Monday morning came. The oppression was so heavy that I had to fight through every second after I swung my feet out of bed just to make it through the simple tasks of brushing my teeth, taking a shower, and making breakfast for the kids. Two days prior I had experienced a tremendous spiritual breakthrough for a debilitating problem. I was two days into my newfound freedom. And now – a heavy, nameless fear weighed on me.

“After you get your big victory, you have to defend your victory,” Pastor David Kandole had told us. “If there is an area in your life where the enemy has had a stronghold, especially if it’s a generational issue that he’s had his way with in your family for decades, don’t suppose that he will simply give up and go home once God ministers to you.”

Well, Pastor Kandole was right. But what to do now? The retreat was over. It was back to life. And I was all by myself.

It was easier living with that other problem than this, I thought to myself. At least then, I knew what to expect.  But immediately after thinking this, my mind went to the children of Israel grumbling that they’d been better off in Egypt. I repented.

“What do I do, Lord? How do I overcome this despair and make it through the day?”

“Prophesy,” He told me. “Speak My word over your day.”

So I did. I began to declare God’s word over my day. Out loud, I spoke promises of scripture. I declared passages of Psalms. More than anything, I proclaimed joy and freedom over my day. By mid-morning, the heaviness that hung like a cloak over me was dissolving. By evening, I was totally free of anxiety.

But the next morning, the oppression was right there waiting for me again. God felt far away. Distantly, it seemed, His voice reached me. “Speak. Speak to your day.” So I began prophesying all over again, even though it was a struggle even to get the words out.

And so this went on for a number of weeks. Some mornings, my husband would pray over me and anoint me before he left for work. Gradually, the thick oppression began to clear. After some time, I no longer woke up with the oppression upon me.

“If he can’t trip you up any other way, the devil will just try to steal your joy,” I once heard an Iraqi pastor testify.

Not just “the power of positive thinking”

When we prophesy to ourselves, to the day ahead of us, to someone else, it is not just a case of “the power of positive thinking.” There is active power in the spoken word that transforms these things for good. God’s word in our mouth is a sword. But the only way it can cut through the thorns that seek to entangle us is if we use it.

And, faith comes by hearing. Speaking out loud increases our faith when we hear the word of God in our own mouths. It has a much more poignant effect than simply thinking the same words.

In the good times, too

Agreeing with God’s word over your day is a proactive way to live your life. It is a powerful means to ensure that you obtain all that He has for you. But prophesying over yourself, your day – or your circumstances – isn’t just for the tough times. It’s important to declare God’s word when the sun is shining, too. Here is an example of what that can look like:

“Thank you, Lord, for life. Thank You for this day and for what it cost You to bring me into Your kingdom of marvelous light. Thank You for all the good deeds You’ve prepared for me ahead of time in Christ Jesus. I abide in You and Your word abides in me and I will bear much fruit. Every appointment You have destined for me today will be fulfilled; every person You want me to speak life into I will. I proclaim freedom and the favorable year of the Lord over my life. All the promises of Yours are ‘yes’ and ‘amen’ in Christ. And there is joy, joy, joy in every task ahead of me today! The nearness of God is my good.”

There is no end to the ways you can bless your own life or someone else’s by declaring out loud God’s word over it. As you proclaim general blessings, you will find that He’ll give you other things to speak out – very specific to the needs of the day. Watch and see the difference it makes when you speak God’s word in boldness over your daily life!