The Connection Between Saying and Believing

We, having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written. I believed, and therefore I have spoken; we also believe and therefore speak. -2 Corinthians 4:13

I heard a minister say, “Anytime you see a therefore in the Bible, stop and see what it’s there for.” In this verse, Paul uses the word therefore to combine the two parts of faith. “I believed and therefore I have spoken, we also believe and therefore speak.”

If we’re going to believe something, we also have to speak it. Believing alone doesn’t make it come to pass. It has to be combined with saying what God’s Word says.

Jesus said, “If you believe in your heart that what you say will come to pass, you’ll have whatever you say.” (Mark 11:23.) The truth is, we can spend a lot of time feeding on God’s Word, but what we continually say is what we’ll ultimately believe.

When I was growing up, I had a friend who was a chronic liar. He started out lying just to get himself out of trouble, but it eventually became a habit. He’d make up a whopper of a lie about some situation, then six months later, no one could convince him it hadn’t happened that way. He had said the lie so much that he actually believed it.

If that can be done with a lie, we should be able to do the same thing with the truth of God’s Word. When we first start saying, “By Jesus’ stripes I was healed.” It can sound hollow. It’s easy to think, I know the Bible says that by His stripes I was healed, but I feel sick from head to toe. But as we keep saying it and saying it, soon we’ll believe it no matter what we feel like.

How do you come to that place of faith? By feeding on God’s Word and speaking it with your mouth. Once you believe in your heart what God says, you can declare it with the added push of faith behind your words. Then get ready, for your answer will come to pass!

CONFESSION:

God’s Word is truth. As I continually speak His Word and believe it with my heart, His Word becomes truth in me. I believe God’s truth, I declare God’s truth and I receive His very best!

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 The Same Measure of Faith

We, having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written. I believed, and therefore I have spoken; we also believe and therefore speak. -2 Corinthians 4:13

Paul starts out in this Scripture saying, “We having…” I like that. The great apostle Paul was talking to the Church, not just to apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. He was writing to the body of Christ.

Then Paul said, “We having the same spirit of faith…” We have the same spirit of faith that the apostle Paul had. He had a measure of the God-kind of faith, and we have that same measure and the same faith.

God didn’t give Paul a greater dose of faith than He gave us. If He did, He’d be a respecter of persons, because the Bible says, “This is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith (1 John 5:4). If God gave Paul a greater does of faith, Paul would have had a greater ability than we do to overcome the devil’s attacks.

But no, God gave each and every one of us the same exact dose, or measure, of the God-kind of faith. (Rom. 12:3) Now it’s up to us what we do with that measure of faith.

You see, faith is like a muscle. Think back on a time when you physically exerted yourself, such as in yard work or exercise, and you found a muscle you hadn’t used for a while. Maybe it hurt for two or three days, having become weak from lack of use.

If you start using that forgotten muscle every day, it will actually grow in size and strength. However, if you let it lie dormant, then the next time you use it, you’ll have to pump it up and get it working all over again.

So use your faith on a daily basis. Be in faith all the time. As you diligently exercise your faith muscles, your faith will grow strong enough to overcome any obstacle!

CONFESSION:

I exercise my faith by believing God’s promises of healing and divine health. By the power in His Word. I’m free from all sickness and disease. Praise God, it’s good to be well!

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 

“Mutter” the Word

This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous and then you will have good success. -Joshua 1:8

The word meditate means “to read, to study; to think about; to mutter.” We are to keep that Word coming out of our mouths.

It’s ironic when you stop to think about it. The enemy has propagated a theory in this world that people who talk to themselves are going crazy. But we Christians ought to be speaking the Word to ourselves all the time. We ought to be meditating on the Word of God continually—reading it, studying it, thinking about it, “chewing on it” and saying it to ourselves.

For instance, you can use the time when you’re driving in your car to speak the Word aloud to yourself. You can say: “Thank God, He sent His Word and healed me. Jesus had compassion on the multitudes and He healed them all. Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching and preaching and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. By His stripes I am healed!”

The world might think you’re a little strange when they see you muttering to yourself. But that’s okay. You know something they don’t know—you’re on the edge of a  miracle!

CONFESSION:

I keep God’s Word before me and mediate on it day and night. His Word is seed planted in my heart, and it’s working mightily in me to produce a harvest of healing!

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 

 

Be a Doer of the Word

This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous and then you will have good success. -Joshua 1:8

If you want to walk in divine health, as God desires, you are to be a doer of the Word. For one thing, that means meditating on God’s healing promises. As you do, you’ll find His Word getting so big on the inside that you start acting like a healthy person!

God told Joshua the results he could expect for being diligent in His Word. “For then you will make your way prosperous and then you will have good success.” Did you notice that it doesn’t say, “For then God will make your way prosperous”? No, it says, “For you will make your way prosperous.” I’ve also heard it put this way—"Then you will deal wisely in all the affairs of life.”

God has made health and success available in every area of your life. Now He says, “I give you the wisdom and ability to deal wisely in all the affairs of life. But it’s your choice whether or not you become a doer of My Word and actually receive what I’ve given you.”

CONFESSION:

I have planted God’s Word in my heart, and that Word is life to me and health to all my flesh. Because I meditate on God's Word, I deal wisely in all the affairs of my life.

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 

 

Pray the Answer; Not the Problem

And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive. -Matthew 21:22

I was born-again right in the middle of the Charismatic move. I visited a small full gospel church and was filled with the Holy Spirit. I had a lot of enthusiasm and excitement in those days, but I didn’t know a lot about the Bible.

I prayed a lot. In fact, I was constantly praying at the church late at night and early in the morning. The pastor finally gave me my own key to the church! But I didn’t know how to pray. Over and over, I prayed, "Oh, dear God, You see how bad my problems are.” But if anything changed in my situation, it was always for the worse.

I had a plaque hanging in my home that said, “Prayer Changes Things,” but I was saved, filled and defeated. It seemed as if everything was going wrong. After a year and a half of this, I couldn’t decide whether to throw that plaque away or just burn it!

I finally thought, The answer has to be in the Bible someplace. So I started researching the Scriptures. Matthew 21:22 is the verse that got my attention. Jesus said, “And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”

I found the key in the verse that unlocked a door of understanding how to pray in faith. Suddenly I realized I’d been talking to God about the problem instead of the answer. And I sure didn’t want to believe I received my problems—I already had them!

Another key to praying in faith is found in Isaiah 43:26. “Put me in remembrance, let us contend together; State your case, that you may be acquitted” God wants you to remind Him of what He’s already said about your need. So pray God’s answer according to His Word, then believe you receive it by faith. That’s the true prayer of faith!

CONFESSION:

Father, I put You in remembrance of Your Word. I thank You because You said that by Jesus’ stripes, I was healed. I know You’re faithful to make Your Word true in my life, so I believe I receive my healing.

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 

 

Choose To Believe God’s Word

How then shall they call on Him to whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. -Romans 10:14,17

Believing is a result of hearing. Once you hear the Word, you have the ability and the capacity to believe it, but you still have to choose what you will believe. I’ve seen people hear and hear and hear the Word. But then when the pressure was on, they believed their symptoms instead of what God says.

In John 20, the resurrected Jesus had already appeared to His disciples at a time when one disciple, Thomas, wasn’t present. Before His death, Jesus had told His disciples over and over again that He would be raised from the dead. After He appeared to the other disciples, they all told Thomas, “We’ve seen the Lord!”

So Thomas had the capacity to believe in Jesus’ resurrection because he’d already heard about it from Jesus and the other disciples. But Thomas made his choice. He said, “Except I shall see in his hand the print of the nails and put my finger in the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into His side, I will not believe.” (John 20:25).

Thomas wasn’t alone in his unbelief. That’s often where we get in trouble as well. We hear the Word, but then choose to believe the natural circumstances. As a result, we don’t receive the blessings God wants to give us.

Don’t make that mistake. As soon as you hear the Word, just make the quality decision to believe what you hear. That’s how you keep God’s blessings flowing into your life!

CONFESSION:

Faith comes by hearing the Word of God. I hear the Word, so I have the capacity to believe it, even when I face adverse circumstances or painful symptoms. I choose to believe the Bible and walk in the fullness of His blessings!

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 

Speaking the Word Works!

The tongue of the wise is health. -Proverbs 12:18

When I was a youth minister at a church in Colorado, we held a youth camp in the mountains a couple of times a year. One morning at the camp, I led a group of teenagers on a hike to the top of a small, nearby mountain. We ate lunch and had a little Bible study before we started back down.

On the way down, one of the girls stepped on a rock in a way that caused her ankle to roll and made her foot turn sideways. When I reached her, her ankle was already swollen. I didn’t know whether she’d broken her foot or sprained it, but she couldn’t stand on it.

We prayed for the girl, and some of her pain was relieved. Then another man and I began to take turns carrying her piggyback down the mountain. It wasn’t easy. I was having enough difficulty walking down the hill by myself, much less carrying someone else!

As I carried the girl down the mountain, I started talking to her about the power of the tongue. I told her, “The Bible says, ‘The tongue of the wise is health.’ Also, Jesus said that if we say to our mountains, ‘Be removed and cast into the sea, and don’t doubt in our hearts, but believe that what we say shall come to pass, we will have whatever we say.' But we have to say it.” (Mark 11:23)

So this girl and I started confessing. “Thank God, it’s so good to be healed!” We praised and worshipped God together as I carried her down the mountain.

About a third of the way down, the girl said, “Put me down. Just help me walk a few minutes.” The other man and I supported her between us as she hobbled on that foot for a few minutes. The whole time she kept saying, “Thank God, I believe I’m well. It’s so good to be healed.” Pretty soon, she pushed one of us away, then she started walking on her own.

It looked as if her foot was hurting. But the more she walked, the better it got. By the time she got to the bottom of the hill, she said, “See you later!” and ran all the way to the bus. The Word works!

CONFESSION:

In times of pressure, I speak God’s Word and the circumstances have to change. Thank You, Father for the power in Your Word to heal my body and make me whole!

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 

 Keep Your Soul From Trouble

Whoever guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from troubles. -Proverbs 21:23

Many people have trouble in the area of the soul, which includes the mind, will and emotions. Some suffer from emotional hurts or from mental torment and are looking for help. But God has provided the answer they need in this Scripture. “Whoever guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from troubles.”

We’ve all dealt with doubts and fears at one time or another. Fear often starts as a thought. As we dwell on that thought, it produces a feeling of fear. And if we continue to dwell on fearful thoughts, our feelings of fear may escalate into panic.

The devil likes to insert those kinds of thoughts in your mind. For instance, he may say, I’m going to kill you. You won’t live out your full life. You’ll contract cancer and die. Most of the time there isn’t even any basis or symptom for what the enemy is saying to your mind. He doesn’t care. He just wants you to dwell on his evil suggestions long enough for fear to take over.

I finally realized that those demonic thoughts come to our minds because the devil isn’t big enough to pull off his schemes on his own. He has to get us to agree with him before he can operate in our lives.

So you have to cast down the enemy’s thoughts as soon as they come. How do you stop his thoughts? Well, you can’t think one thing when you are saying something else. So the minute a fearful thought comes about sickness or death, just start confessing, “Glory to God! He sent His Word and healed me. Thank God, I’m healed. It’s so good to be well!”

What happens to the satanic thoughts? They stop. What happens to the fear? It leaves.

So control your mouth by speaking God’s Word. If you catch those demonic suggestions while they’re still thoughts, they won’t produce fear in you. When you control your words, you can control your thought life, and that will keep your soul from trouble!

CONFESSION:

I don’t allow Satan’s thoughts of fear and doubt to control me. I keep my soul from trouble by speaking God’s Word. I will live a long, healthy life, and God will fulfill the number of my days!

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 

 

The Tongue of the Wise

There is one who speaks like the piercings of a sword, but the tongue of a wise promotes health.                                                                                                                        -Proverbs 12:18

Our words have a lot to do with our own physical healing and health. We have the ability to talk ourselves into all kinds of problems or to speak words of faith, which cause miracles to manifest.

Many times people get sick or don’t receive their healing because they believe and speak according to the natural symptoms. These people may receive temporary relief when they’re prayed for. But if they don’t straighten out what their mouths are saying, they’ll eventually find themselves back in the same unhealthy conditions.

These very same people who have talked themselves into sickness and disease often say, “I don’t know why God put this on me. I don’t know why He allowed this to happen.”

But the Lord didn’t have anything to do with it. You see, faith is a law, and we operate it with our words, either to our benefit or to our destruction. Proverbs 12:18 says, “The tongue of the wise is health.” We could turn that around and say, “The tongue of the unwise is sickness”!

It’s your choice. You can operate the law of faith by hooking up your mouth and heart with your symptoms and what the devil tells you. Or you can operate the same law of faith by lining up your mouth with God’s Word and pointing it toward His blessings. Faith in God works by believing and saying what God says. So speak His words of healing, and receive the healing God has reserved just for you!

CONFESSION:

I speak words of health to my body because the tongue of the wise is health. Disease cannot attach itself to me, because Jesus took my sicknesses and pains; He bore them for me, so I don’t have to. I walk in excellent health.

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 

 

 

Refrain Your Lips From Evil

If you have been foolish in exalting yourself, or if you have devised evil, put your hand on your mouth .                                                                                                                    -Proverbs 30:32

What does it mean to “think evil”? You are thinking evil when you dwell on any kind of thoughts that are contrary to God's Word.

What are you supposed to do if you are guilty of thinking evil? “Put your hand on your mouth.” God is telling you, “If you’ve thought evil, that’s one thing. But don’t verbalize it, or you might get the evil you’ve been thinking! If you’ve done foolishly or thought evil, lay your hand on your mouth.”

Proverbs 10:19 says, “In the multitude of words sin is not lacking, but he who restrains his lips is wise. Sometimes the wisest thing to do is to keep our mouths closed. James 1:19 says, “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.”

So refuse to dwell on evil thoughts of doubt, unbelief, complaint or worry. Don’t let them come out of your mouth. Be slow to speak. Refrain your lips from doubtful and evil speaking. Put your hand on your mouth if you have to! Do whatever you have to do to make sure your words line up with the Word of God!

CONFESSION:

I guard my words and keep them in line with God’s Word. The words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart are acceptable in the sight of God, my strength and my redeemer! (Ps. 19:14)

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 

Our Words Preserve Us

…God who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did.                                                                                                                                         -Romans 4:17

Words are important to God. This Scripture says that God uses words to call those things that are not as though they were. Some people say, “Well, that’s fine for God, but we shouldn’t be doing that.” But the Bible says our words are important as well.

First, look at Proverbs 14:3: “In the mouth of the foolish is a rod of pride: but the lips of the wise shall preserve them.” Notice it doesn’t say the lips of the wise will pickle them, it says their lips will preserve them!

Then in 1 Thessalonians 5:23, Paul told the Thessalonian church how he prayed for them: “I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Paul prayed that we’d be preserved blameless while we walk on this earth. But what preserves us from the enemy who wants to steal, kill and destroy us? Proverbs 14:3 gives us the answer: “the lips of the wise.”

As our own mouths speak forth God’s wisdom, our faith-filled words will preserve us from the enemy’s strategies arrayed against us. That’s why it’s wise to follow God’s example and call those things that be not as though they were!

CONFESSION:

I speak God’s purpose for my life into existence, calling those things that be not as though they were. In Jesus’ name, I speak healing to my body and health and wholeness to all my flesh!

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 

Be Satisfied With Good

A man shall be satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth, and the recompence of a man’s hands shall be rendered unto him. -Proverbs 12:14

“A man shall be satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth.” Or you could say it another way: “A man shall be satisfied with all kinds of good.” But notice this verse doesn’t say, “A man shall be satisfied with good if it’s God’s will or if God decides to smile upon him.”

I don’t know about you, but I like the promise in the Scriptures. I want to be satisfied with good!

You have a choice between good and evil in life, and that choice is determined by the fruit of your mouth. In other Scriptures, God associates “good” with healing. (Acts 10:38; Luke 6:9.) So you could say, “A man shall be satisfied with healing by the fruit of his mouth.”

I’m telling you, there is power in your words. Your mouth can get you over your circumstances and into the blessings of God! Proverbs 18:20 says, “A man’s belly shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth, and with the increase of his lips shall he be filled.” (I suggest that you read through Proverbs and see everything God says just in this one book about your words. After all, Proverbs is called the Book of Wisdom!)

Now look at Proverbs 15:4: A wholesome tongue is a tree of life…Adam had access to eat from the Tree of Life, and so do we—by making our tongues line up with God’s Word.

CONFESSION:

I am satisfied with good by the fruit of my mouth. I speak God’s Word concerning healing, and those words become life to me and produce healing, strength and wholeness in my body. I believe I receive my healing now.

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 

 

Break Out of Captivity With Your Words!

You are snared with the words of your mouth, you are taken with the words of your mouth.                                                                                                                                                -Proverbs 6:2

The words of your mouth can snare you. Or, to paraphrase this verse, “You are taken captive with the words of your mouth.” Have you ever been in captivity? More than likely, your words put you there.

Job 42:10 bears this out when it explains why Job’s ordeal ended. “and the Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends.”

Job first got himself into trouble through fear: “For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come to me” (Job 3:25).  Job was saying, “That which I greatly feared has come upon me. I didn’t have any peace. I didn’t have any rest. I thought my good fortune was too good to be true.”

Many folks say that today. Everything is going well in their lives, but they still speak negative words. “Man, this can’t last. This is too good to be true.” Sometimes they talk themselves right out of the good things that are happening.

Don’t make that mistake. When something good comes into your life, say, “Glory to God! I’m walking in abundant life. Thank God. I’ll just keep right on going from glory to glory!”

CONFESSION:

My life just keeps getting better and better: Blessings are overtaking me more and more. My needs are met; my body is healed. And the best is yet to come!

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 

 

Control Your Tongue With God’s Word

Even so the tongue is a little member, and it can boast of great things. See how much wood or how great a forest a tiny spark can set ablaze. -James 3:5 AMP

James is saying that just as a spark can get a forest ablaze to destroy it or set a fire ablaze to keep us warm, we can use our tongues to destroy ourselves or to make ourselves victorious.

Our words will make us or break us. If we allow our tongues to speak words of complaining and doubt, they will defeat us every time. But when we line up our words with God’s Word, our tongues will put us over every time—no matter what comes against us.

Sometimes Christians are the most negative people in the world. Many say things like, “I’m just an unworthy worm,” or “Here I wander like a beggar through the heat and the cold.”

We used to think we were being humble and spiritual when we talked like that. But what we thought was humility was really spiritual pride.

To be spiritual is to line up with God’s Word. True humility is admitting that God knows more than we do. True humility says, “I don’t feel worthy or righteous. But, Lord, if You said I’m the righteous of God in Christ, then I must be. I’m going to humble myself to Your Word and believe what You said, no matter what I feel.” (Rom. 3:22.)

James said we can use our tongues to light a warm fire or to set a forest ablaze. Personally, I prefer that my spark set a fire to warm me rather than to destroy the “forests” of God’s blessing in my life. So, I’ve made a decision, I’m lining up my words with the Word of God!

CONFESSION:

I find out what God says and fill my mouth with His Word. My words add healing, comfort and joy to my life. God’s Word is working mightily in me right now!

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 

Control Your Mouth – Control Your Life

For we all often stumble and fall and offend in many things. And if anyone does not offend in speech [never says the wrong things], he is a fully developed character and a perfect man, able to control his whole body and to curb his entire nature. -James 3:2 AMP

The truth is, we’ve all made mistakes. But in the last part of this verse, James says, “If you can control your mouth, you can control your body and your entire nature.” That’s a strong statement!

In verse 3 AMP, James gives us more information about the tongue; “If we set bits in the horse’s mouths to make them obey us, we can turn their whole bodies about.” Now, I’m not a horseman, but I know horses are too big to grab around the neck and pull around wherever you want. However, if you can put a bit in a horse’s mouth, you can control the direction it goes.

James continues: “Likewise, look at the ships: though they are so great and are driven by rough winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the impulse of the helmsman determines” (v.4 AMP). Ships are big, and the winds are strong. But when you control the rudder, you control where the ship goes.

Think about it this way: A horse wants to go a particular direction by its own inner will. A ship has no will, but outside forces, such as the wind and waves, try to drive it. So, putting a bit in a horse’s mouth and directing a ship by its rudder are examples of controlling both inside desires and outside forces.

Apply this to your own life. The problem you face may come from within—a resistant will, the lusts of the flesh and so forth. Or outside forces, such as symptoms of sickness, may be coming against you. Either way, the principle holds true. As you control your mouth, you can control yourself—inside and out!

CONFESSION:

By the words of my mouth, I control the direction of my life. I speak only what God says about me and my circumstances, so I’m headed straight toward victory!

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 

 

Choose Words of Life

Death and life are in the power of the tongue; and they that love it will eat the fruit thereof.                                                                                                                                                  -Proverbs 18:21

Sometimes Christians take God’s sovereignty a little too far. They think they’re supposed to walk through life just “rolling with the punches,” taking whatever comes. I did that for years. But I got punched most of the time and spent the rest of my time rolling!

No, we make the choice in life whether we walk in blessing or cursing. We’re not puppets. God doesn’t arbitrarily decide who gets His blessings and who doesn’t. We aren’t supposed to just walk around wondering what God has for us on this earth. God has already told us what He has for us. It’s all written in the pages of the Bible.

Then He gives us the choice to either accept or reject His blessings. Deuteronomy 30:19 says, “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing, therefore choose life, that both you and your seed may live.” The choice is ours.

But how do we choose between death or life, blessing or cursing? Proverbs 18:21 tells us: “Death and life are n the power of the tongue; and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.” We make the choice between death or life by what we say.

Now, I didn’t say that—God did! Our tongues point us in one direction or the other. They’re like the rudders on ships. The direction we turn them is the direction our bodies, our lives and our very natures will go. That’s why it’s so important that we choose words of life!

CONFESSION:

My future is affected by the words I speak today. Therefore, I choose to speak God’s Word over my life, my circumstances, and my body. I speak words of life in every situation, and a blessed, healthy future is the result!

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 

What Are You Believing?

…for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. -Luke 6:45

You can sometimes find out why a person is struggling in faith just by listening to him for a few minutes. For instance, people have come up to me after being prayed for in a healing line and have said, “Well, I still have such and such in my body. I don’t know why I can’t get rid of it.”

I want to say to them, “You just told my why you haven’t gotten rid of your condition!” You see, they believe they can’t get rid of it.

I’ve had other folks say, “I never get healed. When someone prays for me, I never receive anything.” These people receive nothing because nothing is exactly what they’re believing for!

When people come to receive prayer, they ought to be saying, “I’ve come to get rid of these symptoms.”

“What do you have?”

“Well, I don’t ‘have’ anything, but the devil is trying to put symptoms of sickness on me. I’ve come to get rid of them. You lay hands on me in the name of Jesus, and I’ll receive my healing!”

Not only can we locate other people’s faith by their words, but we can also discover what we really believe as we listen to our own words. When things aren’t working right, we must listen to what we say.

Our words are important. If we can get our thinking, our believing and our speaking straightened out, our lives will get straightened out. It may not happen instantly, but it will come to pass!

CONFESSION:

I change my thinking, my believing, and my speaking by feeding on God’s Word. As I think, believe, and speak God’s truth, His Word changes every area of my life!

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 

Locate Your Faith

A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the substance of the heart his mouth speaks.                                                                                                                                      -Luke 6:45

You can locate your faith by your own words. Your words are your faith speaking.

Now, it’s good practice to consciously make a good confession about your circumstances. But if you want to find out where you really are in your faith walk—if you want to know why some things aren’t going right in your life—then listen to yourself talking when the pressure is on. See what comes out of your mouth when you're not making a conscious effort to speak something good. In other words, see what comes out of the abundance of your heart. Then you’ll know if you need to make some major adjustments.

It’s like a bank account. The bank sends you a statement each month. If you want them to add more to the final balance, what do you do? Put more money in the bank, and the next statement will show the difference.

It’s the same way spiritually. When you want something to show up in your outward man, deposit the treasures of God's Word in the inward man. Feed on the Word continually. Treat your inner man like a bank vault, and just keep putting deposits of God's gold in there. Once the Word is deposited in your inner man, you’ll believe it. Then once you believe it, you’ll find yourself saying it. And once you start saying it, your entire being will reflect the treasure of His Word inside!

CONFESSION:

I fill my heart with God’s words of healing. Then when the pressure is on, I don’t speak the symptoms. I speak only God’s Word of life and health, and the power in His Word heals my body!

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 

 

Change From the Inside Out

Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. -Luke 4:4

Man is a three-part being. He is a spirit; he has a soul, he lives in a body. The Bible says he has an inward man and an outward man. (2 Cor. 4:16.)

The outward man is just your “earth suit.” It’s the vessel you live in that keeps you here on the earth. The outward man, which includes the soul and the body, is the part of you that everyone else sees; and it is probably the source of most of the problems you deal with.

The Bible says, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new” (2 Cor. 5:17). Where are old things passed away? Inside your spirit! You have the same body and mind you had before you were saved. Your body has to be healed and strengthened and your mind has to be renewed through God's Word. However, your inner man is a brand-new creation.

The inward man is the spirit man. The outward man is simply a reflection of the inward man. So if I’m having problems in one area of my outward life and I hammer away on those problems from the outside, then I’m wasting my time. I’d better go back and make some adjustments on the inward man. Then the change that occurs on the inside will reflect on the outside.

For instance, suppose I’m having trouble in the area of healing and health. What should I do? I should find out what the Bible says about healing and health and then feed my spirit a steady diet of that truth. I have to read it, meditate on it, think about it and say it until it gets planted deep in my spirit. Jesus talked about the process when He said, “Let these sayings sink down into your ears” (Luke 9:44).

So eat some “faith food” from the Word of God. When you get full of the Word on the inside, it will show up on the outside, bringing peace to your mind and health to your body!

CONFESSION:

I attend to God’s words, and they are life to me and medicine to all my flesh. God’s Word works mightily in my spirit to bring health, strength and wholeness to my outward man.

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 

The Power of Words

For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea, and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says”. -Mark 11:23

A number of years ago, I heard a minister teaching on the subject of faith, and he said something that got my attention. Once as he was meditating on Mark 11:23, the Spirit of God spoke to his spirit and asked, Did you notice that in Mark 11:23, Jesus talked about saying three times as much as He talked about believing?

The minister said, “Apparently, we need to hear about the subject of saying three times more than we need to hear about the subject of believing. And if we’re having trouble in our faith walk, it is probably in the saying part three times as often as it is in the believing part.”

You see, we are a direct result of our words. Our lives today are a direct result of what we’ve been saying up until now. And what we say today is what we will be tomorrow. So as someone once said, “If you don’t like what you are, quit saying what you’re saying.”

This is not “mind over matter” or “mind science”; these are Biblical truths. Hebrews 11:3 says, “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God…” How did God create the earth? By His words, “and God said, Let there be light; and there was light” (Gen 1:3) “And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters…” (Gen. 1:6), and there was a firmament. How did God cause these things to come to pass? By speaking.

Romans 1:17 says that the just shall live by faith. How do we operate in faith? We have to believe and say. What we believe and what we say ultimately determines who we will be and what we will have in life.

CONFESSION:

The words I speak today create who I will be and what I will have tomorrow. Therefore, I speak words of truth, grace, healing and abundance and they become reality in my life!

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 

Faith Is of the Heart

For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea, and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says”. -Mark 11:23

Let’s look at two major principles of faith in this verse: believing in the heart and saying with the mouth.

People often make mistakes in the believing side of faith. You see, real faith is of the heart not of the head. Romans 10:10 confirms this saying, “For with the heart man believes unto righteousness…” People need to realize they don’t have enough strength in their heads to believe in something they can’t yet see.

Now, it’s important to understand that you can have faith in your heart while doubts are coming into your head. For instance, at times I find Scriptures in the Word that cover my needs. I pray the prayer of faith; believe I receive and take my stand on the Word. On the inside, I have peace and rest; I know I’m in faith. But at the same time, doubts hit my mind one after another: What if it doesn’t work? It’s not going to work.

When these types of doubts start coming into your mind, it’s easy to think, Well, I thought I believed, but I guess I didn’t. But just realize that those doubts aren’t yours. When thoughts of doubt come, cast them down and get rid of them in the name of Jesus. Don’t try to believe with your head, or your faith level will be up and down like a yo-yo.

Remember, it’s with the heart—the spirit, the inner man—that man believes. So if your mind is giving you fits when you’re trying to stand in faith, just shut your head off and follow what’s in your spirit!

CONFESSION:

With my heart I believe, I don’t lean to my own understanding or allow doubts to hinder me. I pray for healing, and despite what I feel, think or see, I know I’m healed according to God’s Word.

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 

 

 

You Have the Faith To Receive

So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea, and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says”. -Mark 11:22—23

Here the Lord Jesus gives us the two basic foundational principles of operating in faith: believing in the heart and saying with the mouth.

Have you ever thought that the believing part sounded hard? People say all the time, “Oh, it’s so hard to believe. I just wish I could believe God.”

One fellow replied to that comment, “Well, if you can’t believe, you ought to get saved.” Let me explain what he meant by that.

Ephesians 2:8 tells us how we get saved: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.” Then Romans 10:10 says, “With the heart man believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

So the simple fact that you are saved proves you have faith. You have already used your faith to believe God for the biggest miracle in existence—the new birth. When you were born again, God took out that heart of stone and put in a heart of flesh, giving you a brand-new spirit.

You used your faith to receive the gift of salvation. That proves you have the ability to believe God. Now its just a matter of learning how to point your faith in another direction to receive God’s other benefits and blessings!

 CONFESSION:

By God’s grace, I believed and received salvation through Jesus Christ. Now I believe and receive healing just as easily as I received eternal life!

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 

Have the Faith of God

Now, in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. And Peter, remembering, said to Him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree which you cursed has withered away.” So Jesus answered and said to them, Have faith in God.. -Mark 11:20-22

Jesus was about to teach his disciples about faith. Personally, I can’t think of a better subject in the Bible to get ahold of than the subject of faith. It touches every other area of life. It touches everything we do. Everything we do is supposed to be in faith. “for whatever is not of faith is sin” (Romans 14:23).

Faith is the easiest thing in the world to understand. When faith is taught, little children usually understand it first, then they go teach the adults! Faith is so simple that most adults spend all their time trying to figure it out. They think, It can’t be that simple!

But Jesus made things simple for us. When He taught, He talked about everyday things, such as fishing and farming. He made spiritual principles simple so everyone could understand them.

So Jesus starts out His teaching on faith by saying, “Have faith in God.” God is the One who works the miracles. He’s the One who heals our bodies. He’s the One who purchased all things that pertain to life and godliness. Therefore, our faith is to be placed in Him. If we only have faith in ourselves, we’re in trouble.

So, according to Mark 11:22, our faith is in God. But in some Bibles, margin notes say this verse say, “Have the faith of God.” If we have the faith of God, we have the kind of faith God has.

Romans 12:3 says, “…God has dealt to every man the measure of faith.” So Jesus is telling us, “Just operate in faith as God does. God gave faith to us. He planted it on the inside of us, and it will operate for us the same way it does for Him.” We’re God’s children, and He gave us His very own faith.

CONFESSION:

Because I am God’s child, He has planted His faith in me. Now I’m able to operate in faith just as He does. I have a sure foundation because I have the faith of God.

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 

 

Speak the Word and Go Your Way

Now the next day, when they had come out from Bethany, He was hungry. And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, He went to see if perhaps He would find something on it. When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves for it was not the season for figs. In response Jesus said to it, “Let no one eat fruit from you ever again.” And His disciples heard it. -Mark 11:12-14

Jesus came to a fig tree looking for fruit, but there was no fruit on it. So He cursed the fig tree, saying “Let no one eat fruit from you ever again,” and then He just walked away.

We can learn something on the subject of faith right here. Jesus spoke the Word and then went His way. Although the tree didn’t change immediately, Jesus didn’t wonder whether His words had worked. He just walked away in faith that what He said would come to pass.

Jesus and the disciples left for Jerusalem. When they came back the next day, his disciples said, “Master, the fig tree you cursed is withered away! It died from the roots!” (v.21.)

Second Corinthians 5:7 says, “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” You see, it didn’t matter what Jesus saw. It was what He believed that made the difference.

That’s the very basis of faith. Faith is walking by what God says instead of by what you see—because what God says will change what you see! Faith is placing your confidence in the truth.

Romans 3:4 says, “Yes, let God be true, but every man a liar…” In John 17:17, Jesus is praying for us and says, “Sanctify them through Your truth: Your word is truth.” God’s Word takes precedence above any of our experiences, beliefs, opinions or doctrines. The only real truth we will ever find in this world is the Word of God. We can believe that Word and speak it forth in faith, confident in the knowledge that our words will come to pass!

CONFESSION:

God’s Word is true. I act on His Word-believing it, receiving it and speaking it-and it changes my circumstances. I walk in agreement with God’s Word, and I enjoy His very best.

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 

The End Result

Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. Therefore the sisters sent to Him saying, Lord, behold he whom You love is sick.” When Jesus heard that, He said, “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” -John 11:1, 3-4

Don’t misunderstand Jesus’ comment about Lazarus’ sickness. He was not saying, “Lazarus’ sickness isn’t unto death; nevertheless, he’s suffering with this sickness to bring God glory.”

If we’re not careful, we can get confused because we don’t study the Word enough to rightly divide it. Jesus wasn’t talking about the problem. He was talking about the end result. Jesus always talked about the end result. He was saying here, “The end result of this sickness will not be death but the glory of God.”

Again in John 11:40, Jesus told Martha, “I told you if you’d believe, you’d see the glory of God.” The sickness took Lazarus’ life for a while, but his life was given back to him when Jesus raised him from the dead. Thus, Lazarus’ sickness wasn’t for God’s glory, it was his resurrection from the dead that brought God glory. That was the end result.

CONFESSION:

God is glorified when I am healed and walking in health. The end result of my life will be to God’s glory. I walk in health and run my race, and I will finish my course with joy!

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 

His Grace Is Sufficient

Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, most gladly, I will rather boast in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me.                                                                                                                                             -2 Corinthians 12:8-9

Some people interpret this Scripture by saying, “Well, that means that after Paul prayed three times, God replied, No, I want you to keep that “thorn.” You need it. It will keep you humble and pious.

No, that isn’t what God meant! God said, “My grace is sufficient for you.”

What is God’s grace? It’s God’s unmerited favor given to us in the form of His Word, His name, His kingdom, His Spirit, His healing, His power and His authority. God’s grace is the source of the unmerited blessings He sent us through Jesus Christ. We didn’t deserve any of those blessings, but Jesus made us righteous so we could deserve them. That’s the measure of God’s grace, and He told Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you.”

One aspect of God’s grace is the name of Jesus. Jesus delegated His authority, might and dominion to us through His name. Then He said in Mark 16:17, “In my name shall [believers] cast out devils.”

Jesus was telling Paul, “Look, I’ve given you everything you need to get rid of that evil messenger. Now just take authority over it.” He was not saying, “I want you to keep that thorn in the flesh, Paul. You need it to help you stay humble and pious.”

No, God was actually telling Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you. Don’t go after that messenger of Satan in your own strength—go in My strength. From the position of your own weakness, make use of My strength. Resist the devil in the name of Jesus, and he’ll flee from you!”

CONFESSION:

God’s grace is sufficient for me in every area of my life. He has given me the name of Jesus—the name that is greater than any other power that can come against me. Through faith in Jesus’ name, I am healed and made strong!

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 

 

Paul’s “Thorn in the Flesh”

And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure.

People have been telling me for years that Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” was sickness. Some say it was an eye disease that God gave him to keep him humble. But that explanation twists the Scriptures.

How was Paul exalted beyond measure? He received visions and revelations from the Lord. God revealed to him great mysteries, which those who walked and talked with Jesus for three years didn’t yet understand. Paul was also in the process of writing two-thirds of the New Testament, which we live by today.

Paul said, “There was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to buffet me.” Well, God wouldn’t have sent a messenger of Satan to Paul. And God certainly wasn’t going to exalt Paul by giving him visions and revelations just to make him sick and to keep him from being exalted!

The word messenger in the original Greek is the word “angelos.” It refers to an angel or “one sent.” In this case, it refers to a demon spirit that Satan sent to harass Paul. Satan wanted to hinder Paul any way he could because he knew that those who read Paul’s letters would follow his Holy Spirit-inspired instructions and walk in victory. So let’s defeat Satan’s purpose and start walking in God’s victory today!

CONFESSION:

God didn’t send sickness to humble Paul, and He doesn’t send sickness to humble me. I rebuke sickness and disease, for they have no part in God's plan or His will for me. I receive God’s will of healing now.

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 

Paul’s “Thorn”—Persecution

And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure.

 Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.”

 Therefore most gladly, I will rather boast in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me.                                                                                                                    -2 Corinthians 12:7-9

The subject of Paul’s thorn is a common argument against healing. Many have taught that Paul’s thorn was a sickness or disease in his body. But in context, you can see that Paul was talking about persecutions:

            From the Jews five times I received forty strips minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have been in the deep.

In weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings; often in cold and nakedness.                                                                                     2 Corinthians 11:24-25, 27

Every place Paul went, there was a spirit that stirred people up to persecute him. He was beaten, whipped, stoned and left for dead. He talked about being cold, hungry and thirsty, floating around in the sea and experiencing distresses of all kinds.

These were all persecutions in one form or another. But Paul never said anything to indicate his thorn in the flesh was even remotely connected to sickness and disease.

However, Paul did say the thorn was a messenger of Satan, not a messenger of God. “There was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me.” So we see that Paul’s thorn wasn’t sickness, it wasn’t disease and it wasn’t from God.

CONFESSION:

Paul’s thorn wasn’t from God and neither are sickness and diseases that attack me. God gives me His grace, strength and ability to overcome the devil in every situation. I am the healed of the Lord!

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999

 

Faith Turns God Loose!

And behold one of the rulers of the synagogue came, Jairus by name. And when he saw Him, he fell at His feet and begged Him earnestly, saying “My little daughter lies at the point of death. Come and lay Your hands on her, that she may be healed, and she will live. So Jesus went with him … -Mark 5:22-24

Jesus started walking with Jairus toward his house. About that time, the woman with the issue of blood came up behind Him in the crowd and touched the hem of His garment. Jesus turned and asked, “Who touched Me?” The woman fell down before Jesus and told Him how she had been healed. (Mark 5:25-33.)

All this was going on while Jairus’ daughter was at home at the point of death. When Jesus finished with the woman, they all started again toward Jairus’ house. But just then someone came running from Jairus’ home and told him, “It’s too late. Don’t trouble the Master; your daughter has died.”

Jesus immediately turned to Jairus and made a profound statement. “Fear not; only believe.” At that moment, He laid out a choice before Jairus, telling him, “You’re either going to fear, or you’re going to believe. If you keep operating in faith, your child will be healed. But if you step over into fear, you shut off my power.”

You see, our words can open the door for the devil to attack us. Proverbs 6:2 says, “You are snared with the words of your mouth, you are taken with the words of your mouth.” Fear allows Satan to work in our lives. It often starts out with worry, which is an offspring of fear, and that turns the devil loose.

When Jairus first found Jesus, he had spoken words of faith: “Jesus, if You lay hands on her, she will be healed and live.” Now Jesus was giving him a choice, and Jairus chose to believe. He didn’t speak one word of doubt or fear, and his little girl was raised from the dead. His faith turned God loose to work in his daughter’s life.

CONFESSION:

I refuse to allow fear to operate in my life. I make the choice to walk in faith. I speak words of life and truth that open the door for God to make me healthy and whole!

From: A Devotional for Divine Health Prescription for a Miracle, Mark Brazee, 1999