(Excerpts from Charles Capps book “God’s Creative Power”
My Personal Fight of Faith
Several years ago I invested quite a large sum of money in a joint business venture I had put out a fleece (Jud 6:37-40) before the Lord about this business deal. Well, all the fleeces turned out just the way I asked. But I really got fleeced. You see, Paul said in 2 Cor. 4:4, “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ who is the image of God, should shine upon them.” Paul said Satan is the god of this physical world, and Satan knew the fleece I had put out.
Now I have found a better way to find the will of God. “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come”: (John 16:13). I had sold a small farm and invested the money in this business. I lost nearly all the original investment plus $25,000 more.
Through the confusion the enemy caused, I lost faith and turned negative on life. I thought God had done this to me. That was what Satan had put in my mind. After several months, I realized that the negative thoughts in my mind did not agree with the Word of God.
Then the enemy tired to convince me that I had failed God and He was mad at me and that was the reason I had lost the money.
I know this story sounds familiar to many because it is one of Satan’s favorite lies that he uses to bring condemnation and confusion to God’s people.
My Confessions Ruled
In that confused state of mind, I turned negative. I began to say, “It doesn’t matter what I do – it won’t work out anyway.”
I was still farming about 800 acres of land at that time, so I turned my attention to the farming operation. I knew that was one thing I could do well because I had always been successful in it.
But after I had turned negative, I would plant cotton and say, “Well, it doesn’t make any difference how deep I plant it; it will probably rain three inches and it won’t come up anyway.” It did rain, and the cotton didn’t come up.
I planted again, this time shallow – about one-half inch deep – and told almost everyone I saw, “Now it will turn off dry and won’t rain for three weeks.” And it did just what I said.
The third time I planted that year, I made more negative statements. The more problems showed up, the more negative I became (this is Satan’s cycle). The third planting produced about two thirds of a stand of cotton. I can, even now, still hear my words: “Now there will probably come an early freeze and kill it before it opens.” And it did.
For two whole years I confessed the same thing and got just what I said. I farmed 800 acres those two years and did not make enough money to buy my driver’s license. The farming practices that once worked for me did not work. The same ground that once produced bountifully now refused to respond..
I was still giving. I still believed Luke 6:38: “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.” But it was not working for me. I prayed. I repented. I begged God to prosper me—but
nothing worked. I was still negative. My confession destroyed my prayer. I saw failure everywhere I looked. I believed it and confessed it daily. I was a failure. I was at the end of my rope financially. I had just borrowed #100,000 to pay my back bills. I was so poor I couldn’t pay attention. I would go to church, but I couldn’t get anything out of the service because I was worrying about my finances.
Then, a Baptist man came to my house one day. He had some books with him. I remember thumbing through one of the books and reading a few paragraphs here and there. The title of the book was Right and Wrong Thinking, by Kenneth Hagin. It was different from any book I had ever read. Every paragraph said something, and it was straight to the point. I remember to this day one of the first statements I read: “People that think wrong believe wrong, and when they believe wrong, they ace wrong.”
It went off inside me like a bombshell. It just seemed like someone turned a light on inside me. “The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple” (Ps. 119:130). I knew instantly that was the truth.
I ordered that book and another one on confessions. I began to dig into the Word of God to see where I was missing it. I had never heard anyone preach on Mark 11:23-24: “For I say unto you, that whosever shall say unto this mountain, ‘Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith’. Therefore I say unto you, what things soever ye desire, when ye pray believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.”
I am sure I had read it, but it meant nothing to me. It was not in me. I had no idea you could have what you say. But as I began to prayerfully study what Jesus said about WORDS, the mouth, and prayer, God began to reveal these things to me.
I remember one morning I was praying and I said, “Father, I have prayed and it is not working out.” He spoke inside my spirit plainly, “what are you doing?” I said, “I am praying.” He said, “No, you’re not. You are complaining.” Then He said, “who told you it is not working out?” Now that shook me. I thought for a minute, and then I said. “Well, I guess the devil said that.”
Then He spoke into my spirit some things that totally transformed my life. He said, “I would appreciate it if you would quit telling Me what the devil said. You have been praying for Me to prosper you and get the devil off of you. I am not the one that is causing your problems. You are under an attack of the evil one, and I can’t do anything about it. You have bound Me by the words of your own mouth. And it is not going to get any better until you change your confessions and begin to agree with My Word. You are operating in fear and unbelief. You have established the words of the evil one in your behalf. By your own mouth you have released the ability of the enemy. If I were to do anything about it, I would have to violate My Word—and I can’t do that.”
I had just gotten enough of His Word in me that He could talk to me intelligently about the problem. Until then, He had no basis on which to talk to me, for I had cast out His Word and quoted the enemy. Over a period of the next few months, He spoke many things into my spirit that totally upended my way of thinking.
He said, “I am for you; I want you to prosper, but I want you to do it in a way that will work an eternal value in you, by using your faith and acting on the Word. The power of binding and loosing is not in heaven. It is on earth, and if you don’t do it, it won’t be done.” Then He told me this: “Study and search My Word for promises that pertain to you as a believer. Make a list of these, and confess them aloud daily. They will build up your spirit over a period of time. Then, when these truths are established in your spirit, they will become true in you.”
You Can Have What You Say
Most Christians who are defeated in their finances are defeated because they believe and confess the wrong things. They have spoken the words of the enemy, and those words hold them in bondage.
Jesus said in Matthew 17:20, “…for verily I say unto you, if ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you..”
And in Mark 11:23, “For I say unto you, that whosever shall say unto this mountain, be thou removed and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those thins which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.”
In these passages of Scripture, Jesus tells us that what we believe and speak affects the natural world., including our finances. God has given us His Word so that we can understand these spiritual laws that govern the universe. There are spiritual laws just as there are natural laws, such as gravity and the law of lift. When you work with these laws, they fork for you. When you work against God’s spiritual laws, they work against you.
When you speak negatively about your financial situation, you have what you say and believe.
Here is a very important spiritual law: you can have what you say. With your words you can choose life or death, poverty or riches, sickness or health. You may tithe, work hard, and pray for prosperity every day, but if your words are negative and contrary to God’s Word, you could stay mired in debt, struggling to make ends meet.
Words are powerful, but God’s Word is full of creative power. When you agree with what God has said about you and speak His Word, your circumstances will begin to change and line up with His will for your life.
Change what you say
Don’t let your words of doom and failure defeat you in life. Set a watch on your mouth and stop those doubt-filled, negative words. They do not agree with God. When things look bad, it’s better to keep your mouth shut than to go around “poor-mouthing”, telling everyone your financial woes. You’ll dig yourself a hole so deep that you may never get out! But if you take time to program your heart by saying what God says about you, you can have victory over apparent financial defeat.
Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done. Matt 21:21
…but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Mark 11:23
Think about it: Do you really want everything you say to come to pass? This is spiritual law. If you speak God’s Word after Him until you believe and doubt not in your heart, then Jesus said you will have what you say.
Strike these popular phrases from your vocabulary:
“Money doesn’t grow on trees.”
“We can’t afford…”
“I am on a fixed income”
Statements such as these put you I bondage to a belief in lack and hold your finances in bondage.
To Eliminate Debt
Take copies of mortgages, notes, credit card debt, past due bills, delinquent taxes, and other papers representing your debt, and lay them out before you. Boldly declare on the authority of God’s Word:
In Jesus’ name and on the authority of His Holy Word, I call these debts PAID IN FULL! Debt, I speak to you in Jesus’ name: BE PAID and BE GONE! Dematerialize and CEASE TO EXIST! I now declare that all my debts, mortgages, and notes are PAID IN FULL, CANCELLED, or DISSOLVED!
Timely Payment of Monthly Bills
Put your bills in a stack. Lay your hands upon them, and declare out loud: God supplies all my needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. God is the source of my supply, and I have more than enough to pay my bills on time. BE PAID IN FULL! (Phil 4:19)
Watch Your Words
It is vital that you speak only the end result and what you desire. Don’t counteract the declarations you have spoken in faith. Manifestations may not come immediately. Hold fast to your confession. Do not speak contrary or foolish words. Say what you mean, and mean what you say. Speak as if every word you say will come to pass. You can fill your heart and mouth with faith by daily voicing scriptural confessions. (Heb 10:23; Rom 10:8)
Angels Are Listening
God’s throne is established in heaven and His kingdom rules over all. (Ps 103:19) The angels were created as ministering spirits to minister for those who are heirs of salvation. (Heb 1:14) One of the ways they minister to and for us is by taking heed to our words when we are speaking God’s Words after Him. If we are giving voice to God’s Words of promise, then the angels have an assignment to see to it that that promise is eventually fulfilled in your life. They know Jesus said you can have what you say if you believe and doubt not. They are to do God’s pleasure (v. 21), and God has pleasure in the prosperity of His servants.
You Have Supernatural Help
When we give voice to God’s Word on a daily basis, the angels and the Holy Spirit work diligently in arranging our prosperity. They see to it that we are lid by our spirits to be in the right place at the right time so that we will have the promises of God that we are confessing to be manifest in our lives. Always remember that God has pleasure in the prosperity of His servants and Abraham’s blessings are yours because of the abundance of grace manifest to us through Jesus Christ our Lord.
As you make these daily confessions, you may feel as if they are not true, but faith comes by hearing the Word of God, hearing yourself saying what God said about you. (Rom 10:17) Faith will come, and one day you will wake up and feel rich even though you may not have a dollar in your pocket. Your feelings will gall in line with the Word of God.
God created the universe by the methods which you have just put into motion: by the power of His Words. Man is created in the image of God and releases his faith in words. The Word of God, conceived in the human spirit, formed by the tongue, and spoken out of the mouth, is creative power that will work for you.
My Personal Fight of Faith
Several years ago I invested quite a large sum of money in a joint business venture I had put out a fleece (Jud 6:37-40) before the Lord about this business deal. Well, all the fleeces turned out just the way I asked. But I really got fleeced. You see, Paul said in 2 Cor. 4:4, “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ who is the image of God, should shine upon them.” Paul said Satan is the god of this physical world, and Satan knew the fleece I had put out.
Now I have found a better way to find the will of God. “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come”: (John 16:13). I had sold a small farm and invested the money in this business. I lost nearly all the original investment plus $25,000 more.
Through the confusion the enemy caused, I lost faith and turned negative on life. I thought God had done this to me. That was what Satan had put in my mind. After several months, I realized that the negative thoughts in my mind did not agree with the Word of God.
Then the enemy tired to convince me that I had failed God and He was mad at me and that was the reason I had lost the money.
I know this story sounds familiar to many because it is one of Satan’s favorite lies that he uses to bring condemnation and confusion to God’s people.
My Confessions Ruled
In that confused state of mind, I turned negative. I began to say, “It doesn’t matter what I do – it won’t work out anyway.”
I was still farming about 800 acres of land at that time, so I turned my attention to the farming operation. I knew that was one thing I could do well because I had always been successful in it.
But after I had turned negative, I would plant cotton and say, “Well, it doesn’t make any difference how deep I plant it; it will probably rain three inches and it won’t come up anyway.” It did rain, and the cotton didn’t come up.
I planted again, this time shallow – about one-half inch deep – and told almost everyone I saw, “Now it will turn off dry and won’t rain for three weeks.” And it did just what I said.
The third time I planted that year, I made more negative statements. The more problems showed up, the more negative I became (this is Satan’s cycle). The third planting produced about two thirds of a stand of cotton. I can, even now, still hear my words: “Now there will probably come an early freeze and kill it before it opens.” And it did.
For two whole years I confessed the same thing and got just what I said. I farmed 800 acres those two years and did not make enough money to buy my driver’s license. The farming practices that once worked for me did not work. The same ground that once produced bountifully now refused to respond..
I was still giving. I still believed Luke 6:38: “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.” But it was not working for me. I prayed. I repented. I begged God to prosper me—but
nothing worked. I was still negative. My confession destroyed my prayer. I saw failure everywhere I looked. I believed it and confessed it daily. I was a failure. I was at the end of my rope financially. I had just borrowed #100,000 to pay my back bills. I was so poor I couldn’t pay attention. I would go to church, but I couldn’t get anything out of the service because I was worrying about my finances.
Then, a Baptist man came to my house one day. He had some books with him. I remember thumbing through one of the books and reading a few paragraphs here and there. The title of the book was Right and Wrong Thinking, by Kenneth Hagin. It was different from any book I had ever read. Every paragraph said something, and it was straight to the point. I remember to this day one of the first statements I read: “People that think wrong believe wrong, and when they believe wrong, they ace wrong.”
It went off inside me like a bombshell. It just seemed like someone turned a light on inside me. “The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple” (Ps. 119:130). I knew instantly that was the truth.
I ordered that book and another one on confessions. I began to dig into the Word of God to see where I was missing it. I had never heard anyone preach on Mark 11:23-24: “For I say unto you, that whosever shall say unto this mountain, ‘Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith’. Therefore I say unto you, what things soever ye desire, when ye pray believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.”
I am sure I had read it, but it meant nothing to me. It was not in me. I had no idea you could have what you say. But as I began to prayerfully study what Jesus said about WORDS, the mouth, and prayer, God began to reveal these things to me.
I remember one morning I was praying and I said, “Father, I have prayed and it is not working out.” He spoke inside my spirit plainly, “what are you doing?” I said, “I am praying.” He said, “No, you’re not. You are complaining.” Then He said, “who told you it is not working out?” Now that shook me. I thought for a minute, and then I said. “Well, I guess the devil said that.”
Then He spoke into my spirit some things that totally transformed my life. He said, “I would appreciate it if you would quit telling Me what the devil said. You have been praying for Me to prosper you and get the devil off of you. I am not the one that is causing your problems. You are under an attack of the evil one, and I can’t do anything about it. You have bound Me by the words of your own mouth. And it is not going to get any better until you change your confessions and begin to agree with My Word. You are operating in fear and unbelief. You have established the words of the evil one in your behalf. By your own mouth you have released the ability of the enemy. If I were to do anything about it, I would have to violate My Word—and I can’t do that.”
I had just gotten enough of His Word in me that He could talk to me intelligently about the problem. Until then, He had no basis on which to talk to me, for I had cast out His Word and quoted the enemy. Over a period of the next few months, He spoke many things into my spirit that totally upended my way of thinking.
He said, “I am for you; I want you to prosper, but I want you to do it in a way that will work an eternal value in you, by using your faith and acting on the Word. The power of binding and loosing is not in heaven. It is on earth, and if you don’t do it, it won’t be done.” Then He told me this: “Study and search My Word for promises that pertain to you as a believer. Make a list of these, and confess them aloud daily. They will build up your spirit over a period of time. Then, when these truths are established in your spirit, they will become true in you.”
You Can Have What You Say
Most Christians who are defeated in their finances are defeated because they believe and confess the wrong things. They have spoken the words of the enemy, and those words hold them in bondage.
Jesus said in Matthew 17:20, “…for verily I say unto you, if ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you..”
And in Mark 11:23, “For I say unto you, that whosever shall say unto this mountain, be thou removed and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those thins which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.”
In these passages of Scripture, Jesus tells us that what we believe and speak affects the natural world., including our finances. God has given us His Word so that we can understand these spiritual laws that govern the universe. There are spiritual laws just as there are natural laws, such as gravity and the law of lift. When you work with these laws, they fork for you. When you work against God’s spiritual laws, they work against you.
When you speak negatively about your financial situation, you have what you say and believe.
Here is a very important spiritual law: you can have what you say. With your words you can choose life or death, poverty or riches, sickness or health. You may tithe, work hard, and pray for prosperity every day, but if your words are negative and contrary to God’s Word, you could stay mired in debt, struggling to make ends meet.
Words are powerful, but God’s Word is full of creative power. When you agree with what God has said about you and speak His Word, your circumstances will begin to change and line up with His will for your life.
Change what you say
Don’t let your words of doom and failure defeat you in life. Set a watch on your mouth and stop those doubt-filled, negative words. They do not agree with God. When things look bad, it’s better to keep your mouth shut than to go around “poor-mouthing”, telling everyone your financial woes. You’ll dig yourself a hole so deep that you may never get out! But if you take time to program your heart by saying what God says about you, you can have victory over apparent financial defeat.
Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done. Matt 21:21
…but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Mark 11:23
Think about it: Do you really want everything you say to come to pass? This is spiritual law. If you speak God’s Word after Him until you believe and doubt not in your heart, then Jesus said you will have what you say.
Strike these popular phrases from your vocabulary:
“Money doesn’t grow on trees.”
“We can’t afford…”
“I am on a fixed income”
Statements such as these put you I bondage to a belief in lack and hold your finances in bondage.
To Eliminate Debt
Take copies of mortgages, notes, credit card debt, past due bills, delinquent taxes, and other papers representing your debt, and lay them out before you. Boldly declare on the authority of God’s Word:
In Jesus’ name and on the authority of His Holy Word, I call these debts PAID IN FULL! Debt, I speak to you in Jesus’ name: BE PAID and BE GONE! Dematerialize and CEASE TO EXIST! I now declare that all my debts, mortgages, and notes are PAID IN FULL, CANCELLED, or DISSOLVED!
Timely Payment of Monthly Bills
Put your bills in a stack. Lay your hands upon them, and declare out loud: God supplies all my needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. God is the source of my supply, and I have more than enough to pay my bills on time. BE PAID IN FULL! (Phil 4:19)
Watch Your Words
It is vital that you speak only the end result and what you desire. Don’t counteract the declarations you have spoken in faith. Manifestations may not come immediately. Hold fast to your confession. Do not speak contrary or foolish words. Say what you mean, and mean what you say. Speak as if every word you say will come to pass. You can fill your heart and mouth with faith by daily voicing scriptural confessions. (Heb 10:23; Rom 10:8)
Angels Are Listening
God’s throne is established in heaven and His kingdom rules over all. (Ps 103:19) The angels were created as ministering spirits to minister for those who are heirs of salvation. (Heb 1:14) One of the ways they minister to and for us is by taking heed to our words when we are speaking God’s Words after Him. If we are giving voice to God’s Words of promise, then the angels have an assignment to see to it that that promise is eventually fulfilled in your life. They know Jesus said you can have what you say if you believe and doubt not. They are to do God’s pleasure (v. 21), and God has pleasure in the prosperity of His servants.
You Have Supernatural Help
When we give voice to God’s Word on a daily basis, the angels and the Holy Spirit work diligently in arranging our prosperity. They see to it that we are lid by our spirits to be in the right place at the right time so that we will have the promises of God that we are confessing to be manifest in our lives. Always remember that God has pleasure in the prosperity of His servants and Abraham’s blessings are yours because of the abundance of grace manifest to us through Jesus Christ our Lord.
As you make these daily confessions, you may feel as if they are not true, but faith comes by hearing the Word of God, hearing yourself saying what God said about you. (Rom 10:17) Faith will come, and one day you will wake up and feel rich even though you may not have a dollar in your pocket. Your feelings will gall in line with the Word of God.
God created the universe by the methods which you have just put into motion: by the power of His Words. Man is created in the image of God and releases his faith in words. The Word of God, conceived in the human spirit, formed by the tongue, and spoken out of the mouth, is creative power that will work for you.