No man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men who are made in God's likeness.
God spoke all of creation into existence. I am His offspring and, the scripture teaches, I have the same creative or destructive power in my words.
Every word begins as a thought. The thought produces the word and the word produces the authority either for blessing or cursing. Angels, both good and evil, act on the authority of these words. The commandment given to all angels, both good and evil, is the same -- maximize the effectiveness, reach, and impact of the word spoken.
If the word spoken in authority is a blessing, the angels of Heaven are immediately empowered by this word to maximize the impact of the blessing. This may include preparing the soil of the heart of the person being blessed so they may receive the seed blessing and produce much fruit. This can take time if the soil is fallow ground, which is why the scriptures instruct us to “wait on the Lord”. It is not the Lord we are waiting on, but ourselves to become fertile ground for the blessing.
However, the same is true when the word spoken is a curse. The demons of hell are immediately empowered by this word to maximize the impact of the curse. Sometimes this will happen immediately with some tragic event, often it is just the first toe-hold for the enemy to begin the process of maximizing the destructive impact of the curse both on the one cursed as well as others who will ultimately be caught in its expanding web of influence.
I’m reminded of the example of a church in the mid-west. The congregation had long struggled with the concept that Christ’s work of healing is a finished work, that all they had to do was receive it. They were just beginning to accept the idea and healings were taking place at every service. Then one of their own, a 17 year old boy, was in an accident on his motorbike. The entire congregation prayed over him and believed for his recovery. The boy, nevertheless, died.
This tragedy severely shook the faith of the church. The pastor was inundated with questions as to how such a thing could happen if it were really true that Christ’s work of healing was for everyone who believed. The pastor had no good answer for them. He decided to go and comfort the family as best he could. While speaking with the boy’s mother he learned that she and her son had a fight before he left. She was very angry at him and, as he was walking out the door, she said “Don’t ever come back here. I never want to see your face again”. When the pastor heard this, he asked if she had repented of saying this. She had not.
As painful as this example is, I believe it drives home the point. Satan will stand on the word spoken in authority, and he has the law on his side in doing so.
Likewise, all of Heaven will stand behind the word spoken, when that word is in agreement with the word of God and His Spirit.
From the fruit of his mouth a man's stomach is filled; he is sustained with the product of his lips. (Pro 18:20)
Life and death are in the power of the tongue, and those who desire it will eat its fruit. (Pro 18:21)
Out of the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things should not be this way. (Jas 3:8-10)
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