Pronouncements are against God’s design for us. We need to ask Him to forgive us, and then renounce them. 2 Corinthians 4:2 says, “But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.”

Hebrews 4:13 Amplified says, “And not a  creature exists that is concealed from His sight, but all things are open and exposed, naked and defenseless to the eyes of Him with Whom we have to do.” Hallelujah! That means that He knows what our pronouncements are ~ those we have spoken and those that were spoken over us. 

Pronouncements defeat, they keep us in bondage, they block healing: emotionally, spiritually, or physically. They produce fear of succeeding, or finishing things we started out doing. They sap life because they are death words that destroy our inner strength, and keep us on a treadmill of futility.

Here is a paraphrase from a paragraph in my first book, “Freedom! From Past Hurts.” What we speak affects us and the one we are speaking to. Our words release something in the spirit realm. 

Paul spoke words over Elymas that had an immediate effect. Acts 13:9 says that he was filled with the Holy Spirit, and looked intently on him. Verse 11 says, “And now, indeed, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you shall be blind, not seeing the sun for a time. And immediately a dark mist fell on him, and he went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand.”

Have you ever said, “You stupid fool” or “I can’t do anything right” or said those words over someone else? Those words have the power to build inner strongholds that bind our lives and hold us captive. Berating can become a habit that defeats. We have no right to condemn ourselves because the Lord doesn’t. Romans 8:33-34. 

Our inner strength comes from our relationship with the Lord. Ephesians 3:16 Amplified says, “May He grant you out of the rich treasury of His glory to be strengthened and reinforced with mighty power in the inner man by the (Holy) Spirit (Himself indwelling your innermost being and personality).”

Think of inner strength like spiritual rebar. I drive by a construction site for our new jail facility. There is rebar sticking out all over to fortify and reinforce this all brick building. However, there is something that defeats inner strength ~ negative pronouncements.

In court they pronounce a sentence on someone. We pronounce a sentence upon ourselves when we say, “I can’t…” I am…with a negative word, or we place a critical judgment on ourselves, others, or our circumstances. 

Remember Proverbs 18:21. It says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” Listen to what you are negatively speaking over yourself.

When we understand that God has a preplanned purpose for our lives, we will not allow other things to distract us. Jesus finished His earthly purpose when He died on the cross for us. John 17:4 says, “I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given me to do.” Isaiah 43:7 says that we are created for His glory.

I love Job 42:2. It says that nothing can thwart God’s purpose. Ephesians 1:11 says that He works all things in our lives according to His purpose for us. When He formed us in the womb., He knew everything that we would ever do, not do, what would distract us, and how we would finish our course.

Paul finished his course. Do you love and look forward to His appearing as Paul did? He wrote about the fruit of that fixation on Jesus so we can all finish well ~ the crown of righteousness. 2 Timothy 4:8.

Years ago I was called to the ER. They had care flighted my friend from Lake Tahoe to Reno. Her heart had stopped en route. As I walked into her room, there were many machines beeping as they were working on her. 

Her eyes were open and fixed. The Holy Spirit spoke to me, “This is what I mean to fix your eyes on Jesus.” Nothing they were doing affected change in any way. Jesus is our example. Luke 9:51 says, “…He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem.” Even though He knew that He was going to be crucified, nothing deterred Him from His purpose.

John 4:34 says, “Jesus said to them, My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.” John 13 is the account of Judas Iscariot’s betrayal. Verse 3 says, “Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God.”

Think of a magnifying glass. Allowing the sun to shine through the glass onto an object  intensifies the heat. How do I know this? My cousins taught me as they fried earthworms to my protest.

When we focus on the Lord, who is the Sun of Righteousness, the reflection of His character is intensified through our lives. It is when we focus on ourselves instead of Him that our hidden flesh is manifested.

Centering our focus on the Lord brings inner stability and strength to endure. Hebrews 10:36 says that when we endure our trials, then we are doing the will of God. His desire is for fulfillment and completion of His will and purpose in our lives.

Our flesh hates endurance, and looks for ways to distract us so we lose focus. Humpomone is the Greek word for endurance. Note in my Bible. “…capacity to continue to bear up under difficult circumstances, not with passive complacency, but with a hopeful fortitude that actively resists weariness and defeat.”

The moment we act independent of the Lord, we have lost our sensitivity to His nearness. We cease to hear His still small voice, checking our spirit to warn us, but also to encourage us. John 15:5 should be a verse that is etched in the walls of our heart.

I had a hidden leak in my old mobile. It took me a while to realize it was there, until a wet spot appeared. After the flooring man took up the vinyl planks, the subfloor was laid bare to dry out. 

I wrote strategic verses all over the floor. I wanted to stand on them. It was a prophetic statement to me to always be standing on His word. We also do that through memorizing and meditating. That causes His word to be implanted or etched on the walls of our heart. That is another way the Holy Spirit checks our thoughts ~ He brings that word into our mind to stop us in our tracks before we sin.

Do you ever allow your thoughts to just wander without purpose or intention? We might call it day dreaming, or not being present in the moment. Since the Lord is Always Present, He is our center. Every breath we take, we are breathing in His Presence.

Since He is Present, He fills our space in time. Jeremiah 23:23-24 says, “Am I a God near at hand, says the Lord, and not a God afar off? Can anyone hide himself in secret places, so I shall not see him? says the Lord; do I not fill heaven and earth? says the Lord.”

Knowing that the Lord is Present with me is so comforting and assuring. I know that I am never alone ~ ever. It also means that since He knows my thoughts before I think them, I can trust Him to stop me in my thought process. I don’t have to rely on myself. That truth took me years to put into practice.

How does being thankful in the midst of chaos bring glory to the Lord? For one, we are acknowledging that He is Present. We are created to praise Him. Isaiah 43:7. Another way is that we are offering a sacrifice. Our thankfulness is always to Him. It is a form of worship that pleases Him as a sweet savor.

The writer of Hebrews said that thanksgiving is the fruit of our lips. Now we know that our lips are the vehicle which allows our words to be expressed from. David’s prayer in Psalm 141:3 is a good one for us to adopt. It says, “Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips.”

Genuine thankfulness comes from a heart that is set on the Lord. In Psalm 16:8 David wrote, “I have set the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.” David’s focus kept him centered.

I really appreciate the psalms that David wrote that say “I will” in them. I have been memorizing Hebrews 13:7-21. Verse 15 says, “Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.”

We know from 1 Thessalonians 5:18 that giving thanks in everything is God’s will for us. Yet there are times when we don’t feel thankful. That is where intention needs to come into play. Taking our cue from David, we can say, “I will praise You Lord right now in the midst of this chaos.”

Psalm 34:1 says, “I will praise the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.” This was written when David pretended madness before Abimelech. 1 Samuel 21:10-15. 

I love to use Psalm 139:14 in my worship declarations. It says, “I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made…”