you is that if you are going to live in victory, you must have mountain-moving faith. We all face mountains in life. It may be a mountain in your marriage because you don't see how you'll stay together. Maybe it's a mountain in your finances, your health, or your dreams.

A lot of times we pray about our mountains: God, please help me. God, please make my child straighten up. God, please take away this fear. And yes, it's good to pray. It's good to ask God to help you. But when you face a mountain, it's not enough to just pray. It's not enough to just believe. It's not enough to just think good thoughts. Here's the key: you have to speak to your mountains. Jesus said in Mark 11:23 (KJV): "Whoever will say to this mountain, be removed, and does not doubt in his heart, he will have whatever he says."

You may be praying about things you should be speaking to. You don't need to pray about that fear anymore. You need to say, "Fear, I command you to leave. I will not allow you in my life." If you have health problems, instead of begging God to heal you, you need to declare to that sickness, "Sickness, you have no right in my body. I'm a child of the Most High God. You are not welcome here. And I'm not asking you to leave. I'm not saying, 'Pretty please, do me a favor.' No, I'm commanding you to leave my body."

I've learned if you don't talk to your mountains, your mountains will talk to you. All through the day, those negative thoughts will come. They are your mountains talking to you.

You can sit back and believe those lies, or you can rise up and declare: "I'm in control here. I will not allow my mountains to talk to me. Mountain, I'm saying to you, 'Be removed. You will not defeat me.'"

It's not a coincidence that God chose a mountain to represent our problems. Mountains are big. Mountains seem permanent, as if they'll be there forever. But God says if you speak to the mountains, you will discover they are not permanent.

If you've dealt with long-term sickness, depression, or addiction, it may seem like it's never going to change, but when you speak words of faith, something happens in the unseen realm. Mountains crumble. The forces of darkness are defeated. The enemy trembles.

When you declare not in your authority but in the authority of the Son of the Living God, then all the forces of heaven come to attention. The mighty armies of the unseen Most High God will stand behind you. Let me tell you, no power can stand against our God. No sickness. No addiction. No fear. No legal trouble. When you speak and you do not doubt, the mountain will be removed.

Now, the mountain may not move overnight. It may look just the same month after month. Don't worry about it. In the unseen realm, things are changing in your favor. When Jesus was walking through a town, he saw a fig tree and went to get something to eat, but the tree didn't have any fruit on it. He looked at the tree and said, "You will not produce fruit anymore."

Notice, Jesus talked to a tree. People of faith talk to their obstacles. Jesus walked away and it didn't look like anything had happened. The tree was just as green and healthy as it was before. I'm sure some of His disciples whispered, "It didn't work. Jesus must have lost His touch because He said for it to die but it didn't die." What they didn't realize was underneath the ground, in the root system, the moment Jesus spoke, all the life was cut off to that tree.

When they came back through the town a little later, the disciples stood there in amazement. They saw that tree withered up, totally dead. In the same way, the moment you speak to your mountains, something happens. In the unseen realm, the forces of heaven go to work. God dispatches angels. He fights your battles. He releases favor. He moves the wrong people out of the way, sending healing, sending breakthrough, sending victory.

You may not see what God has done for some time. That mountain may look just as big and permanent and strong as it was before. But if you will stay in faith and just keep speaking to the mountain, declaring it gone, declaring yourself healthy, blessed, and victorious—one day, all of a sudden, you will see that mountain has been removed.

God will supernaturally do for you what you could not do for yourself. This is what happened to my mother. She was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 1981. And she spent twenty-one days in the hospital. She came home. She and my father went to their bedroom and got on their knees. And they not only prayed and asked God to heal her, but they spoke to the cancer and commanded it to leave.

There is a time to pray. But there is a time to speak. You don't pray about your mountains, you speak to your mountains. You declare that they will go. Jesus didn't pray about the fig tree. He didn't say, "Well, I believe it won't produce any fruit." He commanded it to not produce fruit.

You should declare that your mountains move, whether they are sickness, depression, strife, or division in your family. Declare to each mountain, "Be removed," and you will have what you say.

Here's the key: your mountains respond to your voice. I can speak faith over you all day long. Your friends can build you up with the scriptures. You can put on good music that will encourage and inspire. And all that's important. That's all good.

But your mountain will respond only to your voice. When you rise up in faith and declare, "Sickness, addiction, depression, leave my life. In the name of Jesus, you've got to go," the forces of heaven come to attention.

David spoke to his mountain of an enemy He looked Goliath in the eyes and declared, "You come against me with a sword and a shield, but I come against you in the name of the Lord God of Israel."

He declared to his mountain, "Goliath, this day the Lord will deliver you into my hands. I will defeat you and feed your head to the birds of the air." David was saying, "You may be big, but I know my God is bigger. And when I speak to the mountain, God has promised it will be removed."

You may feel there are too many obstacles between you and your God-given dreams. You are standing exactly where David stood. It's not enough to just pray about it. It's not enough to just believe that you're going to get better. Now more than ever, you need to declare, "Mountain of debt, mountain of addiction, mountain of depression, it may look like it's over, but I'm here to serve you notice. This is not the end. You will not defeat me. You come against me with natural weapons. But I come against you in the name of the Lord God of Israel. And I know when I call on the name of Jesus all the forces of heaven come to attention. So I declare that you are removed. I will live and not die. I am blessed and I cannot be cursed. I'm a victor and not a victim."

Incredible power is released when we speak to our mountains. But too many times, we talk to God about how big our mountains are when we should be talking to our mountains about how big our God is.

The more you talk about the mountain, the weaker it makes you. "Well, Joel," you may say, "this sickness or these legal problems or these marriage troubles aren't getting any better." When you talk like that, all it's doing is making you weaker in faith and energy. Quit talking about the mountain and start talking to the mountain.

Declare to that cancer, or addiction or money challenges, as David declared to Goliath: "I will defeat you."

We see this principle from the very start of the Scripture. In the book of Genesis, it says that the earth was without form and void. There was darkness everywhere. Isn't it interesting that things didn't change just because God's Presence was there? The world didn't get better just because God thought, I wish I had a world. I wish it was all in order.

Nothing happened until God spoke. He declared to the darkness, "Let there be light." Think about the word let. It indicates that something was opposing. If I say, "Let go of my hand," it means that you're holding it or you're opposing it. God declared in the middle of the darkness, in the middle of the opposition, let there be light.

In your times of difficulty when it's dark and gloomy, you should speak light to the situation. After church one day a man told me that his graphic design business was failing. He'd lost his major clients, and bankruptcy seemed inevitable. He explained in great detail all the setbacks he suffered and how bad it was and how impossible it looked. He was real good at talking about the problem.

I told him what I'm telling you. You should talk to the problem. You should declare light in the middle of darkness. I encouraged him all through the day to declare: "I'm blessed. The favor of God is turning this situation around. God's favor is bringing me new clients. Debt and lack cannot stay in my life. I command those mountains to be removed."

I saw him about six months later, and he was beaming with joy. He said, "Joel, I did just what you suggested. I started declaring favor, by speaking to my mountains and calling light in the midst of the darkness."

At his lowest moment when it looked for sure like the business was going under, he received a phone call out of the blue from a company he had never done business with before. They asked him to make a presentation and he made it. They hired him to do their graphics. Now, that one new client brings in more business than all of his other clients did combined. He is on pace to have a banner year.

Here's what I'm saying: I believe he would still be struggling, maybe even have lost his business, if he had not kicked his faith into action and started speaking to his mountains.

Let me ask you: Are there mountains holding you back today? Is there something keeping you from God's best in your career, your relationships, or your health? Your mind may tell you the mountain is permanent and that it will never change. My challenge to you is to speak to your mountains.

You've prayed about it long enough. Now it's time to declare, "Mountain, you are removed. You will not defeat me. I speak favor over this situation."

Remember, your mountain will respond to your voice. There's nothing more powerful than you declaring victory over your life. You probably have talked about the mountain long enough. You need to talk to the mountain. Rise up and declare to the sickness, or the strife, or the depression: "Be removed, you are gone."

When you do that you will overcome obstacles. You will overcome obstacles that once looked permanent. You will accomplish dreams you thought were impossible.

Make this final declaration with me:

"I declare I walk in the blessing of almighty God. I am filled with wisdom. I make good choices. I have clear direction.

"I declare I am blessed with creativity, with good ideas, with courage, with strength, with ability.

"I declare I am blessed with good health, a good family, good friends, and a long life.

"I declare I am blessed with promotion, with success, with an obedient heart, and with a positive outlook.

"I declare whatever I put my hands to will prosper and succeed. I will be blessed in the city and blessed in the field. I will be blessed when I go in and when I go out.

"I declare I will lend and not borrow, and I will be above and not beneath.

"I declare right now that every negative word, every curse that has ever been spoken over me, is broken in the name of Jesus.

"I declare the negative things that have been in my family even for generations will no longer have any effect on me.

"I declare that from this day forward I will experience a new sense of freedom, a new happiness, and a new fulfillment.

"I declare I am blessed!"

I believe in the spiritual realm things have been set into motion. Curses have been broken and blessings are on their way. Start expecting good things. Learn to speak these words of blessing over yourself, your children, your finances, your health, and your future on a regular basis.

If you'll use your words to declare victory and not defeat you'll see God do amazing things, and I believe you'll live the abundant, overcoming, faith-filled life that He has in store.

JOEL OSTEEN is the senior pastor of Lakewood Church in Houston. Texas. Listed by several sources as America's largest and fastest growing congregation. Lakewood Church has approximately 45,000 attendees every week. Millions more watch Joel's messages as they are broadcast on national and international television networks He resides in Houston with his wife. Victoria, and their children. You can visit his website at
www.JoelOsteen.com