Your Miracle Is In Your Mouth
Read Your Miracle Is In Your Mouth Online
Authors: Joseph Prince
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Your Miracle Is In Your Mouth
ISBN 978-981-08-8379-9
© Copyright Joseph Prince, 2006
Joseph Prince Teaching Resources
All rights reserved under International Copyright Law. Contents and/or cover may not be reproduced in whole or in part in any form without the express written consent of the publisher.
contents
How You See God Affects How You Receive From God
The Reason You Can Receive
Speak To The Rock And Receive
Receive Your Blessings By The Grace Of God
Speak To The Rock For Your Miracle
How do you see God? It is very important how you see God because when it comes to the fight of life, how you see God will affect your faith and how you receive from Him. Do you see an angry God? Or do you see a gracious, giving Father?
You see, your perception of God will determine the quality of your relationship with Him and this affects everything else — the way you share God’s love with those around you, the quality of your relationship with your spouse, the way you respond to hardships at work…
When you see Him as He really is — a gracious, giving Father — it will put so much faith in your heart to receive from Him that if it’s a miracle you need, it’s a miracle you’ll get!
The Bible shows us two beautiful pictures of Christ as the Rock. In Exodus 17, God told Moses to strike a rock so that water would flow to quench the thirst of the Israelites. This symbolises the crucifixion of Christ and it also shows us Christ as the supplier of all our needs. The water that flowed from the smitten rock typifies all that we need in life, be it health, prosperity, better relationships, a new job… Whatever we need flows from Jesus our Rock.
Then, in Numbers 20, when God told Moses to speak to a high rock, Moses disobeyed and instead, struck the rock. This symbolises those who continue to crucify the exalted Christ with wrong beliefs and inaccurate confessions. But because Christ was smitten once for all sin, God now wants us to simply speak to the exalted Rock for our needs to be met.
As long as you are a child of God, there is no longer any reason to wonder if God wants to bless you. He has forever settled that issue at the cross! The Rock
has been
struck! The waters
are
flowing! Because of these eternal truths, we can expect to be blessed, redeemed and healed in every area of our lives!
When you are faced with a problem, what should your response be? Just speak to the Rock. You speak to the Rock by agreeing with God’s Word, by saying what He has said about you and your situation in His Word. That is true confession!
It’s so important to make sure that what comes out of your mouth is true and correct, and lines up with the Word of God. Speak to your Rock, the High Priest of your confession, and the waters will flow. Your miracle is in your mouth!
chapter
1
How You See God Affects How You Receive From God
chapter 1
How You See God Affects How You Receive From God
‘Why Do You See Me Like That?’
M
any years ago, I heard God’s voice distinctly while I was praying. What He said changed my theology.
On this day, I had begun to pray, “Heavenly Father…” and as usual, I pictured God as an old man with white hair, white eyebrows and a long white beard. I don’t know about you, but until then, that’s how I pictured God. Then, suddenly, I heard His voice speak to me. It was an inner voice that said, “Son, stop! Why do you see Me like that?”
I obeyed and stopped, and then I replied, “Oh, because you are my Father and fathers are usually very old.”
God said to me, “Son, growing old is part of the curse on earth. Because of Adam’s sin, people grow old, they become weak and they die. In heaven, there is no curse. I am forever young.”
Now, that really changed the way I saw God. It changed my perspective. And it changed the way I prayed from that day onwards. Now, whenever I pray, I see a heavenly Father who is youthful and dynamic.
How do you see God? How do your Christian and non-Christian friends see God? If you go into the streets and ask people what God is like, many of them will probably tell you that God is old, that He is serious because He is holy and that He is a strict disciplinarian who is always catching them doing wrong. Some of them will even tell you that God disciplines them with sicknesses and other hardships.
God Is Not Judgmental, God Is Loving
Listen to me, my friend, God is not like that. God is love. He is like a father who is always thinking of ways to put a smile on his boy’s face. He goes to the toy shop to look for a gift. He finds one and there is a smile on his face as he looks at the toy. He is imagining his son opening up the gift for the first time and looking at the toy with joy. And he is smiling.
He is the warm, friendly voice on the inside that lifts you up and strengthens you.
God is like that. He is a good Father. Matthew 7:11 tells us:
11
If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!
Right now, He is thinking of you and He has a smile on His face because He has something wonderful prepared for you!
That is the kind of God you and I have. He is not out to catch you doing wrong so that He can knock you on the head! No, He always affirms His love for you. He is the warm, friendly voice on the inside that lifts you up and strengthens you.
Some people may not agree with this picture of God. Perhaps they didn’t grow up with fathers who were good to them. They may have had absentee fathers, fathers who were never there for them. Or worse, they may have had abusive fathers who beat them harshly. So their image of a father is already tainted. They automatically assume that God is like their own father. They find it hard to see God as a gracious, giving Father.
If you are like that, I want you to know that God is a Father of the fatherless. (Psalm 68:5) He is a loving Father who will never leave you nor forsake you!
Now, at times, you may “hear” a voice in your head that points out your shortcomings and sins, that condemns you and makes you feel dirty. That is not the voice of God, but the voice of the devil!
In Revelation 12:10, Satan is called
“the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night”
. This tells us that Satan comes to accuse us of having broken God’s laws. He comes to remind us of our sins, making us feel lousy about ourselves! God is not like that. He does not go about reminding us of our sins and what we have done wrong. John 16:8–11 says:
8
And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
9
of sin, because they do not believe in Me;
10
of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more;
11
of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged
.
Notice that the Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin. The word is singular — not sins, but sin. Why? Because the Holy Spirit only convicts us of one sin — not believing in Jesus.
But once you believe in Jesus, what does the Holy Spirit convict you of? Of righteousness. Have you ever heard that? Most people hear that the Holy Spirit is a nag, that he tells them what is wrong with them. But here, we are told that He convicts us of righteousness because Jesus has died to remove our sins and make us eternally righteous. And contrary to what we’ve always been hearing, He convicts us that it is not us He judges, but the devil!
How you see God will affect your faith and how you receive from Him.
Yet, there are people who see a God of the Old Testament, a God who judges His people, and who corrects and disciplines them. They think that God always wants to correct and discipline them. Let me tell you, the God of the Old Testament may have executed justice from time to time, but His heart is not in judgment.
Psalm 103:8–9 declares:
8
The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.
9
He will not always strive with us, nor will He keep His anger forever
.
You see, God loves mercy. His heart is full of mercy, not judgment. The Bible doesn’t say that God is judgment. The Bible says that God is love. (1 John 4:8) It says that His mercy endures forever! (Psalm 136:1)
Some of you may stop me at this point and say, “Pastor Prince, does it really matter how I see God?” Well yes, it does! It is very important how you see God because when it comes to the fight of life, how you see God will affect your faith and how you receive from Him. Your perception of God will determine the quality of your relationship with Him and this affects everything else — the way you share God’s love with those around you, your relationship with your husband or wife, the way you respond to hardships at work…