The Secret Life Of Words – Part 6

July 10, 2022

Lesson From the Fig Tree

Mark 11:23-24 (ESV)

The fig tree lesson is about saying and praying.

Resist the devil. Come to God for everything else.

We need faith when we say. We need faith when we pray.

A faith person receives twice: first in the heart and then in the material world.
Faith requires you to believe you have it before you have it.
The faith walk not only requires that we address our beliefs, but also that we address our doubts.
Doubt can mitigate the effects of faith.
This is another reason why what you say is so important.
Doubt must be addressed with words.

More About Saying. . .

It addresses two things God will not do for you:

More About Praying. . .

It’s a two-way street:

What’s the Catch?

If Jesus’ lessons on faith are true, why aren’t people using them all the time to get results?

While Jesus often experienced immediate results, He never promised the same for us.
Jesus’ comments about praying in faith do not promise immediate or miraculous results.
All supernatural acts aren’t miracles.
The scientific community and popular culture have a broad definition of what a miracle is. The word is in such common use, that we use it as hyperbole for common things.
The biblical category of miracles is much more narrow.
A miracle is “a supernatural intervention into the ordinary course of nature through the power of the Holy Spirit whereby the laws of nature are suspended or altered”–Bayless Conley (The Holy Spirit And His Power Gifts | Pastor Bayless Conley | Cottonwood Churchhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Nzjb1Ke2dY)

Measuring Your Faith

Because what we trust God for often takes time, faith is more about persistence than size.

Luke 17:1–6 (ESV)
Luke 11:9–10 (ESV)
Luke 11:9–10 (AMP) – ⁹“So I say to you, ask and keep on asking, and it will be given to you; seek and keep on seeking, and you will find; knock and keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. ¹⁰For everyone who ^[^a^]keeps on asking [persistently], receives; and he who keeps on seeking [persistently], finds; and to him who keeps on knocking [persistently], the door will be opened.

Applying Jesus’ Fig Tree Lesson

We need a steady diet of saying, praying and thanking multiple times a day.

A Word on Thanks

Thank God for the answered prayer before the prayer is answered.

If you believe you have received it, give thanks.

Decree and Declare

Job 22:28 (KJV 1900) – ²⁸Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee^:

And the light shall shine upon thy ways.

Esther 1:19–22 (ESV)

Lamentations 3:37-42

Romans 4:17–21 (ESV)

By changing Abram’s name to Abraham, God was inviting Abraham and everyone who knew him to declare what God had decreed.

We are ambassadors

2 Corinthians 5:20 (ESV)

As ambassadors, our words reflect the law, policy, position, and status of our home country.
As ambassadors, our thinking and our speaking should reflect where our citizenship resides. (Philippians 3:20 [ESV] – ²⁰But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ)
Our personal status is always the status of our citizenship, not our residence.

Healing Testimonies and Sermons That Describe How These Principles Are Applied