by
Dr. Hobart E.Freeman, Th.D
Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1...... Biblical Thinking is Positive
Chapter 2...... Biblical Confession is Positive
This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.-- Psalm 118:24 Live victoriously 365 days a year? Is it really possible? It is not only possible, but this blessing has also been promised to every believer who will appropriate it by faith. Jesus came to give us an abundant life--free from sin, sickness, worry, poverty, depression, fear, frustration, and defeat. Most Christians, however, have allowed Satan, who is described by Jesus as a thief (John 10:10), to rob them of their health and prosperity, as well as to usurp their rights and authority.
Did you know that God never intended for His children to be sick and afflicted, nor poverty stricken and oppressed? Are you aware that it is His will for you to prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers (III John 2)? Did you know that He desires for you to live a fruitful and abundant life, walking in victory 365 days a year?
God has pledged that His children, who obey His Word, shall enjoy prosperity in all things:
And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. Psalm 1:3
We are not suggesting that God intended for His children to live a life free from any problems or trials, or without testing; but we are saying that God has provided the means whereby these things do not need to dominate us, as they do so many, and that they can be controlled and overcome. Although most Christians have been reading the Bible for years, many of them do not seem to realize that God has invited them to walk through life on a pathway literally paved with His promises.
There are thousands of promises in the Word of God made to the believer, and yet the average Christian has appropriated only one--the promise of salvation in John 3:16. A certain number have, to be sure, claimed the promise of the baptism in the Holy Spirit (Luke 11:13), and others have claimed the promise of divine healing (Mark 16:18); but few Christians have grasped the full nature of their inheritance as joint-heirs with Christ.
The Scriptures are filled with divine assurance, rights, privileges, blessings, and promises whereby God has made provision for the Christian's spiritual, physical, and temporal needs, as well as for the accomplishment of the work He has commissioned His church to do. All these provisions and blessings are available to the extent that we are willing to press through by faith and appropriate them.
Jesus characterizes Satan as a thief who has come to rob you of your abundant life and defeat you through circumstances. The enemy has most Christians deceived into believing that all of the promises of temporal blessing were for the past and applied only to Israel, in heaven, in spite of such glorious promises as are found in Matthew 6:19-34; Mark 11:22-24 and 16:16-20; Luke 11:13; I Corinthians 3:21-22; Philippians 4:19; and III John 2.
The Word of God promises the believer an abundant and fruitful life, with the assurance that he can rise by faith above all opposing circumstances, endure even the severest trials, overcome his problems, enjoy peace and security, and walk in victory 365 days a year.
For most Christians, however, life consists in just "getting by somehow" from day to day--hoping they will not get sick, worrying whether or not the money will hold out until the end of the month, praying that their children will not get into serious trouble, hoping the old car will last through the winter, struggling to get through one more day, then catching a few hours of rest before beginning the endless cycle all over again the next day. Life consists of 365 days of cares, worries, and problems, with only an occasional ray of sunshine breaking through the dark clouds of life.
This mediocre form of living is definitely not God's will for His children, but results from the simple fact that, although most Christians have been taught how to prepare for death, few have learned how to live. Thus, to them, one day looks like the next; it is filled with cares, problems, troubles, and worries. For most it seems that life has become sheer drudgery.
How were your last 365 days of life as a Christian? Were they filled with joy. victory, and accomplishment? Were you able to overcome your problems? Did you endure your trials by faith? Was there a definite growth in your spiritual life? Did you experience an increase in your faith? Or were your last 365 days not much different from those of Mr. and Mrs. Average Christian--filled with cares, troubles, sickness, disappointments, and failures?
Do you know that God has set forth in His Word certain principles concerning the Christian's thoughts, attitudes, and confession which will enable him to achieve emotional stability and peace of mind, as well as an enduring faith, empowering him to walk in victory over all circumstances each day?
This is no empty hope, impossible of realization, but is more and more becoming the actual experience of many saints. Because of their uncompromising faith in the Word of God, they are as the Psalmist describes them:
...like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.---Psalm 1:3
What is the secret of such victorious living? It is Biblical thinking and a Biblical confession. Nothing could be more positive!
Biblical Thinking is Positive
For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he. ---Proverbs 23:7 A person literally is what he thinks and believes. His personality is the sum total of his thoughts. You are today what your thoughts, beliefs, and convictions have made you. Many times you are defeated, not by your circumstances, but by your attitude toward your circumstances and problems. What you think and what we say. What we think and believe is generally what we talk about and confess. Our confession is, in the final analysis, merely the vocal expression of what we think and believe. Therefore, if our thinking is wrong, then our confession will be wrong. If our thoughts are negative, then we will not make a positive confession. If our mind is filled with thoughts of trouble, fear, failure, and anxiety, then this will be reflected in what we say, "for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh" (Matthew 12:34).
Sickness, failure, trouble, and adversity are often the result of wrong thinking. We generally experience what we think and believe, just as the Scriptures tell us: "as [a man] thinketh is his heart, so is he." Therefore, we must correct our thinking habits, for our thoughts are the seeds we plant in the garden of our mind that will produce the harvest which we will reap.
Satan works through the mind. Thus, much sickness, trouble, and failure begin in the mind and result from listening to lying, deceiving spirits from the Enemy. When you became seriously ill last winter, perhaps it was because you said, "I think I must be coming down with the flu, as I don't feel too well. There are so many who are ill and off work because of colds or the flu. If I stay at home today and lie down, maybe I will feel better; but if I don't improve, I'll just drop by the doctors office for an examination."
You fail in certain things you attempt to do because you think that you will fail; or you have convinced yourself that you lack the ability, so you do not believe you can succeed even if you try. Your marriage is not as harmonious as you would like it to be because you allow Satan to implant negative thoughts into your mind over every trivial thing that arises. As a consequence, you see the worst in everything---and, of course, you usually get what you expect.
You cannot seem to get healed of some disease or affliction, or you fail to receive deliverance from some problem, because you do not think that you can. You think that it is too serious, or you think that the problem is too complicated, or you think you do not have enough faith, and so on. You get up some morning and say, "I sure hate to think of going to work today. The auditors are coming, and I know what an ordeal that will be! I always wind up with a splitting headache when they come." Is it any wonder that your day ends no differently than you expected?
You receive the negative things you confess because you expect to receive them. How often, when something does not go as planned, or just as you wish, do you say, "Well, it happened just as I expected. Nothing ever seems to go right for me"?
A person who confesses fear, anxiety, sickness, and defeat does so because he believes in fear, anxiety, sickness, and defeat! He believes in these things because his mind is always dwelling on them. You will ultimately come to believe what you think, if you think the thought long enough. If a person entertains thoughts of fear, and does not resist those thoughts, then he will begin to confess fear, which in turn will only add to his fears, setting up a cycle that increases the very thing he wants to be rid of.
Countless numbers of Christians are being defeated today by negative thinking. They think they are either too young or too old for God to use them (forgetting that Samuel was a child, David a youth, Abraham and Moses advanced in age when they were called). They think they lack the education or the ability to serve the Lord effectively (overlooking the fact that many of the apostles were uneducated fishermen, that Jesus Himself had no formal education, and that David, the King of Israel, was but a shepherd). They think that they lack sufficient resources to undertake some work of the Lord, or do not have as much time as they would like to devote to spiritual interests because of financial burdens (apparently ignorant of the fact that Christ has promised to supply all their needs if they will "seek...first the kingdom of God," Matthew 6:33; Philippians 4:19). Thus, many Christians are not living victoriously because of wrong thinking.
They think they will fail.
They think they will have an accident.
They think they will get sick, as though a certain amount of illness is inevitable.
They think they will not receive a promotion at their place of employment.
They think they may be an exception to God's promise to heal the sick.
They think they will not have enough money to attend the charismatic conference.
They think their children will become involved with drugs, or get into some kind of serious trouble.
They think they will probably lose money on their home which they are selling.
They think others do not really like their company.
The list goes on, an infinitum. Of course, they generally receive what they expect.
The power of thought over our physical and mental well-being, as well as over our circumstances, is phenomenal. Medical science agrees with this. If your mind is continually dwelling upon some physical ailment, you can hardly expect your body to mend. If your thoughts are constantly occupied with some problem or imperfection, there is little hope for improvement.
"You prayed for my wife's healing some time ago," a man said to me one evening, after a service where I had spoken. "Nevertheless, she gets up every morning thinking that she is still sick because she still has certain symptoms, and she doesn't believe that she will ever get well."
This situation was remarkable because, during the same meeting in which I had prayed for this woman--in fact, immediately before I prayed for her--I had also prayed for a man who had exactly the same condition. He was healed, although it was manifested gradually; and on the same night the concerned husband spoke to me about his wife, this man also came to me praising the Lord for his healing.
Why then was one healed and the other not? They both had an identical ailment, and I had prayed the same prayer for them both. It was simply because the man had accepted his healing when I prayed, and changed his way of thinking concerning his aliment, which had opened the channel of faith, so that healing could begin to flow to him. But the woman did not think that she was healed, because she had experienced no immediate improvement; and she now continued to be bound to her illness because of her negative thinking.
Occasionally, a doctor will refuse to give a patient any further treatment or medicine because he knows the condition is psychosomatic and he cannot persuade the individual to change his thinking about it. There are many people who think they must be sick, or who think that they cannot get well, or who think that they must stay on medication, or who think that they must have surgery. In one instance with which I am familiar, a young woman became hysterical when her doctor insisted that, if she wanted to get well, she could no longer lie in the hospital, but must allow him to remove the cast and send her home.
In another case, a Spirit-filled physician confided to me that many of his patients, some of whom are baptized in the Spirit, actually want to believe that they are sick. "For example," he said, "I will take their blood pressure, and they will immediately ask me, "Well, doctor, which is it--high or low?" They do not really expect it to be normal. They want to think that they are sick or that they have an ailment. Sometimes when I tell them there is nothing wrong with them, they will go to another doctor until they can find someone who seems to agree with what they think about their condition."
Scripture tells us that we become what our thoughts, beliefs, and convictions have made us ("for as [a man] thinketh in his heart, so is he"). Therefore, it is imperative that we change our thinking habits and thought patterns from the negative to the positive, and bring our thoughts into harmony with the Word of God. We must stop thinking and expecting sickness, poverty, inability, and failure. We are admonished in Romans 12:2 "Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind."
How may we do this? Here are four basic principles to apply in order to develop the habit of positive thinking, which will in turn result in a positive confession.
1. Accept the fact that attitudes are more important that circumstances. Any problem confronting you, no matter how difficult it may appear to be, is not as important as your attitude toward it. Usually it is not your circumstances that defeat you, but your attitude toward them and what you think about them. Remember this: circumstances give you neither defeat nor victory; they merely provide the opportunity to reveal what your thoughts and convictions really are, and what you intend to do about the situation. Often an individual allows his circumstances to overwhelm him mentally and, as a consequence, he is defeated before he even attempts to deal with the problem. Thus, in the final analysis, attitudes are really more important than circumstances.
In view of this, here is what you should do when you are tempted to be depressed and discouraged by some serious problem, or overcome by circumstances.
A. First, find a quite place where you can be alone with the Lord and commune with Him about your problem. In many cases Christians have allowed some problem or trial to overcome them merely because they failed to spend sufficient time before the Lord seeking a satisfactory solution, hoping instead that things would just "work out somehow." We must learn to be still before the Lord and wait patiently upon Him of we would have Him speak to us (Psalms 27:14 and 46:10).
B. Determine from the outset that you are going to maintain a positive attitude concerning the situation, regardless of how dark the picture may look at present. Keep in mind that no problem, no matter how difficult it may appear, is as important as your attitude toward it, for it is often your own attitude that defeats you. God cannot work in your behalf in an atmosphere of doubt, fear, or negative thinking.
C. Pray about your need with a conscience that is free from any offense before God. It is at this point that Christians too often allow a spirit of pride or insincerity to defeat them. This is the time to be honest with God and yourself if you expect His help. Admit your faults and mistakes concerning the situation. Confess your own weaknesses or sins, for as often as not, those things which seem to bother us so much in others are actually in us and need to be purged from our own hearts (Matthew 7:1-5). Many times the solution to our problem, which God will show us if we allow Him, involves a change in our own attitudes or conduct.
We are assured in John 3:21-22 that if our hearts do not condemn us when we pray, God will answer our petition and grant us a solution to our problem. Maintaining a stubborn attitude of self-righteousness about the situation, or attempting to pray with an unforgiving spirit (Mark 11:25-26), constitutes a basic hindrance to prayer which must be removed before we can expect heaven to undertake on our behalf.
D. next, calmly assess the whole matter in the light of the Scriptures, making a mental note of all those things which are definitely in your favor in the situation. Of coarse, you may be tempted to think that your problem is beyond solution. It may seem impossible to maintain a positive attitude about it. It may appear a waste of time even to assess your situation, when it seems there could not possibly be any points in your favor, nor anything to encourage you to believe that things could ever get any better. But such an attitude will invariably result in defeat, "for as [a man] thinketh in his heart so is he."
Remember, too, that no problem is impossible for God to solve ("with God all things are possible," Matthew 19:26). No situation is so bad that some favorable aspects cannot be found which are in your favor. If you will calmly and sincerely assess the situation, these favorable aspects will often point toward a solution, or at least present you with some other alternative besides defeat in the matter.
Years ago, after suffering several serious trials of my own faith within a relatively short period of time, I was tempted to be discouraged.
After working a long time on a manuscript for a book, the publisher who had promised to publish it turned around and rejected it, giving no reason whatsoever.
I had to give up a teaching position, after many years of preparation, because I would not compromise my Christian convictions.
I lost the confidence of some of my friends and members of a church I had pastored for several years, because of misquotations and other things said about me by certain individuals.
I had to face the fact that I now had no regular income.
Finally, I was struck with two serious illnesses.
I certainly was tempted to be discouraged by so many adverse circumstances, but I determined instead to maintain a positive attitude. I began to count my blessings, rather than sit around and complain about my problems. And I found, upon assessing my situation, that I could rejoice in a number of things:
Although the publisher had not kept his word, there were others to whom the manuscript could be submitted for publication.
Although I was rejected by the denomination in which I had ministered, and some of my friends and relatives thought my convictions were somewhat extreme, I could rest in the Lord's promise in Psalm 27:10: "When my father and mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up."
Although I had given up my teaching position, and the Lord had discouraged my attempt to establish and independent Bible institute, yet God had directed in establishing a New Testament church, with no outside religious organization dominating its message or ministry. And in this small body of believers there was a unity of spirit and a oneness of purpose which few other churches enjoyed.
My family supported me in my decisions in these matters.
In spite of the serious illnesses I had suffered, I remained in relatively good health.
Although I had no regular income, God had provided our family with a home paid for, and was continuing to supply all of our material needs in other ways.
Because I had decided to keep a positive attitude about these trials, I could praise God in them (Matthew 5:10-12; James 1:2-4), and could clearly see the many favorable aspects in my situation.
And just as in the case of Job, God ultimately turned all these trials into blessings.
I received the baptism in the Holy Spirit, and our entire church also received this blessing in a short period of time.
My manuscript was accepted and published by another publisher, and was soon recognized as the leading book in its field at that time.
I received supernatural healing of my ailments.
I was blessed with material prosperity.
The Lord, increased my ministry, so that I was traveling extensively as a Bible teacher and conference speaker.
I became the author of several well-received and widely read books.
The glory belongs to Jesus for changing these circumstances so dramatically. But the point is, my attitudes were more important than my adverse circumstances. It is not your problems, nor your circumstances, which defeat you, but your attitude toward those problems and circumstances. It is what you think about them, "for as [a man] thinketh in his heart, so is he."
The Christian life does not mean freedom from trials, but it involves developing right attitudes toward them, so that we may learn to endure and overcome them, thus maturing in the faith and glorifying God. If you calmly assess your situation in the light of God's promises to you in His Word, it is certain that you will find some aspects in your favor, which will ultimately lead to a solution.
E. Finally, expect God to help you find a satisfactory solution. It is your attitude of faith at this time which will often spell the difference between victory and defeat. If you will believe that a solution can be found, and if you will spend sufficient time before the Lord, expecting Him to give you the necessary help and guidance, then no problem will defeat you, regardless of how it may appear at present.
Here is the vitally important principle that me must see: when we actually expect God to help us solve the problem, without doubting (James 1:5-7), then by virtue of this faith, we bring all things into the realm of possibility. As Jesus promises, "If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth" (Mark 9:23).
"But you just don't know my problems," laments some forlorn soul. "They appear beyond solution. I am at my wit's end. I'm already at the bottom of the heap!"
Is this your feeling, too? Then I would suggest that you begin praising the Lord, because if you are already at the bottom of the heap, the only way you can possibly go is--up! Start expecting things to improve. By your won admission they cannot get any worse. Your positive attitude of faith will bring all things into the realm of possibility (Mark 9:23).
2. Saturate your thoughts with the positive promises of God. Remember, your thoughts are the seeds you plant in the garden of your mind which will produce the harvest that you will reap. Your mind can only give back what you put into it day by day. Picture your mind as a garden which will reproduce either wheat or tares, depending entirely upon the kind of seed you sow in it. Just as there are two aspects to successful gardening, so it is with developing the habit of positive thinking.
A. First, you must sow good seed-thoughts. Form the habit of saturating your mind with the positive promises of God as you start each day, even before you get out of bed! I have found that Satan defeats many Christians somewhere between the bedroom and the breakfast table. He is able to do this by implanting negative thoughts of fear, worry, anxiety, doubt, and defeat in their minds as they awaken. The first thoughts that impress themselves upon your consciousness as you wake up each day are of vital importance, because these "seeds" of thought will affect your thinking the entire day.
Therefore, if you are tempted to be depressed when you awaken, then before arising let your mind dwell for a while on such positive promises as "the joy of the Lord is my strength" (Nehemiah 8:10), or "this is the day which the Lord hath made; I will rejoice and be glad in it" (Psalm 118:24).
If it is a time of trial and your enemies are opposing you, then allow the Holy Spirit to fill your mind and heart with the peace of God through such comforting promises as, "the Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me" (Hebrews 13:6). Reassure yourself with God's promise to His children which says, "H shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honor him" (Psalm 91:15).
When a seemingly impossible situation is confronting you, remind yourself that God has said that "we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us" Romans 8:37). Confess in faith, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me" (Philippians 4:13).
If your trials seem particularly severe, and at times beyond your comprehension, let your thoughts rest on God's wonderful assurances in Romans 8:28: "We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose."
Remember, too, He has promised, "Fear thou not; for I an with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.... When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee" (Isaiah 41:10 and 43:2).
These first impressions that you willingly entertain in your mind upon awakening will precondition and affect your thinking for the entire day. So begin each day by rejoicing in the positive promises of God's Word, especially those that minister directly to the particular needs you may have at the time.
B. Next, you must cultivate the garden of your mind. You must cultivate your mind every day by deliberately choosing positive thoughts and weeding out all the "tares," such as idle, critical, impure, and doubtful thoughts, as well as all those of a negative nature. Every thought is a seed sown, and will eventually produce some kind of fruit. If it is a good thought, then this seed must be nurtured by prayer and faith, while tares must be uprooted immediately, and good seeds sown in their place.
Such uprooting is often painful, and you may find the flesh resisting such pruning and cleansing of the mind. It is for this reason that some individuals would rather keep their doubts and fears, as well as their wrong ideas and mixed-up thoughts. The cost involved in changing their thinking habits and replacing negative or critical thoughts with wholesome thoughts of faith, hope, love, and joy is greater that they are willing to pay.
The Bible refers to this process of the cultivation of the mind as being "transformed by the renewing of your mind." Satan seems to have filled the minds of most Christians with thoughts of doubt, fear, inability, insecurity, worry, and defeat. This negativism must be flushed out, and the mind saturated with the positive Word of the Lord, before the Enemy can be forced to release his hold on the mind and thoughts.
3.Develop the ability to choose deliberately the thoughts you will allow into your mind.
Like everyone else, you have spent years conditioning your mind to accept wrong thoughts--idle thoughts, negative thoughts, unwholesome thoughts, thoughts of sickness, doubt, fear, and failure, to say nothing about a good deal of religious error. The mind cannot be renewed from such thinking habits and errors in a moment, not without determination on your part to allow the Holy Spirit to have full control of all your thoughts and beliefs. This is the significance of God's admonition in Romans 12:2: "Be ye transformed by the renewing [a process] of your mind."
As you begin to develop the ability to choose the thoughts that you allow into your mind, you will discover that you are actually engaged in spiritual warfare with the thought habits you have developed in your mind. At times your human reason or intellect may want to rebel, and Satan will accuse you of being a "hypocrite," or tell you that is all just "psychology" and "mental suggestion."
But positive thinking is not mere mental suggestion; on the contrary, it means, just as medical science has also discovered, that "as [a man] thinketh in his heart, so is he." Christians who are walking in victory are those who are controlling their thoughts by emptying the mind of everything negative which Satan attempts to implant in it, and saturating their thinking with God's positive promises. The Word of God is clear on this point, admonishing us in Philippians 4:8: "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; it there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."
To heed this admonition we must deliberately empty our minds of everything negative concerning the person, problem, or situation confronting us, instead of allowing Satan to take control of out thoughts. Victory or defeat lies in our own hands according to Proverbs 23:7.
What you think about a situation has a definite effect upon the actual situation. If you allow your mind to accept weariness or sickness, your body mechanism will automatically respond to such suggestions accordingly, because your mind has direct control over your nervous system, glands, muscles, heart, blood pressure, and so on. Thus, how you think you feel has a definite effect upon how you actually feel.
Medical science has demonstrated that generally it is not long hours or hard work that drain our energy so much as our wrong attitudes concerning our work. Mental attitude plays an important part in a person' s physical condition, his life span, his success or failure in his chosen profession, and his productivity and total well-being. If we learn to govern our thinking, and refuse to confess weariness, anxiety, doubt, fear, defeat, or the dislike of some situation, then we will find that it really does not matter too much how seemingly difficult the task, or how long we work at it.
If you grow weary during your work, instead of complaining or confessing weariness or boredom, take mental and physical "break" for a few moments and rejoice in the refreshing promise that "the joy of the Lord is my strength," and "I con do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."
Often I would work in my study all day, then leave at 4:00 o'clock in the afternoon, and drive as far as 200 miles to a meeting. There I would speak for about tow hours, minister to the needs of those present for another hour, perhaps counsel with others after this, and then drive back home the same evening.
People sometimes ask me, "Aren't you tired after such a day? Don't you feel exhausted?"
"On the contrary, "I reply. "I do not get tired generally. In fact, sometimes I sit up and read for a while, or do some other work, after such a day."
It is not long hours and hard work that drain one's energy so much--it is wrong attitudes. I simply do not get tied as a result of my busy schedule. For many years I have put in 15-16 ours a day, seven days a week. The secret? Developing right attitudes toward my work and my circumstances, as well as toward God, myself, and others. This prevents that energy loss which causes most people to be weary and ineffective, or bored and disinterested, all because of their negative attitudes.
By conscious effort, choose the thoughts that you will allow to occupy your mind. Empty your mind of all negative thoughts or suggestions the moment Satan seeks to implant them into your consciousness. Then allow the Holy Spirit to minister positive thoughts concerning the problem, person, or situation. As a result, you will find yourself experiencing the full joy of your salvation and walking in victory more and more, regardless of the circumstances.
4. Exercise total faith in God in every situation.
What is the relationship between faith and positive thinking? It is simply this: the extent of your faith and trust in the promises of God has a definite effect upon your attitudes and thinking. Tension, anxiety, emotional stress, and also many instances of physical and spiritual disintegration, result from a lack of inner harmony and peace of mind. In order to help yourself develop positive attitudes, there are three areas of your life in which you must learn to walk in total faith and dependence upon God.
A. Positive attitudes result when you extend your faith to include all that God has provided for you and promised to you. God expects us to exercise total faith, without reservation, that He will do for us all that He has pledged Himself to do. We are to have complete trust in the Lord to provide all our needs, as well as to heal, protect, and deliver us, just as He has promised to do, again and again, in His Word.
This will have a powerful effect upon our attitudes: knowing by faith that God will do for us all that He pledges Himself to do, if we will only ask (Matthew 21:22). Why? Because total trust in the Lord for all things eliminates emotional stress, anxiety, worry, and fear. The insurance companies have grown rich on people's fears and anxieties resulting from a lack of trust in such promises of God as are found, for example, in Psalms 37, 91, and 121; Matthew 6:19-34 and 21:22; Philippians 4:19; James 5:14-16; and III John 2. These are only a few out of literally thousands of promises which God has given to the believer.
Medical science insists that most illness is psychosomatic and is the result of emotional stress. Over half the beds in the hospitals are occupied by people who are physically and mentally sick due to emotional stress, worry, fear, and anxiety, "for as [a man] thinketh in his heart, so is he."
People tend to become what they think; they precondition their lives by their attitudes; they receive largely what they expect. Physicians tell us that ii is not so much what you eat that gives you ulcers; but it is what is eating you!
Total trust in the Lord for all things will inspire in you a positive attitude toward all circumstances of life, and will greatly help to eliminate emotional stress, fear, worry, and anxiety. B. Positive attitudes result from the assurance that you know God's will and are fulfilling it. Uncertainty about this causes multitudes of Christians to suffer confusion, doubt, insecurity, fear, and frustration. They exhaust themselves mentally, physically, and spiritually, running around in circles, as it were, bewildered and confused, seeking to know if they are in God's will. They find themselves wondering which course of action to take, and often worry whether or not they have made the right decision about some matter.
Many pastors today find that they must function much of the time as religious psychiatrists, because their churches are filled with Christians who are going through life depressed, bewildered, and confused, without clear understanding of what God's will is for them.
It is a great blessing to have peace of mind because you know that you are moving in God's will and are fulfilling His purpose for your life. It is reassuring to know how to receive His help and guidance when you face an important decision or problem for which you are seeking a solution. God has a plan for the life of every Christian; and it is His desire to reveal His will to you, help you solve your problems, and give you guidance in making important decisions.
Many Christians seem to know nothing of the concept of a God-planned life. From their confusion and bewilderment, one would surmise that God has saved them only to forsake them, leaving them to struggle along in the world as best they can. I find Christians everywhere who have lost their direction, who are in wrong occupations, who have made wrong choices and decisions, who are insecure, depressed, frustrated, discouraged by circumstances, and uncertain as to God's will for their lives.
It is not God's will for any Christian to suffer such confusion and defeat. Why not? Because He assures us in his Word that "the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord" (Psalm 37:23). This means that we can find out what God's will is in the decisions which confront us. We can know His will for our lives, and know His guidance His guidance day by day, and thus put an end to our doubts, worries, and frustrations, which result from our inability to discern His will.
I have set forth a comprehensive study of this subject in my book, How to Know God's Will. The believer may be assured that there is no need to stumble through life bewildered and confused, for the Scriptures declare again and again, not only that God is willing to make His will known to us, but that He has also provided the means for us to find out what His will is. Positive attitudes and thinking result from the assurance that we know God's will for us and are fulfilling it.
C. Positive attitudes and thinking result when you accept, without qualification, the divine assurance of Romans 8:28. The assurance that "all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose," will do much to eliminate worry, concern and anxiety about our circumstances and their effects upon our lives. When tempted to feel depressed or defeated because of adverse circumstances; when everything seems to "go wrong"; when there seems to be no immediate solution to a problem we are facing; when it is difficult to understand why we must at times suffer such trials and tribulations as we do; then the heavenly assurance given to us in Romans 8:28-39, if accepted in faith, will minister an inner peace and harmony which surpasses all human understanding.
Those who rest by faith in the promise have the blessed assurance that not one thing can touch them which God does not either send or allow; that nothing happens in their lives by accident or chance; that their trials, problems, and experiences are related to God's divine purpose for their lives; and that every experience, pleasant or otherwise, is being directed by God for their ultimate good and for his glory.
Such assurances enables us to develop and maintain a positive attitude, whereby we cease despising our trial, we refuse to complain over things that try to irritate or upset us, and we can rejoice over adverse circumstances. We can rest in the knowledge that this is God's pruning work in us, in preparation for great blessing, both to ourselves and to others, when He has completed this work in us (Genesis 50:15-20; James 1:2-4).
Because many Christians do not realize the divine purpose in their trials and unpleasant experiences, they tend to resist them. They complain, "Why does this have to happen to me?" and, as a result, the real value of their trials is lost upon them. God purposely does not always give us neat, precise reasons for our trials and tests. He leaves many of the mysteries and perplexities of our lives unanswered, so the we may develop a strong, enduring faith in Him and in His promise "that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose."
It is imperative that we keep before us the fact that such things as emotional stress, worry, anxiety, fear, and depression result from wrong and negative thinking. They are directly related to one's lack of faith and trust in the Word of God, which promises us healing, health, protection, deliverance, joy, peace of mind, and provision for our every need. Since the Scriptures declare that "in quietness and in confidence [faith] shall be your strength" (Isaiah 30:15), then you should learn to cultivate right attitudes and form the habit of positive thinking. Positive thinking results from the exercise of total faith in God in every circumstance, inasmuch as the extent of our faith and trust in the promises of God has a definite effect upon our attitudes and thinking.
Death and life are in the power of the tongue.
--Proverbs 18:21
Christianity is confession from beginning to end. The Christian faith is not merely something we believe--it also involves what we say or confess. "For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation" (Romans 10:10).
The importance and necessity of confession is evident here. Jesus also informs us in Matthew 10:32-33 and John 12:42-43 that salvation involves confession as well as belief. We are admonished twice in the Book of Hebrews to "hold fast the confession of our faith without wavering" (Hebrews 10:23, 35-36), and Jesus teaches us in Mark 11:23 that whatever we confess in faith will come to pass. Since "death and life are in the power of the tongue," according to Proverbs 18:21, then it is imperative that we guard our words, and for m the habit of always making a positive confession.
Just as a positive confession in harmony with God's Word will bring blessing and victory, conversely a negative confession of doubt, fear, sickness, or defeat will result in adversity and failure, for the Scriptures declare that you can be "snared with the words of thy mouth" (Proverbs 6:2).
Satan will keep you bound, poor, sick, and oppressed by ensnaring you with your own words when you make such negative confessions as:
I don't think I can do this work. I'm sure I'll mess it up.
I don't feel too well. I must be catching the flu.
I doubt I'll be able to go. I don't see how I'll have the money in time.
I still have my symptoms and pain although I received prayer for healing several weeks ago. Maybe it isn't God's will to heal me this time.
No matter how hard I try, I can't overcome this problem.
I wonder if I'll ever feel better.
I just knew it would rain today. It always does when we plan anything for outdoors.
I've prayed for my wife's salvation, but she's getting worse, if anything. I guess she'll never change.
Why does this always have to happen to me?
My husband always drives in heavy traffic for me, because I might have an accident.
I wonder if these chest pains mean I have heart disease?
Please don't ask me to give a testimony in public. I always get nervous and can't say anything.
My sinus condition always gets worse this time of the year.
I cannot eat this pork. It will make me sick.
I might as well not try that. It's beyond my ability.
We'll try to come if things work out, but it isn't very likely.
I don't know what we'll do if the cost of living keeps rising.
I didn't get the promotion I needed. Oh, well, I never seem to excel at anything.
Well, I made it to work, but that's about it. The way I feel, I sure won't get much done.
The influence of the powers of darkness upon the human race is nowhere more clearly seen than in Satan's control and influence over man's mind and his confession. Generally, all you ever hear, whether over the radio or TV, on the plane or in a restaurant, has a negative emphasis. The newspapers and commentators seldom present a good report, as this seems to have no value.
Have you ever heard, for example, that there are about 201,000,000 Americans who are not on drugs? Was the fact reported that thousands of denominational Christians received the baptism in the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues last year? Were you informed through the news media that there were millions of college students who were not involved in any form of campus rebellion, or revolt against authority last semester? Was it reported in the press that there were over 90,000,000 men who were not involved in any major crimes in the United States in the past 12 months?
Did the last conversation you overheard in the restaurant where you ate edify you, or was it the usual negative report of the speaker's recent operation, his peptic ulcers, his accident, or his financial distress? When was the last time anyone complimented or reported to you any good news concerning some friend or acquaintance about whom they were speaking? Why is it we usually receive a complete medical history concerning all the pains and afflictions of most individuals when we simply address them with the friendly greeting, "How are you today?"
On every hand I find Christians being defeated by their negative confessions. No one would intentionally invite a doctor to inject flu germs directly into his blood stream; yet this is precisely what you do when you confess at the first symptom that you believe you are catching the flu, for the Scriptures declare, "thou art snared with the words of thy mouth" (Proverbs 6:2).
Your condition will always parallel your confession. The Word of God tells us why: "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he" (Proverbs 23:7), and "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh" (Matthew 12:34). If you think you will fail, you will. If you say you can't, then you can't. If you confess you are sick, you will be sick. If you say you cannot overcome the problem, then you cannot. If you confess that you will be defeated, you will. Why? It is because you will generally experience what you think and confess.
It has taken medical science thousands of years to learn this truth, which God revealed to Israel in the time of Solomon, namely, that we actually precondition our lives for sickness or health, prosperity, or adversity, by what we think and say. As we have already pointed out, medical authorities tell us today that most physical illness is psychosomatic; that is, it results from wrong thinking, worry, and emotional stress. The fact is, how we think we feel and what we confess about it has a definite effect upon how we actually feel.
Jesus came to give us an abundant life--a life free from sin, sickness, poverty, fear, depression, worry, and defeat. However, most Christians have allowed Satan to rob them of their joy and peace, as well as their health and prosperity, through his influence upon their thoughts and their consequent confession.
The average Christian keeps his mind and speech so cluttered with negatives and doubts that he has forfeited almost all hope and expectation for anything better, and has accepted a certain amount of poverty, sickness, and failure as inevitable. In order to rise above all these circumstances and walk in victory with our inheritance restored, we must change our thinking habits and eliminate certain negative expressions from our speech. Then we can begin to experience the dynamic power of a positive confession.
You will reveal the nature and extent of your faith by what you say or confess, because what you confess is your faith speaking. Your confession will reveal whether your faith is strong, weak, great, or small. Since you generally receive what you confess (Mark 11:23; Proverbs 18:21), if your confession agrees with the Word of God, you will receive what He has promised.
A true confession of faith always agrees with God's Word. In fact, the literal meaning of the Greek term which is translated "to confess" in the New Testament is "to agree with," or "to speak the same language." If you confess what the Word of God says about your sins (I John 1:9), you receive forgiveness. In the same manner, if you confess what His Word says about your diseases (Psalm 103:3; James 5:14-15), you will receive healing.
On the other hand, if you say, "I prayed for the healing of my ulcers, but there are still certain foods that I would not dare eat, as I know they would make me ill," then you cannot expect to be healed by faith, for your confession does not agree with the Word of God. The Scriptures declare that "by his stripes ye were healed" (I Peter 2:24). God's Word states, furthermore, that you are to believe that you have received the answer to your petition when you pray (Mark 11:24). Thus, any confession that does not harmonize with what the Scriptures say will invariably nullify the Word of God on your behalf.
It is important to see that you will never rise above the level of your confession. Your condition or circumstances always tend to parallel your confession. On several occasions in meetings where I have spoken, I have prayed for the healing of Christians with identical illnesses, in which one would later receive the manifestation of his healing, while the other would not. As often as not the cause for failure was clear--either this individual's daily confession concerning his condition was not in agreement with God's Word, or else he did not maintain his confession of faith without doubting until the healing was manifested.
Some individuals who lack instruction in the Scriptures concerning the importance of maintaining a positive confession, even in the face of symptoms or contradictory circumstances, will ask, "But isn't it dishonest to say that I am healed when I still have my pain and symptoms?" Or they ask, "Isn't such a confession just mental suggestion?"
No. On the contrary, it is never dishonest to confess about your condition what the Scriptures tell you to say. It is not mere suggestion, but a confession of God's Word when you confess that God has heard and answered your petition when you pray (Mark 11:24; I John 5:14-15). The reason God requires us to confess, not what we feel or see, but what His Word promises us, is that our condition and circumstances generally remain on about the same level as our confession, for "death and life are in the power of the tongue" (Proverbs 18:21).
Mental suggestion is nothing more than denial of the reality or presence of the disease. As such, it cannot heal you, nor can it keep you from dying prematurely, should you have some terminal illness. However, we know of countless instances where all kinds of sicknesses and diseases have been healed through a positive confession of healing based upon one of the promises in the Word of God (such as Exodus 15:26 and 23:25; Psalm 103;3; James 5:14-15; I Peter 2:24; and III John 2).
I always encourage people to make a positive confession of what the Scriptures have to say about their condition or problem, in spite of what their feelings, symptoms, or the circumstances may imply to the contrary, for Satan's power to afflict or oppress increases or decreases in direct proportion to the positive or negative nature of one's confession.
When an individual finds it difficult to understand how he can maintain a positive confession of healing when he does not feel healed, and his symptoms seem to indicate the contrary, I remind him that after successful surgery, a patient's condition is medically cured, and although he is on the road to recovery, he never feels better for a few days after surgery, Nevertheless, he both believes and confesses what the doctors tell him about his condition, in spite of his contrary feelings, his pain and his symptoms. However, when the Heavenly Physician tells the average Christian to believe and confess the same thing about his condition after prayer for healing, if his symptoms do not immediately improve, he will not only begin to confess what he feels, but will also search the Scriptures for alleged proof-texts in an attempt to justify his sickness and pain.
God clearly tells us in His Word what He will do for us, and from that point on He deals with us on the basis of what we say and do about His promises. If, after claiming some promise in His Word, we begin to express doubt or make a negative confession concerning the situation, this will nullify His Word on our behalf. The importance of our confession is to be seen in Jesus' warning that "by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned" (Matthew 12:37).
Who do you think determines whether or not you can have the abundant life of health, prosperity, joy, victory, and fruitfulness which Jesus promised? Is it God? No. He tells you that with Him there is "no respect of persons" (Romans 2:11), and that His promises and blessing are for every believer alike.
Is it Satan? No. The Scriptures tell you to "resist the devil and he will flee from you," and that God has given His people power...over all the power of the enemy" (Luke 10:19). Moreover, God admonishes Christians, "Neither give place to the devil" (Ephesians 4;27). This means that Satan can have no place in your life unless you grant it to him. No, he is not the one who determines whether or not you have a victorious and abundant life, or whether you suffer adversity and failure.
Is it your circumstances, then which determine whether you will have victory of defeat? Again we answer, "NO," for your circumstances merely provide you with the opportunity to demonstrate the extent of your faith in the promises of God. Circumstances in themselves cannot cause victory or defeat, for Jesus promised that "if ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, nothing shall be impossible unto you."
Who then determines whether or not you enjoy the abundant life promised you? It is you yourself. Are you aware that as you begin each day it is you--and you alone--who will determine the nature of the day you will have, as well as its outcome? Are you aware that you have been given the choice of deciding whether or not you will be happy or sad, sick or well, worried or calm, victorious or defeated?
I have never been able to understand why the majority of Christians will choose unhappiness, sickness, poverty, and trouble day after day--for these are the result of their own negative thinking and confession. Yet God has promised to heal, protect, deliver, and provide all our needs abundantly, telling us again and again that the choice between blessing and adversity lies within our own grasp ("all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive," Matthew 21:22).
Every individual preconditions his life by what he thinks, believes and confesses. Insurance companies know, for example, that some people are poor insurance risks, because they are "accident prone." They fear that they may have an accident, then begin to express fears, and as a consequence they often experience what they believe and confess.
Most of the people who caught the flu last winter did so because they confessed that they would at the first sign of a symptom, saying, "I think I must be catching the flu." Many people are dying prematurely of coronary disease because they are confessing such fears as a result of reading the medical reports on the dangers of cholesterol, as well as the insurance statistics concerning the average life span of the American population. Medical science informs us that a large percentage of all illness stems from emotional stress resulting from wrong attitudes, negative thoughts, and anxiety, as well as from negative confessions concerning these things.
Christians are often in poverty, or are financially burdened, because they are confessing that they never really expect to get out of debt. many Christians are sick and afflicted, some are neurotic, and others are suffering nervous collapse or heart failure, because they have never learned that "as [a man] thinketh in his heart, so is he," and that "death and life are in the power of the tongue."
In Hebrews 3:1, Jesus is called the High Priest of our confession. This means that as our High Priest He can act in our behalf to save, bless, heal, protect, and deliver us, if we give Him a positive confession which is in harmony with the Word of God. However, a confession of doubt or fear concerning our situation or need hinders His ministry on our behalf, and opens a channel of access for Satan to enter and oppress.
"How are you today?" someone asks a fellow Christian as he enters the door of the church.
"Oh, I don't feel too well," he replies. "I must be catching a cold. It seems I always do at the first opportunity." It is as though he is determined to allow Satan to afflict him if at all possible. The question "How are you?" is merely a friendly greeting, not an invitation to inform the inquirer of your symptoms and problems, or to confess that Satan has the victory over you.
The Scriptures show that sickness or health, prosperity or adversity, are directly related to our confession. Therefore, it is important to know, especially when illness or other adversity strikes, that there are three factors to consider if Divine help is to be obtained:
1. What God says about our situation ("He healeth all our diseases," Psalm 103:3).
2. What Satan says about the situation ("you are sick"; "you may die"; "don't be foolish and rely on prayer alone"; "this is serious--you better get to the doctor").
3. What you confess about your situation: what you say determines the outcome, for you have the choice of agreeing either God or with your adversary, the devil.
In Revelation 12:10 Satan is called "the accuser of the brethren," who stands before the throne of heaven accusing us day and night. Jesus, on the other hand, is designated as our Advocate (I John 2:1), and the High Priest of our confession (Hebrews 3:1), who pleads our case without ceasing before the Father. On what basis is Jesus pleading on our behalf? On the basis of two things: His blood, and our confession. Satan, we are informed, is overcome by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of our testimony (Revelation 12:11).
As the High Priest of our confession, Jesus is pleading our defense against Satan's accusations. He pleads not only with His precious blood, but also with our testimony (what we say). Thus, when you say, "I don't feel well; I must be coming down with something"; when you say, "I'm afraid I cannot do this or that, as I don't believe I have the ability"; when you say, "I won't be able to afford it"; when you say, "I have prayed for my healing, but I am beginning to wonder if I will ever get well"; when you say, "I've tried and tried, but I just can't seem to overcome this problem"; when you say, "this situation seems impossible," or "there is no hope for a solution"; then you have joined your confession with that of your Accuser, Satan.
Jesus Christ cannot act as your High Priest on the basis of such negative confessions of doubt, fear, or failure. He can only act as the High Priest of a good confession, which must be in harmony with the Word of God. A negative confession simply gives your accuser the fiery darts with which to wound you, for you will find that you have been "snared by the words of your mouth" (Proverbs 6:2).
The victorious life is based upon a positive confession of four Biblical truths. A positive affirmation of these facts will compel Satan to acknowledge your authority and victory over him. This in turn will have the effect of breaking the enemy's power to bind, hinder, and oppress you. God expects us to confess:
1. What we are in Christ.
2. Where we are in Christ.
3. What we possess in Christ.
4. What we can do in Christ.
1. Confess what you are in Christ (your standing). What do the Scriptures say that we not are in Christ? We are informed in II Corinthians 5:17 that "if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." Now, when we are told that "old things are passed away," and that "all things are become new," we are not to limit this merely to the passing away of our sins, for the atonement includes also the removal of our diseases and pains, as well as deliverance from anxiety, worry, poverty, oppression, and defeat.
Since God promises us that all things have become new, He expects us to confess this fact--that we have been liberated and renewed in mind, body, soul, and spirit--for our circumstances and condition will never rise above the level of what we believe we are in Christ. The Scriptures declare that "ye are complete in him" (Colossians 2:10), that you have been liberated from the "power of darkness" (Colossians 1:13), as well as from the effects if the curse (Galatians 3:13), and that you are now sons of God and joint-heirs with Christ (Galatians 4:67). The victorious life is based upon our continual confession of our present standing in Christ.
2. Confess where you are in Christ (your position). Many Christians are living a life of oppression and defeat at the hands of the enemy, because they do not know where they now are in Christ--their position in Him. They believe they have been crucified with Christ (Galatians 2:20); they believe they have died with Christ (II Corinthians 5:14); they believe that they have risen with Christ (Colossians 3:1); but they are unable to walk in victory as they should, triumphant over the powers of darkness, because they do not know that they have also ascended into the heavens with Christ, and are seated with Him "far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion" (Ephesians 2:5-6, with 1:20-21).
God has not called us to contend with Satan for a place of victory, but to overcome him from our position of victory which we already have in Christ. Jesus tells us that He has given us authority over all the power of the enemy (Luke 10:17-19), and that all power in heaven and earth has been given unto Him, which He in turn has committed unto us (Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:17-20).
Too many Christians today are like the elder brother in the Parable of the Prodigal Son who, ignorant of the significance of his position, confess that he had nothing and that his wayward brother had greater rights and privileges that he. His father the reminded him of his position as a son, and that all he had to do to obtain what he desired was to confess his position and claim his rights to whatever he desired.
The prodigal son was more a son in actual practice than his elder brother, for he came to himself, rose up from his position of poverty where he was glad to eat the "husks," returned to his father, and was restored to his position as a son and heir. Believers today need to "come to themselves" and rise up from their position of defeat, where they are barely existing on the "husks" of religion, and return to their Father, once more claiming their position as the sons of God.
Victory will not be your until you believe it and confess that it belongs to you. until you accept by faith the declaration in God's Word that you have also ascended with Christ and are now seated with Him in a position of power and authority, Satan will continue to exercise his power over your life. Boldly confess that you no longer need to contend with Satan for a place of victory, but that you shall overcome him from a position of victory at the throne of God.
The Christian has this authority by virtue of his relationship to Christ, but we must claim and confess our authority over Satan before we can effectively command him to obey. By virtue of our heavenly position, we have been authorized to put a bold resistance in the Name of Jesus Christ against the powers of darkness, and we have been assured that they must obey!
3. Confess what you possess in Christ (your inheritance). Satan keeps most Christians in bondage, to some degree at least, because they do not know or claim what belongs to them as the result of their inheritance in Christ. As a consequence they have allowed the Enemy to usurp their rights and privileges, and to rob then of their healing, health, joy, and peace.
Christians are rich spiritually, materially, and physically, but too few are aware of the fact. Instead, they believe that they are not to receive any of their inheritance now, not to benefit from it in the present life, but only in the world to come. Scripture, on the other hand, declares that the believer's inheritance belongs to him now. God promises that "all things are yours: whether...the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come.(I Corinthians 3:21-22).
God has given us all things in Christ now,
as joint-heirs with Him (Romans 8:16-17). The Scriptures are filled with
thousands of promises, whereby God had made provision for our every need,
both spiritual and temporal, as well as for the accomplishment of the work
he has commissioned His church to do. All these provisions and blessings
are available to the extent that we are willing to press through by faith
and confess that they are ours now.
It is tragic that Satan is able to keep Christians in such bondage because they have not been taught what really belongs to them as joint--heirs with Christ. If the tax appraiser cones to their homes and asks them to declare what goods and personal property they own, they have no difficulty in stating what belongs to them. If a thief tries to steal their car of wallet, they immediately challenge him, saying, "You cannot take that--it is mine!" And yet they will allow Satan, whom Jesus describes as a thief and robber (John 10:10), to rob them of their rights and privileges, and they will not lift a finger to stop him!
You must confess in faith that all those things which the Scriptures clearly state as belonging to you are actually yours now. Until you do, the Enemy will continue to keep you in spiritual, physical, and temporal bondage by robbing you of your inheritance and usurping your rights and authority.
4. Confess what you can do in Christ (your empowering and ability). Frequently we hear Christians confessing what they cannot do. We hear them say, for instance...
I'm afraid I can't do that, as I lack the training.
I've tried, but I can't overcome this problem.
I'm afraid to testify in public.
I've tried and tried, but I haven't been able to receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit.
I just can't seem to receive my healing.
I can't get out of debt, no matter how hard I try.
I can't get along with my employer.
I can't get out to the meetings this week.
I get sick if I eat certain foods.
I may have to leave the service early. I don't feel very good.
I just can't get the victory in this matter.
...and so on.
Sound familiar? It should, for this is all too often the way many Christians talk.
One thing is certain: you will never be able to do more than you are willing to confess that you can do in Christ, for "thou art snared with the words of thy mouth" (Proverbs 6:2). To walk in victory, you should never confess that you cannot do something, or that anything is impossible, for the Scriptures say that you should always confess, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me" (Philippians 4:13).
When Moses insisted on confessing that he could not speak to Pharaoh, then he could not, and God was compelled to send Aaron his brother for him (Exodus 4). Peter began to sink when he confessed that he could not stand on the very water upon which he had been walking, and the Israelites perished in the wilderness because they confessed that they would (Numbers 14:1-2; 28-29).
It is a sin to limit God by a confession of doubt as to your ability and power in Christ, for He clearly promises you that "these signs will follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover" (Mark 16:17-18). Jesus said, "He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do" (John 14:12), and He promised us, "If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed...nothing shall be impossible unto you" (Matthew 17:20).
Change a negative confession to a positive one, and nothing will be impossible unto you. One woman, for whom I prayed to receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit, said, after several moments of silence as she waited for the Spirit to give her new tongues, "Oh, I just can't speak in tongues, I can't! I can't!
"Don't say, 'I can't! I can't!' Confess, 'I can, I can!'" was my immediate reply. As she confessed, "I can! I can!" she found that she could and did. It was her negative confession which had bound her so that the Holy Spirit could not anoint her with utterance in new tongues.
In another instance, a minister's wife confessed to the hostess in whose home we had gathered for a snack after the service one evening, "I am sorry, but I can't ear this shrimp; it makes me deadly ill." We all chuckled after hearing this confession, as I had just preached a message on making a positive confession at all times. She quickly figured out why we were laughing and said, "Oh. I should never have confessed that, should I? After that message, I am confessing that I can eat shrimp, and that I won't get sick!" The next evening she shared with us that she had never felt better, not slept more soundly in her life, having suffered no ill effects at all from eating the shrimp.
The Scriptures declare that you are snared by the words of your mouth (Proverbs 6:2), and that "by thy words thou shall be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned" (Matthew 12:37). So it is imperative that we guard our lips from giving expression to anything negative, which is an open invitation to the Enemy to oppress or to overcome us.
The Six-fold Secret of a Positive Confession
God deals with us on the basis of what we say or confess, according to Matthew 12:34-37. In Mark 11:23 Jesus promises us that we shall receive whatsoever we say.
We are informed in Romans 10:10 that confession is the means by which we obtain possession of that which we believe, while Proverbs 18:21 declares that "death and life are in the power of the tongue." The reason the Scriptures place such an emphasis upon positive confession is that we will never rise above the level of our confession, for our condition and circumstances generally parallel our confession.
If we pray concerning a need and the express doubt as the outcome, we will receive nothing. If we confess sickness when certain symptoms occur, we will be sick, for by the "law of confession," sickness confessed is sickness possessed. If you claim deliverance from some form of financial distress, and them confess anxiety, or begin to consider what you will do in case the money does not come, instead of resting in the confidence that God will supply your needs according to His promise (Philippians 4:19), you nullify God's promise on your behalf.
The Scriptures tell us that we shall receive whatever we confess; therefore, if we desire to walk in victory 365 days a year, we must develop the habit of making a positive confession when we speak. How is this accomplished? The secret of a positive confession is six-fold.
1. First, you must set a watch on your lips, and guard your mind. If we expect to walk in health, prosperity, and victory, then we must, first of all, pray as David, "Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips" (Psalms 141:3), confessing also with him, "I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle." (Psalm 39:1).
In order to develop a positive confession, we must first learn how to be quiet, before we try to learn to speak effectively. As infants we struggled, slowly learning how to speak. After we have spent years developing our vocabulary, we now need to recognize that much of what we have learned must be unlearned, for it is a primary cause of many of our problems and failures, as well as our sicknesses and infirmities.
Much of what the average Christian talks about or confesses is negative and servers no useful purpose, either to himself or to others. Instead, this clutter of negative thoughts and speech robs himself and others of health, happiness, prosperity, and victory. As the Scriptures urge, "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers" (Ephesians 4:29).
A positive confession begins with a sanctified silence. The Lord admonishes us to stop confessing our doubts, symptoms, and fears, as well as our uncertainties, and to "be still and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10). In Ecclesiastes 5;2 He warns us: "Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter anything before God...therefore let thy words be few." Learning to be quiet, or to speak only those things which edify both ourselves and others, is the secret of a positive confession.
Likewise, you should refuse entrance into your mind anything of a negative, contrary, resentful, or depressive nature. Guard your heart and mind, for this is the place the Enemy usually works the hardest, knowing that you will generally confess what you think and believe, for "out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh." Failure to guard the mind against Satan's depressive and negative suggestions is one of the major causes for the Christian's fear, oppression, sickness, and defeat. Therefore, we are admonished to "keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life" (Proverbs 4:23).
There is a continual warfare going on between God and Satan for the control of your mind and thoughts. If Satan can gain the ascendancy here, he knows that he can largely determine what you will say and confess, which in turn will affect the course of events in your life. In this way he can limit or destroy your effectiveness in the Kingdom of God.
So, then, the secret of a positive confession is first of all to set a watch on your lips and to guard the door of your mind.
2. Refuse to confess doubt or anything of a negative nature. Admitting doubt, even in a small way, will paralyze faith and withhold God's blessings from you (James 1:6-7). You must absolutely refuse to confess doubt, fear, defeat, or anything of a negative nature. We have found time and again that Christians talk themselves out of their faith, as well the answers to their prayers, by what they say or confess after claiming some promise from God's Word.
"Brother Freeman, I have a hearing problem. Can you tell me why I can't keep my healing?" asked a concerned individual one evening. I have received prayer for this condition several times, and although my ears are opened after prayer, yet I find that I cannot maintain my healing for more than two days. Can you tell me why?"
"Why, yes," I replied, "that is very easy to answer. You yourself just revealed why you cannot keep your healing more than two days. It is because you are confessing, 'I can't keep my healing more than two days.' So when Satan seeks to afflict you with those symptoms a few days after receiving prayer for your healing, you begin to confess your symptoms instead of resisting Satan. You then confess that you have lost your healing, and, as a result, you have. Never confess symptoms--confess the Word and resist symptoms just as you would any temptation from Satan. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."
"How is the problem concerning your teenage son?" asks one woman of another. "I remember you committed him to the Lord several months ago."
"Well, I'm afraid things don't look very promising," is the negative reply, "I'm about ready to give up if things don't improve soon."
One man greets another saying, "You sound like you are catching a cold. You don't look too well."
"Yes. I've asked God to heal me, but the old devil has put one on me this time for sure. I think I better not plan to go to the office for a few days, but just stay home in bed and see if I get any better," comes the listless reply.
And so on, ad infinitum, go the endless negative confessions of today's defeated and discouraged saints, who apparently have never been taught God's warnings that "death and life are in the power of the tongue" (Proverbs 18:21); that you can be "snared by the words of thy mouth" (Proverbs 6:2); or that "as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he" (Proverbs 23:7).
One of the greatest causes for defeat in the lives of Christians is the tongue. A negative confession, or a confession of doubt, is your own admission that you are defeated and that Satan has the victory. Never allow yourself to use negative or doubtful expressions in your speech, for it is a luxury in which you cannot afford to indulge, Develop a vocabulary of faith from God's Word.
Furthermore, you must refuse to listen to doubts, disbelief, skepticism, and uncertainties coming from others, for this can seriously undermine or weaken your own confession of faith. Never discuss the problems which you have claimed by faith, with those who do not believe that God answers positively (with a "Yes") every prayer of faith based upon His Word.
For example, after you have, by faith, claimed your healing from some illness, Satan often seeks to use the unbelief and skepticism of others to implant doubts in your own heart. Many of his tears are sown in just this way, and as a result, the seed of God's Word is choked and becomes unfruitful. It is actually possible to forfeit healing once obtained by faith if you allow doubt to affect your faith. We are personally acquainted with instances where this has occurred.
3. Harmonize your confession with God's.
God deals with us on the basis of what we say or confess. You can easily confirm this for yourself by determining to bring your confession into harmony, not with what you feel or see, not with what others may say, not with what the circumstances might appear to be, but with the Word of God. Study, and then begin to confess, the promises found in such Scriptures as Exodus 15;26; Psalms 37,91, 103:1-5 and 121; Matthew 6;33, 1;19 and 21:22; Mark 11:22-24; Romans 8:28; I Corinthians 3:21-22; II Corinthians 1:20; Philippians 4:13,19; Hebrews 13:6; James 1:2-4; and III John 2.
These are just a few of countless promises God has made to the believer which, if confessed consistently, from a believing heart, will enable you to live victoriously 365 days a year.
Keep in mind that the term translated "to confess" (homologeo in the original Greek) means "to agree with," or "to speak the same language." Your confession must agree with God's (that is, it must agree with what He has said in His Word), if you are to receive an answer from Him.
You say, "I prayed for the healing of my heart condition, and I hope that God will heal me some time, if it is His will." But based on that confession, you cannot expect to be healed. Why not? Simply because it does not agree with what God has confessed about your physical illness, for He has said that "by Jesus' stripes ye were healed" (I Peter 2:24), that "the prayer of faith shall heal the sick" (James 5:15), that He "healeth all thy diseases" (Psalm 103:3), and that "what things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them" (Mark 11:24). A positive confession must extend even to our praying, or we cannot expect God to answer our prayers.
God never works in advance of the level of your faith, for your faith is the channel through which He works to answer your prayers. God' s answers always keep in pace with your confession. Therefore, you must not confess what you feel and see, or what the circumstances may appear to be, but what God has said in His Word. Do not expect God to bless you inspite of your negative confession, for He has promised to help those who are willing to confess by faith what He has said and promised to do (I John 5:14-15).
4. Confess victory before you see it. Gideon and his small band of 300 men shouted the victory beforehand, and as a result the Midianites became so frightened that they destroyed one another in their confusion. The Israelities did not wait until the walls of Jerico began to crumble before believing that God had given the city into their hands, but they shouted the walls down by faith. The Apostle Paul tells in Hebrews 11:1 that "faith is the evidence of things not seen." Faith is not sight. Faith can only operate in the realm of the invisible, concerning those things which we have prayed for, but which we do not see manifested to our sight.
This is where most Christians run into difficulty. They have lived so long in the visible realm of the senses that it is hard for them to believe and confess that they have the answer to their prayers before they see or feel some evidence of it. For instance, we have often found that an individual will claim a promise of God for the healing of some ailment, and then, if the condition does not seem to improve immediately, he will begin to reason in his mind, saying, "Well, I must not be healed, since I don't feel healed, and I still have my symptoms." Then he will be even more firmly convinced, upon looking at his appearance in the mirror, that God has not answered his petition.
We must see that healing never depends upon how we feel, nor on what we see, but entirely upon what we believe and confess, for we are told that "as [a man] thinketh in his heart, so is he," and that "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh." Until we learn that the manifestation of healing always comes after our confession of healing, we will be trying to put the effect before the cause.
Many Christians are trying to believe with their "eyes," and with their "senses" or "feelings," when the Scriptures say that man believes with the "heart." We must first believe and sincerely confess in faith that we have received, or the answer will never be manifested in our sight. Jesus tells us in Mark 11:24 to believe that we have received when we pray, and then we shall have it. (cf. I John 5:14-15).
We dare not depend upon feelings or appearances, for Satan works through the realm of the senses. He can manipulate the feelings with symptoms and pains, and he can also deceive us by what appears to be true to our sight.
Appearances can deceive. When Jesus cursed the fig tree, His word of faith destroyed it immediately. Although it did not appear to be dead until later, it definitely was dead, regardless of appearance. The sun "appears" to rise and set each day, but it is really the earth which turns in relation to the sun's position in the heavens. Sometimes when driving, the car begins to "feel" as if a tire is going flat. How often have you stopped to investigate, only to discover that there is nothing wrong?
On numerous occasions, those for whom I have prayed for healing have found that they did not "feel" or "look" healed immediately after prayer. But in every case, when they have continued to believe and to confess, not what they feel or see, but what the Word of God says ( I Peter 2:24; Mark 11:24), they have found that the manifestation ultimately did come.
On one occasion, I prayed for the healing of a small child whose nose was broken. After prayer, the nose still appeared bruised and broken. However, I encouraged the parents to believe that God had answered our petition, and to confess their faith. In two days, the child' s nose was perfectly healed and once more straight, without a mark or bruise. Had we relied upon what we could see, or upon how the child felt, Satan would have robbed us of the victory.
I once prayed for a young man who had a cyst on his back. Several weeks later he told me that after prayer his condition seemed to get worse. The cyst began to increase in size, and then commenced to drain. "It was quite alarming," he confided, "and I was tempted to get medical treatment. However, I remained steadfast in my confession of faith, believing that I was healed in spite of appearances and feelings. After thirty days, the cyst drained and disappeared."
God often uses bodily processes (our glands, for example) to facilitate healing. It is nonetheless supernatural when He heals in this manner, for it is without the use of medicine or other remedies. In this case He caused the cyst to come to a "head" much as a boil does, thus causing it to drain and leave his system.
We have seen this happen in other instances also. After prayer, conditions may not seem to improve for a time, or may even appear to get worse, as God works the poison or disease out of the body. Thus, if we rely only upon appearances or feelings, Satan will deceive us and rob us of our healing.
Faith is confessing the victory ahead of time; it is confessing you have the answer when you pray, believing God to give the manifestation in due time as He has promised (Hebrews 10:23, 35-36; Numbers 23:19). You are only entitled to that which you boldly confess is already yours by virtue of God's faithfulness.
5. Hold fast to your confession of faith without wavering. Often things will look no different after you claim some promise and confess your faith in it. It is at this point that you must be very careful to guard your confession, as Satan, who is a deceiver, will try to get you to admit to your feelings, symptoms, or circumstances.
Once you confess a promise of God, you must absolutely refuse to take a word of your confession back, regardless of the circumstances, or how long you must wait for the manifestation of the answer. Why? We are told in Hebrews 10:23, "Let us hold fast the confession of our faith without wavering; for he is faithful that promised."
We are to maintain a daily, constant confession of faith in the promise we have claimed until it is manifested. Many can believe a promise and claim it in prayer initially; but if the answer is not manifested soon enough, they begin to waver and doubt, giving up their confession of faith. As a result they receive nothing.
Healing, for instance, is always in response to a confession of faith; but a confession that can only persevere for a day, week, or a month, is not a healing confession. Many fail to receive what they ask from God because they cannot hold fast their confession without wavering in the midst of trial, testing, pain, or symptoms. Sickness is often overcome only by maintaining a positive confession of God's promises in the face of all apparent evidence to the contrary.
When you claim healing, you have thereby challenged Satan's right to oppress you. You have, as it were, entered his domain, and a battle often ensues. He will contest every inch of ground which you claim. Often he will not withdraw his symptoms until the last moment that God allows him, as he knows from past experience that if he can maintain his hold long enough, he can ultimate
ly discourage most Christians and break their confessions of faith.
This is why a constant confession of faith in the promise of God will eventually overcome Satan's oppression, and he will have to release his hold on you and "vacate the premises." Satan's power to afflict and oppress you increases or decreased in direct proportion to your confession of faith in the Word of God which you have claimed.
It was shortly after suffering a heart attack that I received the baptism in the Holy Spirit. At the same time, I also came to recognize that divine healing is valid for today, so I claimed my healing and disposed of my medicines, which the doctor had advised me to take for the rest of my life. Almost immediately Satan began to challenge my confession of faith, in an attempt to break it, by afflicting me with my old symptoms and pains of heart disease.
But when the angina attacks would come, I would boldly resist them by reaffirming my confession of faith in God's promise that Jesus had healed me at Calvary (Isaiah 53:3-4; Matthew 8:16-17). As I mentioned my confession without wavering, the Enemy was forced to retreat more and more, until at last he was forced to release his hold on me entirely.
When Satan discovers that you have learned the secret of using God's Word to overcome him (Revelation 12:11), he will eventually be forced to release his hold on you or on your circumstances. But often he will not withdraw until he has exhausted his resources in an attempt to break your confession of faith in the integrity of the Word of God.
He will try to implant fear doubt into your mind to confuse you.
At times he will cause persecution to come upon you for your faith.
On occasion he will oppress you with new symptoms and pain, or cause the old aliment to appear to return.
He will, if possible, surround you with contradictory advice from your friends.
Or he will cause your family to think that you have become a religious fanatic because of your stand on the Word.
But he knows that your confession, if maintained without wavering, will ultimately defeat him and his work in your life. Therefore,Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised)Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. Hebrews 10:23, 35-36.
6. If Satan tempts you to doubt, boldly take the initiative away from him. After claiming some promise in God's Word, Satan will frequently challenge your decision, and you may find yourself undergoing a period of trial. If, for example, you have claimed a promise of healing for some physical aliment, Satan will attempt to get your attention on your symptoms in an effort to cause you to doubt and break your confession of faith in God's promise. When tempted to doubt in such instances, a bold reaffirmation of your faith in God's Word will generally kill doubt as its roots.
Holding fast to your confession of faith without wavering (Hebrews 10:23) is a defensive measure whereby you keep faith in the promise of God until the manifestation of the answer. However, it is also necessary many times, especially during a period of trial, to take offensive measures against the powers of darkness. There will be times when you must boldly move deeper into Satan's territory by faith when he challenges your confession.
When Goliath threatened David, saying, "I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field," David immediately replied, "And I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee!" Then, when the giant arose and drew nigh to meet him, we are told that David did not retreat in fear, but that he "hasted, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine" (Samuel 17:44f.).
If the enemy comes against you to challenge your faith in some unusual way, then, instead of retreating in doubt and fear, as so many often do, advance like David against him. Act your faith, boldly reaffirming your confidence in God's Word and asserting your authority over the powers of darkness.
Every time Satan advance one step against you in an effort to break your confession of faith, resist him in faith, and boldly advance two steps against him. The Scriptures assure you that, if you will resist the devil, "he will flee from you."
When my daughter's are was badly shattered in an automobile accident, we were challenged by the medical authorities that, unless we allowed then to set the arm, it would wither and become useless. But we took a bold step of faith and brought her home from the hospital without any medical treatment or surgery. We boldly confessed to the doctors that God would be faithful to His promise and heal her--which He did. Instead of retreating when our faith was tried, we met the challenge by acting boldly on the promises of God, confessing our faith ion the integrity of His Word.
In another instance, I claimed $1400.00 by faith to go to Israel, publicly confessing to others that God would supply the money for the trip. When the day arrived for me to leave, only about half the money had been received. Satan immediately challenged me, saying, "Well, what are you going to do now?
You have ruined your faith ministry because you have publicly confessed that God would supply the money and He has not done so!" However, knowing that "faith is the evidence of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1), I was confident that God had answered my petition when I had prayed several weeks previously (Mark 11:24). I resisted the devil's temptation to doubt, and boldly took another step of faith. I left for New York with the money which I had, believing that God would somehow provide a way. About 45 minutes before the plane left New York for Israel, a man came to me and said, "An anonymous donor wants to pay the balance of your fare, whatever it is!"
When tempted to doubt, a bold step of faith is one of the most effective weapons against Satan that the believer possess, for it take the initiative away from him, and keeps you in control of the situation. A confession of doubt or fear concerning the outcome is always as admission that Satan, not you, has the initiative. The devil will flee if you resist him with a bold reaffirmation of your faith in the Word of God when under attack by the forces of darkness.
Finally, we must keep in mind that mental attitudes are vitally important, for "as [a man] thinketh in his heart, so is he." What we think about our physical condition has a direct bearing on our actual condition and well-being. The power of thought and suggestion over our bodies is phenomenal. If we constantly fret about a particular imperfection, then we cannot expect it to improve. If we fear sickness, then we will begin to confess that we are sick when some symptom occurs. In many cases, we become sick as a negative attitude and confession.
During the time when I was preparing this manuscript, I was teaching on this subject in Florida. After one meeting, a gentleman who was employed as a postman shared with me a humorous experience in the connection.
"The Scriptures are certainly true, "he said, smiling, "when they say that 'as [a man] thinketh in his heart, so is he.' One of the postmen at our local post office can easily be persuaded that he is sick, by the power of suggestion. The relief postmen are asked to work only if one of the regular postmen is off sick; so now and then, to get an opportunity to work, they will approach this man, saying how bad he looks, asking him if he feels well. Invariably, in a short time this poor fellow will go home confessing that he is sick, and a relief postman will get to work in his place."
Such is the power of negative thought and confession. if Christians could be made to realize just how much of their own illness, depression, problems, and defeat stem from emotional stress that results from wrong attitudes and thoughts, as well as from their negative statements concerning these matters, they would never again allow such attitudes and expressions to rob them of their health, joy, peace, and victory, but would begin each day with a positive expectation, confessing, :This is the day which the Lord hath made; I will rejoice and be glad in it."
Too many Christians allow their trials and circumstances to depress and defeat them. A victorious faith can be developed through trials, if our attitude toward those trials lines up with the Word of God (James 1:2-4).
It was because of his positive attitude and positive confession, based on his absolute confidence in God's care for him, that the Apostle Paul was able to keep his courage and walk in victory through his many hardships and trials. His positive attitude and victorious confession are an inspiration to all. Instead of taking his trials, persecutions, and hardships to heart, and instead of complaining or grieving over them, he joyfully confessed:
We are troubled on every side, yet not destressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be mainfest in our body. --II Corinthians 4:8-10
It is only through trial and tribulation, when the powers of darkness seek to overcome us, that the life and power of Jesus Christ may truly be made manifest in us. Then, as a result of our absolute confidence in His Word, His life and resurrection power will be released in us through positive thinking and a positive confession.
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