We’ve been talking in church recently about the quality of our words. Do the words you are speaking accurately reflect a heart filled with faith? I think one of the hardest things to deal with when we press into this conversation is the issue of manifestation. Sometimes we find ourselves speaking in line with what we are believing for, only to wonder why we don’t see what we said. And for some of us it’s a little more like, “Well, I don’t see how that could actually happen in the natural, so I won’t speak. I don’t want to appear silly.” But I’m hoping this one scripture will change how we understand the connection between our words and shifts in circumstances.

Jesus says in Mark 11:23, “Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him.” First issue: Do you believe? Belief is the starting point; if you don’t believe, then what you are saying will likely have little to no effect. One secret I have found, however, is to use declaration to bolster faith. Romans 10:17 says that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. As we speak those things which we know to be true – scripture is a great place to start – our hearing will be activated. And when our hearing is activated, faith comes. So speaking truth will get us “warmed up” to declare truth, to hear truth and then to speak in faith.

Jesus says we have to believe that what we say will come to pass in order for it to be done for us. Here’s where we mostly get hung up. We think because we tried it before and we didn’t see it that there must be a catch to this verse. I think there is a catch to this verse, but it’s not the one we think. It’s not that the verse is true sometimes and then false sometimes. It’s always true. But we have to really look at what the verse is saying.

“…but believes that what he says will come to pass.” The phrase I’ve been meditating on is “will come to pass.” What you are believing for WILL come to pass. Will. As in, in the future. Many of us can get stuck in a habit where we only declare what we see happening right now. Things we can see and test in the now. But Jesus says that it works like this: Believe. Declare. Wait for it to come to pass.

We are an internet society. Lightning fast. We want our answers to come as fast as Google returns search results. And that’s just not how it works with belief and declaration. Will signifies future. Unfortunately it doesn’t signify how far into the future we will be seeing the manifestation of what we are believing for and declaring.

The Bible says God calls things that are not as though they were. He’s not ashamed or discouraged to speak things that don’t currently look like they exist. Why are we? If we are made in the image of God we need to grab ahold of his confidence in calling things that are not (in our natural sight) as though they were (have always been in faith). We need to take Jesus at his word in this scripture. If we will believe that what we say will come to pass — will, at some point in the future — we will see our circumstances shift. We will see things move. We will see relationships come back together. We will see finances released. We will see healing come. We WILL. We just need to declare and have sustained faith. What you say will come to pass.