Chapter 7 “Simply Speak”

There is no principle more important than having control over what you speak. “You will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you” (Matthew 17:20).

Most people, Christian or not, haven’t any idea of the creative power of our words. Even though I had read and studied endlessly two of Erin’s books that devote two entire chapters in each, four chapters to learn that we should be careful what we say in our marriage (or other relationships we hold dear to our hearts.) Yet, until now, I had no idea how truly powerful our words can be in determining what we attract, when we react, resulting in a positive or a negative outcome.

It wasn’t until just recently that I began to wonder if my marriage restoration was due more to what I believed, and as a result, said, than it was by my following the seemingly endless list of other principles laid out in the two books I wore out reading. Was it more what I said, than what I did? I began to wonder.

Again, speaking stems from what we have hidden within our hearts, which is what we believe, and is primarily because of what we can imagine. So just to say something, without feeling it, is not what will move a mountain; only those things that you truly believe in your heart will result in you feeling it and speaking it out loud with the power of moving impossible obstacles. (We will discuss the importance of our feelings in chapter 9.)

Not only is what you speak the most powerful principle to moving mountains, in a way, it is also the principle that is the most fun when you understand its power.

It really caught my attention just a few months ago, when the Lord began to reveal to me a secret that I already basically knew, which is: Since we are all created in the image of God, we also hold the power of creating our world: good and bad. God simply spoke the world into existence—simply spoke. Then later, we see Jesus doing the very same thing: he simply spoke to calm the sea and the wind; He also spoke and told Lazarus to come forth, thereby raising him from the dead.

We have to pay close attention to how Jesus moved mountains, because when He was about to go to the cross, He told His disciples, His followers (you and me), that we would be able to do far greater feats than what we had seen Him do. But are we? No. This means that we are not utilizing the power that He died to give us, mainly because we are ignorant of that power and misuse it horribly.

While talking to my dear, sweet neighbor, I was telling her about the book that I was writing at that time, The Poverty Mentality, which deals more with how we think, good and bad, which led to how we will speak about it, since how we speak, good and bad, is implanted in our hearts. There are no less than twenty-seven times in the Bible where speaking is linked to our heart: did you know that? Here’s just one of my favorites:

“The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart” (Luke 6:45).

That was when my neighbor told me about a new video and book that revealed a secret, and the movie shows that the principle originated from a very old book—a book that is never revealed in this video. The interesting thing is, when she told me about it, I instantly knew I had the book—it was sitting next to my bed, a gift that had been given to me by a fellowship member I met while in Colorado on my very first travel destination, during the same month as my divorce. Interesting. What’s most interesting, like other methods that “work,” is that the principle is really from the Bible.

The book confirmed to me, when I read it (then and just recently), that the power of how we think, which leads to what we believe, which turns the heart, would naturally cause us to have peace or joy as we speak of what we think about—it all began to come together beautifully. It was then, at that moment, that I knew that I would have to write this book “Moving Mountains.” All the principles to move those foreboding mountains in our lives were out there just waiting to be corralled into a book, which would unleash the joy that the abundant life held for every woman who wanted all that Jesus died to give her.

Though these “secret” principles work for non-Christians, and even when a person removes God from the picture (which is what this video and the book carefully chooses to do), it does not make it unscriptural or prove it is unsafe for the Christian to believe or act upon. To believe this would mean that we are ignorant of what Jesus Himself said in Matthew 5:45, “For He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” God is a God who blesses anyone, whenever anyone follows the laws God created, correct? For instance, if someone respects gravity, or chooses to ignore it, that has nothing to do with whether or not he or she is a Christian, right? There was a whole movement not too long ago about the “power of positive thinking” which worked, of course, because it’s one of God’s laws.

In addition, this principle of the power of what we speak is literally everywhere in the Bible. Yet, even though it is right under our very noses, day after day, as we read our Bibles for our morning devotionals, we forget what we read, and we walk right out into our day violating His principles, one after another. And I am not talking about sin; I am simply talking about how we are robbed, day after day, of what Jesus shed His blood for: Allowing us to live a life of abundance, rather than struggling with lack. “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10).

As I have done with just about every chapter of this book, I want to share with you a few stories that will help you to understand more fully that you need to pay close attention to what you say. “Now therefore, my sons, listen to me, and pay attention to the words of my mouth” (Proverbs 7:24). For in our words are the “power of life or death,” “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit” (Proverbs 18:21).

Whether you experience joy or sorrow, abundance or lack, will usually be contained within your words; will you choose to learn and finally live this truth? Since the Bible tells us that many “will die for lack of instruction, and in the greatness of his folly he will go astray” (Proverbs 5:23).

Why is it important? So “the ransomed of the LORD will return and come with joyful shouting to Zion, with everlasting joy upon their heads they will find gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing will flee away” (Isaiah 35:10).

Just read these next verses from Isaiah 55, with which many of you are familiar, but this time, with what this chapter has taught you so far:

“Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and delight yourself in abundance. Incline your ear and come to Me. Listen, that you may live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, according to the faithful mercies shown to David…

“‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,’ declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts….

“‘So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it. For you will go out with joy and be led forth with peace; the mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you.’” (Isaiah 55:1-3, 8-9, 11-12)

The new revelation of the power of what we simply speak began to unfold when my son decided that he needed to have steady income to “just make his car payment.” Please notice the word I bolded and italicized­­. “Just” —so simple a word yet it holds so much power. Since he asked, God opened the door for a job that he worked terribly hard at, but he made “just” enough to meet his car payment. He was hoping to make a lot in tips, which he should have gotten, since he is a hard worker, has lots of personality, and has a handsome look to complement these other traits. However, what he asked for was to “just make his car payment.” That’s what I told him when he came home very late one night and asked me what I thought was wrong. I explained that God gave him just what he had asked for, “just.” Because he was exhausted after working a double shift, and so terribly frustrated, he then said, “Okay then, if it’s what I speak, let me say this! ‘I want a job where I can use my God-given talents, doing what I really enjoy doing. I want some great paying jobs in media, doing camera work!!’”

Most of you might question the validity of what I am going to say, but the truth is: within a week, my son received a call from a guy who wanted him to manage the camera work for his team (similar to putting together a union) for production companies that come to this area from Hollywood. These film companies would rather use local film crews, instead of flying in their own production team and equipment. What my son began making per day was MORE than what he would have made working double shifts as a waiter for an entire month!

*This is the same power that God gave each of us, but unfortunately, we ignorantly speak against ourselves rather than for ourselves.

A short time later, my son was talking to me about his brother, who had been offered a position as a Media Director but wasn’t sure if he wanted it. My son, who is primarily a cameraman, said that a Media Director’s job was exactly what he wanted some day. So, together we spoke about it, and he said that he didn’t have the training that his brother did, and he needed more in the area of directing.

Would you believe that just a few days later, one evening, my son was running out the door to TD at a local church (technical director, who is the person who pushes the buttons for the director, just one position away from the director). While he was running out the door, I smiled and said, “Next, God will have you Direct!” which happened that very evening! Two-thirds of the way through the church service, the director pushed his seat back and told my son to take over—my son directed the remainder of the service!

Have I caught your attention yet? If not, now listen to this. It was about ten days later that I walked by my son, who was on the couch talking to a young man who I didn’t recognize (but that happens all the time). The next morning, my son asked me if I knew who he was, and why he was there, and what he was talking to him about. When I said no, he went on to tell me that this young man’s father was the pastor of a mega church in San Diego, and he wanted my son to be its Media Director!

My son and I spoke it, and there it was manifested right before our eyes, and well before my son felt he was even ready. What he spoke, saying what he wanted, came to him. Even now it is pending, as is the position for his brother. Even though they both readily know this principle, and it’s been reinforced by what they’ve witnessed me doing, I still see that so often they ignore its power and often speak that they are “not sure if they want it” (the positions). So, the positions remain pending.

How many of you are getting this? What we speak is powerful. Whether or not we say things consistently, not just if we say positive versus negative things.

Not convinced? Let me go on. After the recent car accident that my daughter had, I drove her to and from work, while her car was being repaired. I began to dread these times, because my daughter has been extremely negative, ever since her dad left her. (That’s how our children feel, you know; even though your husband might have walked out on you, your children, especially your daughters, were rejected by him, and they feel it immensely.) Normally I just listen, since to say something only brings about a more negative reaction; I know you understand what I mean.

On this particular morning, I lovingly interrupted her with a very positive and powerful tone of voice. I asked her why she kept talking about her job with all its problems. Didn’t she know that it kept unleashing more and more negative things in her life? She didn’t like me interrupting her, nor what I’d said, but then I turned our conversation toward a positive note and related the recent events in her brother’s life that I just shared with you. She knew all about them, but she had not looked at the chain of events all at the same time. It got her attention, and she immediately said, “Well, okay, then what I really want is a job at the church [naming it] and for it to pay well, so that I can quit my job here!” Then she said that she would go over and fill out an application.

Unfortunately, I needed to break in again, because I felt the prompting of her Father, my HH, saying that she had so many connections (she has volunteered in so many areas of the church for almost 7 years), and I sensed she should simply talk to one of the pastors she knew and worked with. When I began naming them, she jumped on the second name, Pastor Brandon.

It was about 7 A.M. when she said that, and just hours later, at 2 P.M., while I was in the chiropractor’s office, I heard someone call my name, and when I turned around to see “who” was speaking—of course, it was Pastor Brandon! I laughed, since I had not seen or spoken to him in almost a year, but there he was for me to tell him that my daughter was hoping for a job at the church and needed his advice.

The job didn’t end up coming through him, but through God and in yet another divine appointment. This is another principle that you need to know, never fixate yourself on someone or something. Just simply move as your HH continues to lead you. Too many people miss this and wonder why they never move forward. It is not the person, nor the situation—it is simply God who will move you as you continue to believe and to speak positively and refrain from the negative. In addition, we have already discussed timing, correct? As it says in Habakkuk 2:2-3, everything is set for an appointed time. “Then the LORD answered me and said, ‘Record the vision and inscribe it on tablets, that the one who reads it may run. For the vision is yet for the appointed time; it hastens toward the goal and it will not fail. Though it tarries, WAIT for it; for it will certainly come, it will not delay.’”

The more you absorb the truth in this principle the more you’ll realized that some connections take longer, so we must be willing to wait, if it is necessary, to catch the next flow of events. (Picture how we connect in a train station or an airline flight while traveling.) Also, add to this what we learned in prior chapters, that often He knows we need more spiritual strength then we have, so it means we need to wait in order to “renew our strength.”

Your life can be like this; it really can. It only takes tuning in to what is constantly happening in your life as you speak. Until now, you were simply unaware of it. And another secret to this principle of the creative power of what you speak is that you and I will be able to see it in other people’s lives much more clearly than you and I can see it in our own lives. So, to fine-tune this principle in your mind, you, too, should become a sort of “Moving Mountain Coach” for those to whom you are closest. It will result in you being much more aware of what you speak, when you help others realize the power they possess, since they, too, are made in the image of God and were in our Savior’s mind when He chose to walk the road to the cross on Calvary.

*Just remember, if you live it, others will witness it, and soon they will ask. Until then, be quiet and live it—until asked.

Now, back to the story. The divine appointments (or coincidences as many people want to call them) didn’t stop with speaking to the pastor. The very next day, I picked up my daughter to bring her to the bank with a copy of her insurance, but she had forgotten to print it. Right now, I can’t remember why I had my laptop in the car, but I did, so we headed over to church, rather than going back home, because they had Wi-Fi.

Here is another principle that I am keenly aware of that I need to share: God sets us up to do things that are unusual, and even to forget something on purpose—it’s all part of His plan. And when you sense you should do something, like me grabbing my computer, do not stop to reason! With what you’ve learned, read Proverbs 3:5–6 to see how so many get off course, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.” When you lean to your understanding, like I could have done when grabbing my laptop, “What do I need this for? Why put it in the car when it’s safer at home?”—the flow would have been broken.

To live abundantly, we must stop running around ignorant of what is happening. We really need to, again, tune in to this incredible world, each day, that the Lord makes for us, equipped with all the principles that make up this abundant life!

As soon as my daughter said that we should run to the church, I could literally “feel” that something was about to happen. Once you begin to become aware of the spiritual realm that we are a part of every day of our lives, you, too, will soon be able to sense when a miracle or spiritual blessing is about to happen.

As we walked in, I just kept looking around, wondering where this miracle or blessing was about to come from. After a few minutes, I had to just give the whole thing to the Lord, since I thought I might be wrong or that I was trying to make something happen. I didn’t want to get into the flesh, pushing against that mountain, when all that God asks us to do is to simply speak and to tell it to move.

A moment later, I spotted a Starbucks kiosk, and I asked my daughter if she wanted anything. She said no, but I kept on asking her. Then I stood up and told her that I was going to get something. Now, let me see if I can explain this. I normally would never ask someone something twice, as I did with my daughter. In addition, I never, ever drink coffee, after my first cup in the morning. Never. The flavor doesn’t appeal to me. Nevertheless, there I was at the counter.

Then it was like my eyes were opened, and I asked the lady there if she was hiring. She looked at me kind of funny. Maybe she thought I was too old to work there or not the type who would work making coffee at Starbucks. But the real reason she looked at me like that, stunned, was because she had just hung up the phone, after speaking to a girl who she had let go (on the phone), because she had not shown up for work that day! And at that very moment, the Lord had led us to walk in. Coincidence? Or, was this indeed a divine appointment, due to what we both believed and spoke about? “Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father Who is in heaven” (Matthew 18:19).

That’s when I pointed to my daughter who was on my laptop, as I began telling the lady at the Starbucks counter that she wanted a job, working at the church. We spoke some more, then I took my coffee over and told my daughter about what had just happened, telling her to go over and talk to her. She simply said, “No, thank you,” and we left. As I said, for the past two years, since her dad left her, she has resisted everyone and everything and has become primarily negative about life.

Nevertheless, you know what? I didn’t oppose her. You see, you and I have to follow all the principles. And we learned in the last chapter that we are not to resist or oppose when a negative or a counter power comes against us. So, I didn’t. God and His power of goodness are greater than any negative power that exists. Our outcome only depends on where we plug ourselves into: negative or positive force.

Yet, within 48 hours, my daughter called me from the Starbucks kiosk to tell me that she had gotten the job! And you will never believe just how she got it. The manager was speaking to the wife of the senior pastor (not the Pastor Brandon) telling her she needed to hire someone, when she said, “I know who you should hire!” and the pastor’s wife said my daughter’s name. The manager was shocked because that morning my daughter had gone back in and filled out an application, unbeknownst to me. No one told the pastor’s wife, nor had she just seen her either time my daughter was there at the church. Yes, my daughter had been a close friend with her daughter years ago, before her daughter went off to college. The only explanation was that what we speak, due to what we believe, as a result of what we choose to imagine, is a force that is more powerful and more at work in our lives—much more than what we realize.

Each and every day, I see the results of what I speak and what is spoken about in the lives of those around me. Try it yourself, study the Scriptures, and you will see for yourself that what we simply speak about will happen, even to the extent of moving a mountain.