What You Hear
As it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations”*) in the presence of Him whom he believed ó God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did; NKJV Rom 4:17
The second approach to changing your situation is – To hear something different. In speaking light, it entails more than just speaking positive but affirming God’s word over your situation. In your speaking there is a side benefit– you change what you’re hearing.
Previously, I mentioned that darkness could represent the obscurity of tomorrow. In this passage in Romans 4, the Apostle Paul speaks of how God was calling Abraham to be the father of many nations when at the time; Abraham’s circumstances made it so impossible for him and his wife Sarah to even have a child. Abraham was old and Sarah was old and barren (Genesis 16:1-2,17:15). The impossibility of having children created their dark situation. But God did something unique for Abraham. To illustrate this point, I’d like to expound on a comment I made in my book titled, “ 7 Dimensions to Fulfilling Your Call”
“In God’s eyes, Abram was already the father of many nations, but how could He convince Abram to see himself from this perspective? The father of many nations had never existed on Abram’s level before. God had a solution to get Abram to agree with Him and to change what Abram was saying about himself…To accomplish this, God changed his name from Abram (high father) to Abraham which means “father of a multitude,” to reflect what He had already said.
An echo was created in Abraham’s ears when God changed his name. Webster defines a human echo as one who closely imitates or repeats another’s words, ideas, or acts. So every time Abraham heard his name, or when he introduced himself, he and others were literally echoing what God said…God knew that if Abraham heard the echo enough, he actually would start believing it. Abraham was repeating God’s Word, God’s idea that eventually caused him to act God’s way. This process caused his faith to elevate to where it needed to be. Eventually his faith caused what did not exist to come into being.”
The more Abraham heard his name, the more he believed it. Instead of listening to the negative thoughts, he affirmed with his own mouth God’s promise to become the father for many nations. He kept saying it until it changed who he was. It changed his attitude. It changed how He saw God. It changed how he saw his wife. It transformed his way of thinking. It created hope.
So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Rom 10:17, NKJV
God wants to talk to you and He wants you to talk to yourself. Your own words can impact you more than the words from others. You need to hear yourself affirm what you believe. Don’t just take the attitude, “oh well, if it happens, it happens and if doesn’t…well.” You have to verbalize God’s word, God’s promise to yourself until it changes something in you. The more you repeat it; you’ll become the echo of what God said. So change what you are saying so that you change what your hearing.