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Speak To It from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo.

There is hidden power in the words you speak, but how? The Apostle Paul tells us that the Word of God is our offensive weapon: The Sword of the Spirit. We combine that with a defensive weapon called the Shield of Faith.

(Ephesians 6:16–17 NKJV)  above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;

So we have the Shield of Faith in one hand and the Sword of the Spirit in the other. Those are our weapons, offensive and defensive. We know that faith is believing without seeing or simply choosing to believe in something enough that we will take action on it, like the woman who touched the hem of Jesus' garment. She believed enough to reach out and touch Him as He passed by, and He told her, "Daughter, Your faith has made you well" (Mark 5:34).  

(Hebrews 11:1 NKJV)  Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

The shield is a defensive weapon, and when you use the Shield of Faith by believing God and His Word, it blocks the attacks of the enemy. 

The Roman shield that Paul spoke of here was large, about four feet high, and two and a half feet wide, much like a door. It was two layers of laminated wood, covered in linen, faced with leather, and edged in iron. 

You could put your entire body behind the shield, and it would absorb the arrows and javelins coming in. Soldiers could lock shields and advance together in formation. The enemies' flaming arrows were snuffed out on the leather covering that protected the wood interior. In large battles, these great shields would be bristling with smoking arrows like a porcupine. So, we use the Shield of Faith by believing God and His Word enough to take action on it. 

The Sword of the Spirit is an offensive weapon, a double-edged shortsword. Certainly a highly effective weapon, but how do we use it? The Shield of Faith we covered above is for defending our position, but how do we go on the offensive and advance? How do we make the enemy retreat? Let's look at Jesus:

(Revelation 1:16–17 NKJV)  He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last.

The Apostle John said He saw Jesus with a sharp two-edged sword coming out of his mouth. The sword is the Word of God, but why was the sword in His mouth and not His hand? Because it is the spoken word. Think of Jesus when He fasted forty days in the wilderness. When the enemy tried to bait Him, Jesus spoke the Word of God to him:

(Luke 4:3–4 NKJV)  And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” But Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’ ”

(Luke 4:7–8 NKJV)  Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.” And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ”

Consider the very words "Sword of the Spirit." Sword means a weapon with a long metal blade, but Spirit means pneuma, air, or breath. Pneuma is where we get the English word Pneumatic for air-powered tools. So we have an air-powered Spirit Sword. 

(2 Timothy 3:16–17 ESV)  All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

How does that work in life? Let's look at what David did when he confronted the giant Goliath everyone else was terrified of:

(1 Samuel 17:44–46 NKJV)  And the Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!” Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel."

David prophesied his future and then stepped out to make it happen. I could cover many other scriptures, like when Joshua commanded the sun to stand still in the sky, or Ezekiel prophesied to dry bones, or Elisha purified water, or when Jesus calmed a great storm by saying, "Peace. Be still."

We need to shake off the anti-supernatural, flat-sided, boring theology that has settled over much of the church. It is embarrassing. We have had Christian magazines ask us to share our story of how I became a pastor, and after I tell them about the prophecies, open visions, Rhema words, and supernatural events that led up to that day, they become silent. Then, present us with a spiritually gutted, powerless, colorless, bland, watered-down testimony that is supposed to be mine and nauseating for me to read. The carnal mind cannot comprehend the things of the Spirit:

(2 Timothy 3:5 NKJV)  having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!

Our struggle is not against flesh and blood - or each other, as some would have you believe. Your enemy is not a person, but spiritual powers behind the scenes, manipulating them like a string puppet. Our true warfare occurs in the unseen spirit realm:

(Ephesians 6:12 NKJV)  For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

There is incredible power released when you speak the "Rhema" word of God into your environment. Rhema means the spoken Word of God, what is given to you at that moment. Consider this verse:

(Matthew 10:19–20 NKJV) ... For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.

For example, after one of the Lord's "promotions," I found myself working in a spiritually dark place housed in a rundown hundred-year-old building. It was a string of supernatural events that led me there. One was that I had been praying that wherever He put me, I wanted to be able to listen to the Bible all day. So when I went in for an interview, the manager told me: "Are you ready to start? Bring something to listen to because it can be pretty boring." Then the Holy Spirit whispered, "This is what you asked Me for." I should have been more specific, but I just said, "Yep."

At the time, I was working my way through Bible College at night, so listening to the Bible with headphones all day really helped. I fasted as much as I ate, and I got to pray in the Spirit all day while polishing brass plumbing parts at a buffing machine. The machine was so loud that no one could hear you anyway.

Death metal roared around me, and people did drugs openly and shared them with the manager. I was a fish out of water, or more like a fish thrown in a barrel of tar, but it was right where the Lord wanted me during that season. 

At my last job, I was a supervisor over a crew. Here, I worked for one-third of the pay, stood at a machine all day, and went home green from the brass dust and black from the buffing compounds. At the end of the day, I looked like a coal miner. 

(Colossians 3:23–24 NKJV)  And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.

I took this verse to heart and decided that if it was the Lord's will for me to be there, I would make Him proud. I turned that job into a game where I became the best employee they had ever seen. I arrived early, kept my work area swept clean and organized, and soon was turning out more parts than anyone there. I was working directly for the Lord.

I got into survival mode. I prayed, fasted, listened to the Word, and tried to memorize chapters of the Bible. I had nothing in common with the people there. The breakroom was full of profanity and tales of their exploits last night, so I ate lunch in my car alone. I spoke to no one. I didn't want to know them any better than I already did. 

One morning, the guy working beside me brought in a boom box at least three feet wide. At 5 AM, he was blasting this satanic death metal so loud that my shirt was moving to the bass, and my teeth hurt. Now, I played bass guitar in classic rock bands for twenty years, so when I tell you this was loud music, you can believe it. 

I turned my audio bible up in my headphones as loud as it would go, but I couldn't even hear it anymore over the guy's music. Then suddenly, something began to rise within me - words. I knew it was the Holy Spirit, an utterance, so I stopped working and spoke them out loud: 

"I claim this place in the name of Jesus Christ and declare it Holy Ground! satan, if you have anyone here you want to keep, then you better get them out of here right now, for this place is coming to the Lord!" 

Then I went back to work and thought no more of it. At the morning break, the guy beside me suddenly unplugged his radio and gathered his stuff, and I never saw him again. A mini-revival broke out around me, and people became hungry for Jesus. They began to borrow my Bible CDs, and then we finally just started playing the Bible over the intercom. The centerfolds came down, and people taped scriptures on their machines. When I went to church, I filled my entire row with guests. We gathered in a circle and prayed before we started to work. I could finally eat in the lunchroom.

A few others left, mainly everyone above me in the company, so I became the manager. The Lord changed my workplace and it began the day that I spoke those words. Here is a word for the church today:

"That that in the mud which seems to get stuck, I will let you speak to it. You're not out of luck!"

You can pray this with me if you like: 

Prayer: Heavenly Father, please make what is important to You important to me. I want to see the world through Your eyes. Revive my spirit. Revive my spirit. Please revive my spirit! Remove my veil where I can see clearly. Forgive me for ever doubting You. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen!