I was in the car this summer with my sister in law. Wanting some feedback, I asked if there were any themes or topics she’d like to hear about on the podcast. After some thought, she said, “You know… there is something you and I have talked about a lot that I feel like other people need to hear, too. Especially parents”. “What?” I asked. “Speaking words of life over your kids”. She said. I nodded as I knew it was a topic we really did talk about a lot. The power of words.

There are probably a lot of books out there on the subject. None of which I’ve claimed to read. But I do know something about it. A few years ago, we went through a phase (as I’m sure most kids do). Every time we corrected our oldest or asked him not to do something, he would go straight to the most negative thought. He would say “I’m bad!” or “I’m mean!”. No amount of saying “No, buddy, you are a good boy!” seemed to be working. After some research and a few parenting articles I discovered this is called “negative self talk”. Essentially, it was his little inner critic coming out…He was four years old and yet here I was reading about an inner critic that was already surfacing!

I scoured the internet and tried everything I could think of to change this behavior. One day, I came across an article that described negative self talk in a way that just made sense. Not just logically, but Biblically. See, it is SO important for me to teach and live in a way that aligns with what the Bible tells us.

The first step, the article said, was to help him identify that the thought was just a thought and that it was not true. It was, essentially, a lie. So, every time Asher would say something along the lines of, “I’m not good”, I would ask him to stop and think if that was true? Every time, he would say….”no…it’s not”. The next step was to do something with those negative thoughts..something that should elicit a giggle to “get rid of the lie”. So, we decided we would flush those lies down the potty with all the other stinky stuff! Wouldn’t you know, after a few weeks of asking over and over… “Buddy, is that true? Do mommy and daddy think that of you? Does God think that of you?” we slowly stopped hearing that little self critic come out.

Isn’t that just like God? To teach you to do the very thing you’re asking your child to do? During these weeks, I felt God ask me…”Are you identifying your own negative thoughts? Don’t you know the enemy is a liar? Is that how I see you, my child? Is that what My word says about who you are?”. Whew… I could cry some days thinking about how good God is to remind us of things He knows we need!

Now that God had my attention on the subject, I felt like there was much more to understand about words and the power they hold…. When Jesus gave us the Lord’s prayer in Matthew 6, it was meant as an example because his disciples asked Him the way they should pray.. one of the lines in it says “May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.”

Did you know that means you play a part in Gods work when you pray? When you speak aloud God’s promises here on earth as they are in heaven? Because that’s exactly what you’re doing. To speak life…Truth from God, you are partnering with Him to bring heaven to earth. You are coming into agreement with Him and releasing it to earth. Isaiah 55:10-11 says: “The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry. It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.”

Whether or not we have enough faith to believe the things we say.. just remember, if God said them to us and about us, then so it is. Believe it. But more than that, speak it. Speak words of life over your home, your children, your family, your marriage. Throw away the lies. Replace them with truths. And watch your life change