The power of positive confession

We had Pastor Theo Wolmarans at our church this weekend, bringing what seems to be a fairly effective healing ministry and some great teaching on matters of faith and positive confession. 'Positive confession' is a bit of Christianese for describing the attitude that no matter what situations life throws at you, you will take a positive attitude towards them and speak positively about the results you expect from them. An example would be speaking confidently of God healing your leg, even though it might currently be crippled. Ps Theo pointed out that the Bible teaches us that faith and speaking go hand in hand, neither has power without the other.

Some people take exception to this, and in the absence of good doctrine you can have all sorts of weird things you might have 'faith' for - but really you can only have faith for what God has promised you, and the Bible is the ultimate record of God's promises. If you can find a good scriptural basis for your faith, and you feel convinced that God will bring something about, then speaking that out aloud (confessing it) is the next step to seeing it come to pass.

Our church's senior pastor, Phil Pringle, teaches on these points regularly, but Ps Theo went through quite a few scriptures and brought out some interesting points about them I had not noticed before.

Luke 17:5-6
The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”
He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you.”

…as small as a mustard seed…
Not many seeds, but one single, small seed - one scrap of scripture, of God’s truth. A single rhema is all that is required.

…you can say…
Faith is put into action by speaking, both need each other, faith without speaking is powerless as is speaking without faith.

Mark 11:22-25
“Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. “I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”

…I tell you the truth…
Jesus is really emphasising this – it must be important! Ps Thoe pointed out that when you come across a lion in the bush, he doesn't need to roar for you to take him seriously, and similarly Jesus didn't need to emphasise his teaching for his disciples, so this is an unusual statement.

…if anyone says …
Believers and unbelievers alike prosper when they match an internal faith with their external confession (or fail, if that is their confession + faith, see Job).

Luke 8:18
“Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken from him.”

…how you listen…
It is important that we listen with the right attitude, carefully and with discernment. It is important that we pay attention to what we are listening to.

Mark 4:24-25
“Consider carefully what you hear,” he continued. “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.”

…what you hear…
It is important that what we allow ourselves to listen to is the right stuff, bad reports and negative thinking will at best hamper our internal faith, and at worst strangle it.

Romans 10:8-10
But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.

…believe and are justified…
Internal faith is part of how we are made right with God.

…confess and are saved…
But it must be accompanied by confession of that faith if we are to be truly saved.

Proverbs 22:17-18 (Amplified Bible)
Listen (consent and submit) to the words of the wise, and apply your mind to my knowledge;
For it will be pleasant if you keep them in your mind [believing them]; your lips will be accustomed to [confessing] them.

…keep them in your mind…
We need to keep reminding ourselves of our mustard seed, our rhema.

…your lips will be accustomed to confessing them…
Reminding ourselves of God’s truth also involves speaking that truth to ourselves and to others.