Like it or hate it, believe it or not—your words matter. Words set spiritual laws in motion. God designed it this way. Words fuel results one way or the other. That’s spiritual law. See the following: 

• Proverbs 18:21: The tongue has the power of life and death.
• Mark 11:22-24: You will have whatever you say.
• Proverbs 13:3: He who guards his lips guards his life.

And that’s just a small sample. The Bible is full of warnings against speaking wrong words because God knows they have POWER.

That’s what Jesus was showing Jairus when he was facing a seeming tragedy in his life. News had just come that his daughter had died. Now, Jairus could have said a lot of things right off the bat. He could’ve allowed his first words to be filled with grief, anger, disappointment or fear.

Jesus knew he would be tempted to do this, but He also knew it would set the wrong spiritual laws in motion. So, He quickly cautioned him, saying, “Do not fear, only believe” (Mark 5:36, ESV).

As a result, we don’t see Jairus saying anything. He didn’t get into agreement with the bad report by speaking words, which was critical to the outcome of the situation. And as we know, a miracle took place, and his daughter was raised from the dead.

Matthew 12:37 says, “The words you say will either acquit you or condemn you.” If your words are in opposition to what you want to see come to pass, you’re setting the wrong spiritual law in motion and setting yourself up for a negative result.

(Learn how you could be sinking your own ship with your words HERE.)

Faith words also keep you from being double-minded—flipping back and forth between fear and faith—and will keep you in position to receive. After all, James 1:6-7 says a double-minded man receives nothing from God, so you might as well pick a side—faith or fear—from the beginning.

That’s what the Shunammite woman was doing in 2 Kings 4 when her child died in her arms. She was facing a crisis—a tragedy—and she had to make an in-the-moment decision about how to respond. If she let natural emotions take over, she would have broken down, cried, mourned and even become angry. She likely would have accepted what had happened and begun planning a burial.

But she didn’t do any of those things.

Instead, she laid the child in a room, sent for a donkey, and headed off to see Elisha. When asked by her husband why she was rushing off to see him, instead of weeping or declaring, “Our son is dead!” she spoke these famous words of faith: “All is well.” And you know how it ended for her—she saw her son raised from the dead!

You see, your words are a start button. When you push the button, it sets things in motion—either good or bad. When we speak words, all of heaven is waiting to hear what we will say so that our words can be acted upon. The devil has no right to us except what we give him through our words. That’s why Jesus said, “By your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned” (Matthew 12:37, NKJV).