A Powerful Spiritual Lesson From the Stupidest Movie Ever

I had the pleasure of watching Ella Enchanted recently. I loved it because it contains one of the most powerful spiritual lessons I’ve ever seen. (Yes, it’s the stupidest movie ever, but let’s not talk about that, ok?)

This movie shows a visual depiction of how the Word of God works: how it’s creative and effectual, and it actually creates the thing it’s sent for out of nothing.

How does “Ella Enchanted” show the effectual Word of God? Here’s the plot:

Ella lives in Frell, a not-modern, not-quite-old medieval world with humans, giants, fairies, and elves all living together. When Ella was born, a fairy put a “gift” on her that she would always be obedient.

Yeah, that’s right. Obedient. You’d think that might be a positive thing, but it’s not. Whenever anyone tells Ella of Frell to do anything–that’s right, anything–their command hits her visibly and she does whatever she was instructed to do.

So that means:

• Ella’s bully stepsisters tell her to “just admit you’re stupid and you don’t know what you’re talking about,” and so she says “I’m stupid and I don’t know what I’m talking about” immediately.
• A well-meaning Prince Charming tells her to “wait right there” in the road. Her feet then become glued to the road and she can’t get out of the way when a horse and wagon come bearing down upon her.
• A wicked uncle orders her to kill Prince Charming, knowing she can’t disobey; and the whole end of the movie is about how she tries to get free from the obedience spell so she won’t kill her new love.

Whenever someone orders her to do something, she literally stops whatever she’s doing, straightens up like she got hit with something in the face, and does it.

The funny thing is that people’s commands actually give her the power to do things she doesn’t know how to do.

The cutest example of this in the whole movie is in this clip, where she sings “Somebody To Love.” She’s in a bar with Prince Charming (the only other human there), a few elves (the singers and musicians), and a bunch of happy, fun giants. One of the giant-men says, “Sing!” and all of a sudden she straightens up and is able to sing. Additional commands follow. Watch the clip below, and watch for these commands:

• “Sing!” … and she can and does.
• “Louder!” … and she comes back and sings with gusto.
• “Give it a little more soul!” … and she goes wild with, uh, soul. 😉
• “Dance!” … and she suddenly becomes a dancing machine.

Watch here:

So what’s the powerful spiritual principle here?

When someone gives Ella a command, the actual command births in her the power to perform it. The same thing happens when God speaks a word:

When God speaks a word, the command carries with it not only the desire, but also the power to perform it.

That means:

• When Jesus told the man with the withered hand in Matthew 12:13 to stretch out his hand, Jesus’ command birthed in that man the power to stretch out his hand. (It was withered; he couldn’t stretch it out before!) So he stretched it out, and it was healed.
• When Jesus told the disciples to heal the sick, raise the dead, and cast out demons in His name, His command literally birthed in them not only the desire, but also the power to perform it.
• When Jesus told the sick man at the pool of Bethesda to “Rise, take up your bed and walk,” John 5:8 tells us that “immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked.” Jesus didn’t hit the man, lift him up, or do anything else. He simply spoke, and the command to rise birthed the ability to rise and walk in the sick man.

Related: To Hell With Redemptive Suffering!

There’s a term for this. The term is “effectual”: the effectual Word of God. God’s Word is creative; it literally creates the reality that it’s sent to address.

And God’s Word in your mouth is just as powerful as God’s Word in God’s mouth.

Isaiah 55:10-11 tells us:

“For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven,
And do not return there,
But water the earth,
And make it bring forth and bud,
That it may give seed to the sower
And bread to the eater,
So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;
It shall not return to Me void,
But it shall accomplish what I please,
And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it” (emphasis mine).

God’s Word will never return to Him void. It doesn’t matter whose mouth it comes out of; the point is that it’s God’s Word, and it will accomplish whatever God sent it to accomplish.

So can you apply this to change your life?

Start speaking God’s Word over yourself. God’s promises apply to you. God’s Word applies to you. Start verbally declaring God’s Word over yourself:

• in your finances,
• your relationships,
• your health,
• your job,
• your ministry,
• your family,
• and everything else you can think of.

Related: Radical Prayer #2: Jesus Became Poor That You Might Become Rich

If you need ideas for how to speak God’s Word over yourself, sign up for my free email updates and get my power-packed, printable blessing cards for free. These contain 12 cards and a total of 76 Scriptural declarations for you to speak over yourself. The blessings are organized around the following topics:

• Blessings on your mind
• Blessings on your body
• Blessings on your friendships
• Blessings on your emotions (2 cards)
• Blessings on your marriage
• Blessings on your finances (2 cards)
• Blessings on your spiritual life (3 cards); and
• Blessings on your prayer life.

These blessings are all Scriptural. I placed the Scripture reference at the end of each one, so you can study them more if you like. The cards are about 3” x 5” in size, so they are easy to print and carry with you in your wallet, purse, or planner.

Speak the Word of God over yourself every day… and watch and see how God moves in answer to His own Word. God’s Word is effectual and creative, and it’s just as powerful coming out of your mouth as it is coming out of God’s mouth.

What area of your life do you need to speak God’s Word over today?