Where did the intel come from? Our very own soldiers. Enemy spies would hang around the ports and listen to the servicemen talk. Quite often, they’d get enough information to relay back to the enemy which ship was going where, when it was leaving, and whether it was carrying troops or weapons. Time and again, the words that were carelessly spoken gave them everything they needed to target the ships and sink them.

Did you know you have an enemy who wants to target you? He wants to hit you at the right place at the right time. He’s hanging around at your port, listening to your words. If you’ve been struggling with the same sickness, disease, financial trouble or relationship woes, the likely culprit behind your current struggles is your very own mouth. Now it’s time to make a change!

Here is a strategy for keeping your intel classified, flipping the switch on the enemy, and using your words to win.

1. Learn the Language of Silence

“If only you could be silent! That’s the wisest thing you could do.” – Job 13:5

If you were a soldier in World War II and had witnessed thousands of your fellow servicemen die due to a breach of classified information, how would you handle the words you spoke? If you knew the reason for the loss of those lives was due to a casual conversation at port about departure times, would you forget to keep quiet, or would it be so important to you that you would intentionally pinch your lips tightly together?

When you see your words as life-threatening or at least life-altering, you’ll be on heightened alert when it comes to releasing them out of your mouth. Until you reach that point in your everyday life, you need to do what Kenneth Copeland told Mylon LeFevre to do years ago when Mylon was new to walking by faith.

Mylon was telling Kenneth all about his troubles, even though he said he was believing God to help him. Kenneth said to him, “Son, you need to learn the language of silence.”

Mylon said that at first, he didn’t know what Kenneth meant, but soon realized that Kenneth was telling him that until he could learn how to speak faith, he needed to keep quiet.

It’s advice Kenneth gives often. Jerry Savelle shares about what Kenneth said to him when he was first learning to walk by faith.

“Before God transformed my life, I was the biggest quitter you ever met. Nothing was working in my life. My wife, Carolyn, and I were in debt, discouraged, and our marriage was barely hanging on. I was new to the Word of God and was struggling to walk by faith. So, I asked Kenneth Copeland why things weren’t working in my life, and he said, ‘Jerry, your problem is your big mouth. You need to learn the vocabulary of silence.’ And then he said, ‘If you can’t talk the Word, then shut up.’ That’s not what I wanted to hear, but he was right! Once I learned how to “bridle my tongue” (James 3:1-9), things began to change in my life!”

You may already know about the importance of your words, but are you walking in the light you have? Until you become fluent in faith, learn the language of silence and ask God to help you the way Psalm 141:3 puts it: “Set a guard over my mouth, Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips” (NIV).

2. Give Your Words a Makeover

“He who guards his lips guards his life, but he who speaks rashly will come to ruin.” – Proverbs 13:3 (NIV-84)

If you’ve been struggling in any area of your life for what seems like eons, you may have fallen into a habit of speaking negatively about your situation without even knowing it. Does any of this sound familiar?

• A thousand dollars here, a thousand there. It never ends!
• I knew I wouldn’t get that raise anyway.
• Bills, bills, bills! That’s all that ever comes in the mail.
• All the men in my family get heart disease, so I knew this was coming.
• It’s flu season! Better stock up on meds.
• My marriage was doomed from the beginning.

If any of that sounds like you, here is the diagnosis of your problem: Your loose lips are sinking your own ship. However, the good news is that the likely cause of your current struggles is totally reversible.

If you’ve ever watched one of those home makeover shows, you know that even in the natural, people can turn a shabby shack into a cozy dream house. Your words (up until today) have built a shabby shack of a life in your finances, health or relationships. Now, it’s time for a dramatic makeover with cable TV-worthy results.

To do this, you need to start tuning in to what you’re saying. With every word you speak, ask yourself, “Are my toes dangling over the line of doubt and unbelief?” If the answer is yes, rein what you’re saying back in. Repent. Then, replace your wrong word choices with faith-filled ones. Try this mini list to get you started:

Say This: “My God supplies all my needs according to His riches in glory.”

Not This: “I never have enough money.”

Say This: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I believe I’m being promoted and increased every day.”

Not This: “No one ever wants to hire me.  I’ll probably never get a raise.”

Say This: “By the stripes of Jesus, I am healed from the top of my head to the soles of my feet. I am healed!”

Not This: “I have diabetes. I have to be on medication for life. All my relatives had it and now I do.”

Say This: “I claim healing in my marriage in the Name of Jesus! I have a happy, healthy relationship with my spouse. Together, we will serve the Lord.”

Not This:  “I’m unhappy in my marriage. I’d be better off on my own.”

Watching every word might feel like a full-time job. But did the Bible tell us to do this? Yes. It’s time to start acting like every word we speak matters because it does! Every word.

James 1:26 (NKJV) says, “If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is worthless.” In other words, his faith is worthless if he can’t even control his own mouth.

Stop sinking your own ship with your words and give yourself an extreme word makeover.

3. Listen to Faith Speak Until You Get It Right

“Faith comes by hearing…the Word of God.” – Romans 10:17 (NKJV)

The main reason you have to give your words a makeover is that you’ve spent so much time listening to wrong word choices. Television, music, friends, family – they are an endless thesaurus of negative word choices that have logged neatly in the Rolodex™ of your mind.

Now it’s time to flip the switch.

In the marketing profession, it is quite common to keep what is called a “Swipe File.” Whenever a marketer hears, reads or watches an advertisement that has a word choice or phrasing that catches their attention, they will “swipe” the idea and keep it on file. While they cannot copy it verbatim, they end up with a log of ideas that will inspire them in some way down the line.

You can create a faith speak “swipe file” of your own. As you listen to powerful faith teachers like Kenneth Copeland, Keith Moore, Bill Winston, Kenneth Hagin or Norvel Hayes, for example, whenever they share a declaration or confession with you, swipe it! Write it down in a journal and start collecting ammo to use against your enemy. It will boost your confidence and help you become fluent in faith.

Keep listening to faith teachers. Get into total immersion with the Word of God. Listen to faith speak until you get it right. Before you know it, people will be swiping declarations from you!

4. Practice, Practice, Practice

“When I was a child, I spoke as a child…but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” – 1 Corinthians 13:11 (NKJV)

We know “faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God” (Romans 10:17, NKJV), and that includes hearing faith that comes out of your own mouth! The Word of God is only as real to you as what you speak. Keith Moore says, “If you don’t believe it enough to say it boldly, then you don’t believe it enough.”

That’s why it’s important to practice, practice, practice! The more you practice speaking faith, the better you’ll become. It will become so natural you won’t even notice anymore. You won’t have to work so hard to watch your words when you get into a new habit of speaking faith.

The verse referenced above, 1 Corinthians 13:11, says, “When I was a child, I spoke as a child.” How does a child speak? They say whatever comes to mind without thinking about it. Of course, it can sound foolish, but we give them grace because they are only children.

If you’re a mature believer, it’s time to stop talking like a child and speaking whatever comes into your mind. You don’t need to “vent,” and you don’t need to tell people, “I’m just sayin’.” Let’s get this straight: You’re never “just sayin’” – your words count! People will say to you, “Let it all out,” but you don’t need to do that – instead, don’t ever let it in!

The enemy is just waiting for one slip-up – one word – to give him an all-access pass to your life. Don’t give it to him!

Practice, practice, practice thinking before you speak; and make every word count. When you say something, you should intend for your words to go and accomplish what you desire. Expect that they are going to come back having accomplished what you sent them to do.

Renew your mind, speak the Word of God, and keep practicing until you’re a pro. Then practice some more.

5. Find a Faith Buddy to Hold You Accountable

“Iron sharpens iron.”  – Proverbs 27:17

Do you really want to get this right? Do something uncomfortable and find a faith buddy to hold you accountable. No one likes to be told when they aren’t speaking right. But as they say, no pain, no gain. It’s time to get those flabby faith muscles in shape!

If you know someone who is particularly good at holding their tongue from gossip and negativity, ask that person to be your faith buddy and hold you accountable. Give them permission to call it out on the spot. They could well be your life preserver while you’re repairing your sinking ship.

This is an excellent opportunity to develop a teachable spirit. If you like to figure things out on your own all the time, you aren’t in God’s will. He created the Body of Christ to work together, encourage one another, and spur each other on to victory.

As you receive this encouragement from a brother or sister in Christ, you’ll become equipped to do the same for someone else down the road.

If you’ve been sinking your own ship with your words, you can take these strategies and make a big change. You have the power and authority through Christ Jesus to frame your whole life – finances, health, relationships and all – with your WORDS. Stop blowing holes in your own ship, and start heading for the Port of Victory!

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