(The following is the March 12 devotional from my Next Step Devotions book. Before reading it, I suggest you read Luke 7 and pay close attention to verses 1-10.)

Words are powerful. With them, we bless and curse others. We build up and tear down. We encourage people to pursue remarkable achievements and discourage them from being their best. Each of us has experienced kind words from others that were a timely, healing salve, and we have been wounded deeply by harsh words.

As powerful as words are for humans, they cannot compare to the power of a single word spoken by God. His words have ultimate creative, healing, and eternal judgmental power. Genesis 1 has a series of statements that begin with “Then God said,” and the result is the creation of all that exists in the universe. Prophets proclaimed, “Thus says the Lord,” and spoke warnings and judgments from God. John began his gospel with, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” God’s words – spoken, revealed, written, and shown in the incarnate Word – are the ultimate words of power and truth. They have authority and permanence our mortal words cannot achieve.

The centurion in Luke 7 did not consider himself worthy for Jesus to enter his home to heal his servant. He told Jesus, “But say the word, and my servant will be healed” (v. 7). Such faith impressed Jesus, who replied, “I tell you, I have not found so great a faith even in Israel” (v. 9). The fact that God can accomplish anything he pleases with a word is not a license for Christians to “name it and claim it” with selfish prayers and motives inconsistent with Scripture. It is, however, a reminder that we serve the God who spoke the universe into existence and who, when he wills, can answer with a word any prayer we lay at his feet.

Next Step:
Pray about a matter weighing heavy on your heart. Acknowledge that God can speak a word and deal with that situation for his glory. Then wait for God’s answer to become apparent in his perfect timing.