Speaking Things Into Manifestation
It was a Thursday afternoon. While I was working, I hopped on a call with a friend, and as we began catching up on our day, she suddenly asked me a question.
“What is your take on speaking things into manifestation?”
I paused for a moment. It was quite a good question.
Then I simply said, “If we, as human beings, have the power to speak things into manifestation, where then does prayer come in?”.
She paused.
She began to think about it.
Then she asked, “What about the Scripture that says, ‘Call those things which are not as though they were’?”
She then said, “Let’s go through it together.”
So we went to Romans 4:17. When we looked at the verse in its context, we realized that it was talking about God.
It says that God is the One “who gives life to the dead, and calls those things which be not as though they were.”
That changed the conversation.
The verse was not presenting human beings as possessing the same creative authority as God. It was describing God, the One who gives life to the dead and calls into existence what does not yet exist.
My friend then said, “Hmmmm.”
Then she asked another question.
“What about the Scripture that says death and life are in the power of the tongue?”
I told her that when reading Scripture, we have to read Scripture in light of Scripture and in its consistency and in its context . Scripture helps us understand Scripture.
So we went to Proverbs 18.
Proverbs 18 speaks extensively about wisdom, relationships, communication, and the consequences of our actions. Verse 1 speaks about the dangers of isolation, while verse 2 highlights the foolishness of someone who has no desire for understanding.
Then we came to Proverbs 18:21, which says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.”
So what does that actually mean?
Does it mean that I can simply say something and cause it to materialize in reality?
I do not believe that is what the passage is teaching.
Our words have power, but that power is not the same as God's sovereign power to create reality.
Think about it practically.
If I choose to insult someone every day, my words can affect that person deeply. I can discourage them, wound their confidence, damage a relationship, or make them feel worthless.
But if I consistently encourage someone, speak truth to them, remind them of their value, and build them up, my words can have a completely different effect.
Our words can bring life into someone's heart, and our words can also bring destruction into someone's life.
Scripture confirms this principle.
Ephesians 4:29 says:
“Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.”
Notice the emphasis.
The instruction is not simply, “Speak and whatever you say will become reality.”
The emphasis is on what our words do to those who hear them.
Are our words building people up?
Are they giving grace?
Are they helping?
Are they healing?
Or are they corrupting, tearing down, and destroying?
That brought us to another Scripture.
James 4:14 to 15 says:
“Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.”
And this, to me, brings the entire conversation into perspective.
There is nothing wrong with speaking positively.
There is nothing wrong with believing God for something.
But there is a difference between trusting God and believing that our words themselves have become the source of creation.
God is God.
We are not.
He calls things into existence.
We pray.
We believe.
We ask.
We hope.
We speak according to His truth.
But ultimately, we surrender the outcome to Him.
That is why the prayer is not, “My will be done.”
It is:
“Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.”
And that was how we ended the conversation.
We said a short prayer together and ended the call.
