There is a category of church known as ‘Word of Faith’. Taken to the extreme they believe if you speak it out in faith it MUST happen. Of course wisdom would tell us this can be destructive, discouraging and often leads to a strange sort of prosperity orientated Christianity if you are not careful. At Catalyst we believe that while we can and should pray and ask, God is ultimately sovereign and in control. Much like a child would go to a good father requesting an outcome, we should have the same posture. We boldly ask, but leave the outcome in his hands.
That said, I have found something interesting. That there is, absolutely, power in our words. I have to be honest, time and again, I do find that when you speak out a request, a hope, that aligns with God’s purposes, not always quickly, but eventually you see God move that ‘mountain’ to bring about an outcome.
Here is an example. About 10 years ago now we said out loud, that we wanted to upgrade our carpark so that our complex would be inviting beyond a Sunday, to the members of our local community. When we first said that out loud and started costing it, along came a mountain! (That often happens I find). It would cost more than ONE MILLION DOLLARS to make this happen (said with a Dr Evil chuckle). We went back to the drawing board and said, “that was too much, try again…” This time the engineers said, $500 000. Better, but still too much. So we paused things.
We never lost the original dream however, and along came some smart minds who could do amazing things with time, volunteer labour, clever negotiation and carefully working within council guidelines. All this has meant over the last seven years we have inch by inch ‘moved the mountain’ establishing a very functional car park, with the final stage happening in a week or so, and all costing a fraction of the cost.
I don’t know what is your Dr Evil problem or where you need faith, but never underestimate the power of saying out loud, what your Great Hope for the future is, then watching God work with you over time to see that thing changed. No matter how audacious there is nothing God can’t do.
Carl Mutzelburg 