We live in a world of broken promises. It has become commonplace to hear someone make a promise they either can’t keep or have no intention of honoring. The ability and willingness to follow through on what they say indicates their character and ethics, and signals whether others can trust and believe them. God is not only willing, but able, to follow through on His promises.

The vows God made are trustworthy and rock-solid concerning the believer. Uttering them in faith unleashes power to move mountains. Our words are spiritual containers carrying either faith or fear. We must be careful to avoid the world’s “What you don’t know can’t hurt you” mindset, because not knowing any better and confessing the wrong thing can defeat us in life. “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge…” (Hosea 4:6).

What we believe impacts what we say. Studying and meditating on the Word until we have complete faith in it makes us righteous in God’s eyes. Righteousness has a voice—it actually speaks. “But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way… But what does it say? ‘The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart’ (that is, the word of faith which we preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:6, 8-10, NKJV). Letting what God declares guide what we declare puts us in a strong position.

The real power of confession is seen when we say what we believe. It’s the result of the Word being deposited in our hearts, meditating on it, and finding rest from it. “We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak” (2 Corinthians 4:13). When we’re full of the Word, it will come out of our mouths. Conversely, when we’re full of fear, we speak fear-based words.   

We’ve been given the authority to declare God’s Word and bring about change. We therefore must be careful what we say so as to bring about positive, not negative, change. “Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways” (Job 22:28). The ability to get results is in our possession when we understand the power of our words; we simply need to be sure to decree the right thing. Our confessions bring things that don’t even exist to a place where they’re established in our lives, for either good or bad.

For our words to bring about the desired effect, what we say must match up with what God says. Most people say what they have and wonder why nothing happens in their lives. By comparison, the believer has the authority to have what he says by opening his mouth and speaking it. If we’re encountering static from the enemy, we can change the situation through our confessions. “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy” (Psalm 107:2).

We have the power to make things happen by opening our mouths and speaking in faith. We didn’t earn this power and we don’t deserve it; we receive it by God’s grace. Basing the promise we make to others, and to ourselves, on His promises brings supernatural success.