Many people are missing out on the blessings of God because of their confessions. They have the mistaken idea that confession only involves the confessing of sins. It does include confessing our sin, but it also includes speaking out of our mouths what the word of God says about us.
Many don't understand what it means to confess God's word. God spoke, or confessed, and things came into being. God designed us in His image and wants us to operate the same way. He wants us to confess what He said about us in the word of God.
When you confess the word of God you are making a demand on the provisions God has made for us as His children. 2 Peter 1:3-4 tells us, "According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature....."
Many Christians have heard about confessing God's word in order to receive His promises but won't do it because they don't see those things happening in their lives. God never said we should only confess it if it is happening in your life. He said confess it and you would have it!
"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." (Heb 11:1) Faith is the substance of what is hoped for. What is hoped for is that the promises of God would be manifest as a reality in our lives.
We know that faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things that are not seen. So if you are seeing in your life what God has promised, why would you be hoping for it? We use our hope to draw us to the word of God for an answer, and it is our faith that brings God's promise from the spiritual realm into the natural realm.
We must learn to confess that what God's word says about us is so even though in the natural it isn't happening. God said He would supply all of our needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19) Based on that scripture, I started to believe God that I would be debt free. I had student loans and credit card debts for car repairs. When I started confessing I was debt free and that God was supplying my need in the natural I was still in debt. Yet from that point on I was able to pay all of my monthly bills and have money left over. Over the course of about three years, I was out of debt. I went from about $8,000 in debt to money in the bank. Several times during those three years people would bless me with checks, for rather significant sums. Those allowed me to pay off the debts faster. When I started confessing I was debt free I wasn't, but what I confessed came to pass in my life. I was finally debt free!
When I have prayed for people to receive healing, I have told them to confess that "by Jesus stripes they are healed" (Isaiah 53:5). Many times they said, "I can't say that it. It would be lying."
No it isn't! It's a promise God said was for you and if you keep confessing it you will see it come to pass in your life.
Think on this. God doesn't see you the way you are but rather the way the word of God will make you as you act on it. Sounds to me like God uses faith when He sees us the way the word will make us! God calls those things that are not as though they were. (See Romans 4:17)
"For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect? God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged." (Romans 3:3-4) According to this, whether you believe it or not, God's word is true. (See John 17:17 & Psalm 119:160) He doesn't need you and me to justify it. His word is true all by itself.
There is a verse that says with the heart man believes. Faith has to be in our hearts or spirits and not in our heads. So how do we get faith into our hearts? Romans 10:8 gives us the answer. "But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach...." We must take the word of God and speak it out with our mouths. As we do, Romans 10:17 comes into play. "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Another witness for this is found in Isaiah 57:19. It says, "I create the fruit of the lips; Peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near, saith the LORD; and I will heal him." He creates the fruit of our lips. What have you been confessing: God’s promises for you or the bad things that are happening in your life? `According to Proverbs, life and death are in the power of our tongues.
Joshua 1:8 says, "This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success." Charles Capps pointed out in his recent Concepts of Faith magazine that “Joshua was to keep God's word in his mouth so that he would observe to do all that was written therein. In other words, speak it and meditate on it until you can see yourself doing it.”
I mentioned earlier that some people won't confess what the word says about them because it isn't happening in their lives. They feel if they confessed the word it would be lying. Yet James 3:14 tells us, "...and lie not against the truth." We are not to lie against the truth. When you refuse to confess God's word (the truth) because it isn't so in your life, you are lying against the truth. God said it was so because He wants you to have it. He didn't say it was so because it looked like it was happening in your life.
Paul wrote that out of the mouth of two or three witnesses every word was established. (See 2 Corinthians 13:1) If you can find in the Bible in two or three places where God has promised you what you are needing from Him then you have a right to ask for and receive it. (Note: when you find scriptures you must make sure that the verse is talking about what you are needing (i.e. healing). You must also make sure that the context in which you found the promise is also talking about it as well.)
Concerning the confessing of the word the first witness is God. He said what the promises were that He wants us to have. When you confess that promise from the word, you are the second witness. According to the word, then that promise is established. It will come to pass as long as you don't give up. Confession is a part of the process Abraham went through calling those things that are not as though they were.
This is not to be confused with mind over matter. Mind over matter says if you believe something is so then it is. Mind over matter deals strictly with the power of the mind and nothing else. You can think you’re invincible but a bus can still run you over. What God has us do isn't mind over matter, but spiritual truth over matter. What you confess from the word is spirit and truth. In one place, Jesus said the word was truth, and in another He said that it was spirit.
All the promises of God are for us, but we must make the scriptures valid in our lives by speaking out what God's word says. Speak it out even if it feels like it isn't true in your life. Take the shield of faith and quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.
(See Ephesians 6:16) If we as children of God fail to act on the word because it isn't true in our situation, then we take the shield of doubt and quench the blessings of God.
I hope this article has given you some food for thought about the importance of your confessions. I hope that you will feel inspired to confess what the word of God says about you regardless of what the situation looks like. Don't lie against the truth of God's word and pick up the shield of doubt. Instead pick up the shield of faith and start calling those things that are not as though they were.
If you want to learn more about the importance of your confessions I recommend the following books by Charles Capps: The Tongue A Creative Force , Faith and Confessions, and God's Creative Power Will Work for You.