Words Are Your Servants
Words Are Your Servants
by Charles Capps
Your Words are Your Servants
“Now it happened, on a certain day, that He got into a boat with His disciples. And He said to them, ‘Let us cross over to the other side of the lake.’ And they launched out. But as they sailed He fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water, and were in jeopardy. And they came to Him and awoke Him, saying, ‘Master, Master, we are perishing.’ Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water. And they ceased, and there was a calm. But He said to them, ‘Where is your faith?’ And they were afraid, and marveled, saying to one another, ‘Who can this be? For He commands even the winds and water, and they obey Him!’” (Luke 8:22-25)
It was obvious their faith was in their mouth and in their heart. They believed they were all going to drown in the midst of that storm and they said so! They had more faith in the storm than in the words of Jesus who had said, “Let us go to the other side of the lake.” Now, if words are servants, would it really serve them to send their words out to perish by drowning in the lake? Jesus had already declared his intent and spoken it.
Then again in Matthew 17 the disciples failed to cast a demon out of a boy, so Jesus had to do it. Later when Jesus was alone with them, they asked Him why they couldn’t cast him out.
“And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: 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.” (Matthew 17:20)
These words are similar to what Jesus said in Luke 17:6, “If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea, and it should obey you.”
Both of these examples, the mountain in Matthew 17:20 and the sycamine tree in Luke 17:6, refer to the problems or the circumstances of life.
Jesus did not say, “If you have faith the size of a seed,” but, “If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed…” Jesus is using as an example a type of seed that is familiar to the apostles. They were familiar with a mustard plant. Another thing that was involved in Jesus saying “mustard seed,” it didn’t necessarily have anything to do with the size of the seed, but a mustard seed will produce a mustard plant and nothing else. Whatever you do to it, it’s going to be mustard. So Jesus was saying, “if you had faith that will not change under any circumstances.” A mustard seed is small, and a single seed is not good for anything but planting.
Jesus seemed to be saying, you don’t need more faith, but you must be willing to plant what you have for that’s the way you put it to work. The idea conveyed was to say to the problem, “Be removed, you will never hinder me again!”
When answering the apostles’ request to give them more faith, Jesus, in so many words, said, “You don’t need more faith. You just need to use the faith you have by speaking it.”
Plant Your Faith
Seeds (Words) Are Servants
Luke 17:6 and Matthew 17:20 contain three secrets of faith:
- Faith works like a seed.
- You must plant it to get the benefit of it.
- You plant faith by speaking words that are based on the authority of God’s Word.
The Kingdom operates by the principle of sowing and reaping. “And He said, ‘The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.’” (Mark 4:26-29)
In studying the teachings of Jesus, Peter, James, and others, I am convinced that the seed cannot be planted in your heart unless you speak words. They will not abide in the heart unless you speak them. Paul tells us, “But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way, ‘Do not say in your heart, Who will ascend into heaven?’ But what does it say? ‘The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart.’ (that is, the word of faith which we preach)” (Romans 10:6,8)
Leave your Seed in the Ground
(Let It Stay Said)
Here is something you should remember when planting seeds of faith: Once the seed is planted, you no longer have it; it’s in the ground (heart), leave it planted.
You often hear people use the phrase, “I’m believing for…” (I have said it myself). But if you are believing for it, you are in the process; but you haven’t believed yet. Once you have believed, it is settled!
Once the seed is planted, don’t go back to dig it up! It is the substance of what you desire. Praise God for it, even though it’s not yet in your possession, because you have believed that you have received in the realm of the spirit past tense…and you shall receive. You’ve traded faith for the thing you believed.
When you believed, you settled it! You planted your faith. Don’t dig it up because you can’t have both the seed and the harvest. You have already believed. Leave your faith planted and confess the harvest. Imagine the confusion if the master tells the servant to do one thing and tells him the opposite the next.
Let’s look at the conversation between Jesus and the centurion in Matthew 8. The centurion said, “‘Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘I will come and heal him.’ The centurion answered and said, ‘Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.’ When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!’” (Matthew 8:6-10)
When Jesus heard these words, He stopped and preached a short sermon. This centurion was a Roman Gentile. He was not under the Covenant that God had with Israel at that time, and yet Jesus said he had the greatest faith He had found in all Israel! The centurion fully understood authority and serving. He immediately recognized that words are servants and perform what is requested.
Then Jesus said, “‘Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you.’ And his servant was healed that same hour.” (Matthew 8:13)
The centurion released his faith when he said to Jesus, “Speak the word only, and my servant will be healed.” He was not trying to believe; he had already believed. He planted the seed - he was fully persuaded and Jesus said to him, “As you have believed, let it be done for you!”
Words Are Servants
Let’s go back to Luke 17 where Jesus said it should obey you and continue. “And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and sit down to eat’? But will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink’? Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not.” (Luke 17:7-9)
Faith is the servant of the believer who gives voice to his faith. In Bible days, as soon as the servant came in from plowing or feeding cattle, he cooked the meal and fed the master; then he ate the leftovers later.
Words are Untiring Servants
Faith-filled words become your servants, working for you day in and day out. When they bring the victory, you don’t say to your words: “Since you won that victory, I’m going to let you relax a few days.” After spending a long day working, the servant in Luke 17 came home to do more work.
In Matthew 12:36 Jesus said, “But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.” Don’t allow your words to become idle and unproductive. Why? I believe the answer is found in Mark 11:23-24, “For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.”
If you let your servant (faith-filled words) lie around idle, you will give an account of not putting your words to work for you.
We must keep our words working. We do that by speaking the thing desired based on the authority of God’s Word. Faith-filled words are spiritual forces. They get to the future before you do – and prepare the way for you. You are framing your world daily by the words you speak.
Things to Remember
Learn to use your faith as a seed. Plant your faith by speaking it. Once the seed is planted, don’t dig it up. Faith-filled words are your servants. They work for you day and night. Keep your words working, they also produce faith!
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