How Can We Declare God's Word Over Our Lives?
In 2017, I wrote the W.O.R.D. Bible study method to help you dig deeper into the Word of God. In this Four-Part Series, we are breaking down each part of the W.O.R.D. method to give you a better understanding of how you can get the most out of your Bible study time.
In Part One, we spoke about the importance of and how-to Inscribe (write) the Word. This is the first step in the W.O.R.D. method. Part One is packed with incredible stories, insight, and information.
Part Two went into detail on how we observe the Word. Answering who, what, when, where, and why on a passage of Scripture helps us to read the Word in context observing key people, places, and themes.
In Part Three, we learned how to make the word relevant to our lives today. Using a fictional character named “Sadie”, we studied two passages of Scripture learning how to make even challenging verses relevant.
In the final post in this series, we are going to learn how to DECLARE God’s Word over our lives. We will discover how to pray the Scriptures over our every day.
For the original post on the W.O.R.D method and a brief overview of how this plan works, click here.
Part Four. Declaring God’s Word.
”I shall not die, but live, And declare the works of the LORD.”
Psalm 118:17 NKJV
The final step in our W.O.R.D. study is declaring or praying the passage you are studying over your lives. Prayer is an integral part of our relationship with Jesus, but often, we make it so complicated. We don't know what to say. We aren't sure if we are praying the "right" things. We know we don't want to come to Jesus with a laundry list of wants, so then, what do we say?
The enemy will use these confusions to keep us from opening our mouths and praying and declaring God's Word over our lives. Remember, God is not a God of confusion, but of peace. (1 Corinthians 14:33)
In a Philippians 4:6, Paul tells us to be anxious for nothing, but in everything through prayer and supplication with thanksgiving make our requests known to God. This verse should encourage you to come to the Lord with everything on your heart but with thanksgiving and not a spirit of complaining.
Let's learn how to declare and pray the Scriptures over our lives. But first, if you are struggling with creating a vibrant prayer life, I want you to read this post. We go into detail on how to create a thriving relationship with the Lord through prayer.
DECLARING GOD'S WORD
When going through this final step of the W.O.R.D. Bible Study method, consider these prompts.
Declare the promises of this verse over your day.
Declare the changes you are going to make as a result of the verses correction.
Declare the encouragement and teaching over your walk with the Lord.
1. Ephesians 4:31-32
Let's refer back to "Sadie" in Part Three of this series, and we will use her examples to help us. If you haven’t read about Sadie in Part Three, do that now.
“Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another,
even as God in Christ forgave you.” - Ephesians 4:31-32
If you go back to Part Three of the series, we see that Sadie has WRITTEN this verse, OBSERVED the key people, places, and themes, and made the word RELEVANT to her life. Go back and read that section if needed. Now, Sadie is going to DECLARE the verse over her life using the prompts above to guide her.
Father God, I thank you for who You are. I thank You for Your never-ending love and patience with me. Thank You for Your Word and for reminding me of the new creation You made me to be. Lord, I declare that I am going to walk in Your love.
Forgive me of my bitterness and wrath toward my boss. Forgive me of not letting go of the past pain. I give that pain to you, Lord. It is no longer mine to carry. Father, I declare that I will walk in love for my boss because you love me. I will walk in forgiveness because you forgave me. I will walk in freedom of the past because you set me free when you died on Calvery's cross.
Convict me when I am not being kind, and whisper to my heart when I need to be reminded to show Your love. I pray all of this and thank You that the work is done, in Jesus' Mighty Name, Amen.
2. Chronicles 16:7-9
Again, let's go back to "Sadie" in Part Three of this series, and we will use her examples to help us. This example is a little more difficult on the surface. It doesn’t appear, at a single reading, to have any declarations never-mind relevance to our lives. But when you work through the passage using the W.O.R.D. method, this verse comes alive.
“At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him, “Because you relied on the king of Syria, and did not rely on the LORD your God, the army of the king of Syria has escaped you. Were not the Ethiopians and the Libyans a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet because you relied on the LORD, he gave them into your hand.
For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him. You have done foolishly in this, for from now on you will have wars . . . In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was diseased in his feet, and his disease became severe. Yet even in his disease he did not seek the LORD, but sought help from physicians.” - 2 Chronicles 16:7-9, 12 ESV
As in Part Three, we saw how Sadie made the Observations in this verse, and how the Lord made it Relevant to her life. Using the results of that part of the study, Sadie is now ready to declare the truths of this verse over her life.
Father, I thank you for your Word. I thank you that it is still relevant to me today, even the story of Asa. Thank you for his story, Lord, and for helping me to see my own shortcomings in the light of his.
Father, forgive me for relying on everyone else but You. Forgive me for seeking out everyone else's advice before I went to You in prayer. Lord, I am so sorry. I give you this depression, Jesus. You are my Healer, and I know that You alone can heal me.
I declare today that by Your stripes, I AM HEALED in Jesus' name. Lord, I pray that You tug on my heart when I am tempted to turn to the ways of the world for a quick fix. Convict me, Lord. I know that You are my Healer, and today, I will stand on Your Word. I will not rely on the ways of the world, but I will rely only on You. I thank You for giving me another chance. In Jesus' Mighty Name, Amen.
Even a passage in 2 Chronicles can be declared over your life!
When you declare the passage you are studying over your life; you speak the promises, you ask forgiveness for the faults, and you turn back to the Lord as your source. This is how you declare God's word over your life.
My Dear Friend, I pray that this series was a blessing to you. If you've been Inscribing the Word with us for a while and are looking to take the next step in your Bible study time, the W.O.R.D. method is that next step. As I said in Part One, Inscribe the Word is the starting line. The W.O.R.D. method starts you on a journey that you will never turn back from; A journey to discovering the treasure of God’s Word.
If you have any questions at all, or if you want me to go through a specific verse with you, drop a note in the comments and let's do it together!
