(Pastor Chen)
In the previous lesson, we cleared up some of the misunderstandings surrounding the subject of confession. Confession is not just a gimmick or means to manipulate God into performing what we want. But rather, it is a principle that God prescribes for us to activate His promises. The most important thing to remember is, confession does not change God, but it changes us and brings us into a position to receive from Him. God is not holding back anything from us. James 1:17 tells us, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning." When it comes to His promises, God does not waver. The problem is not with God; the problem is with our unbelief and us.
Jesus stated in Mark 11:23-24, "For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will come to pass, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them." We can see from the lips of Jesus that there are three things that must take place for us to receive from God. First, there must not be any doubt in our hearts. Second, we must say with our mouth. This can also be in the form of prayer as we see in verse 24. Third, we must believe in our heart what we say or pray will come to pass. We must of course, qualify this with I John 5:14-15. Whatever we say or pray must be in line with the will of God.
One of the biggest challenges of faith is getting rid of doubts and unbelief in us. This is where the role of confession of God's Word comes in. Confessing the Word of God out loud will renew our mind and establish our heart. Hearing what we say out loud will help us to form our belief. The more we say something, the more we will believe in it. We can actually come to a place where we are fully persuaded by what comes out of our mouth. One of the things that I heard a lot from the inmates that I ministered to in prison is, "I am innocent," or "it is not my fault." Every one of them sounded very convincing in their stories. The reason why they sounded so convincing is because they actually believe them. This comes as they tell their fabricated stories over and over again until they are actually convinced that their stories are true. What we continue to say, we will eventually believe. We can use the same principle with the Word of God. In fact, this is what we are told to do in the Word of God. Psalms 1:2 tells us to meditate on the Word of God day and night. The word "meditate" in Hebrew carries the connotation of saying something over and over again to oneself.
Proverbs 3:3 tells us to write mercy and truth on the tablet of our heart. The psalmist in Psalm 45:1 tells us how, "My tongue is the pen of a ready writer." Our tongue is the pen that writes into our heart. What we continue to say builds an image into our heart. The more we speak out loud the Word of God, the more it will register in our heart, and the more it will become real to us. We know that the Holy Spirit is what makes the Word of God a reality. But we need to realize that the Holy Spirit can only work as we believe and not doubt. This is why we need to confess the Word of God, because it drives away all doubts in our heart. Romans 10:17 tells us, "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Confessing the Word of God out loud not only eliminates doubts in our heart, it brings us into a position of faith and expectation. This is exactly how I overcame many of the hurts that I had suffered as a teenager. I simply began to speak what God says about my situation. Using the Word of God, I have overcome rejection, inferiority complex, fear of man, and many others problems in life. What God says in His Word became a reality in my life. It can be the same for anyone who will put into practice the same principle, for God is no respecter of persons.