Day 11: Back to Your Roots and Speaking Life

Welcome to Day 11 of Morning and Night: 21 Days of Praying for Your Ministry! Today, in the morning, we are praying about getting back to your roots and rediscovering your spiritual DNA in Christ. In the evening, we are praying about the words of your mouth, asking the Lord to help you speak only words of life.

What do I mean when I say, “Get back to your roots”?

God created you with a specific spiritual DNA. This isn’t talking about your biological DNA–that which determines your hair color, eye color, height, and so on. Your spiritual DNA is all about “what makes you tick.” It’s the calling, the passion, and the specific things that you love (things which bring you joy) that God has implanted in the very fiber of your being.

Every aspect of your spiritual DNA is important. However, sometimes we lose sight of who we are, and of who God made us to be. When we do that …

• When you forget that God made you creative, and you forget how much you enjoy creativity (and how much peace and relaxation it brings you to create things or do art of some kind) …
• When you forget that God called you to be an intercessor, and that you used to draw so close to God when you interceded for others …
• Or when you forget how much you love to write and preach and encourage people, but you haven’t even met anyone for dinner and deep conversation in a long time, let alone preaching the Word …
• Or you love to write out deep things, but it’s been forever since you even journaled your thoughts, even though journaling used to be a really important part of your life and “venting” process …

All of these are tiny examples of forgetting some aspect of your spiritual DNA.

And beloved, it is God’s will for you to rediscover your spiritual DNA and get back to your roots.

Look at what He says in Isaiah 51:1-3:

““Listen to Me, you who follow after righteousness, you who seek the Lord: Look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the hole of the pit from which you were dug. Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who bore you; for I called him alone, and blessed him and increased him.”

For the Lord will comfort Zion, He will comfort all her waste places; He will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness will be found in it, thanksgiving and the voice of melody” (Isaiah 51:1-3 NKJV).

God wants you to “look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the hole of the pit from which you were dug.”

To understand this, think of yourself as a sculpture made of marble. Before God could ever sculpt you, He would have had to cut a big block of marble out of a mountain somewhere. He then shaped the marble into the piece known as “you,” but the rock from which you were hewn contains your most basic DNA. Even with your modern life on, you still are made out of certain spiritual material. It’s who you are at a visceral level.

You could also think of yourself as a masterpiece of artwork, made out of clay. The Artist (God) dug the clay from the earth and formed you, but your DNA–the clay from which you were formed–is an integral part of who you are.

When you rediscover your spiritual roots, THAT is when you connect with the blessing, comfort, and increase that the Lord has divinely ordained for your life.

Your spiritual roots are often the rawest, most visceral ways that you connect with God.

He made you to connect with Him in those ways, and you will generally feel unfulfilled without doing so.

Additionally, we as Christians have spiritual roots that pertain to the way Christ birthed the church.

The spiritual roots of the church–and thus, of every believer–are things like prayer, fasting, praise, singing hymns together, breaking bread together, the study of the Word, and laboring together in Word and doctrine. These things are EVERY saved person’s spiritual roots, and we often forget even these things.

However, again, it’s time to get back to your spiritual roots in that way also. God is calling every person to rediscover the ancient paths, and to walk in them!

Read Jeremiah 6:16:

“Thus says the Lord: “Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; then you will find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it’” (Jeremiah 6:16 NKJV).

If you want to be happy and fulfilled in the Lord, finding rest for your soul, you’ve got to walk those ancient paths, those old paths–and re-establish yourself in them, rather than in the busyness and chaos of modern culture! Culture will drain you dry if you let it, but God’s ancient paths–His old paths, “where the good way is”–will bring you joy and fulfillment.

Why? Because the ancient paths and old ways will help you point your entire life at God and live in His manifest presence, constantly aware of Him and His glory. As David wrote in Psalm 16:

“You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11 NKJV).

So, are you ready to return to the ancient paths and rediscover your spiritual DNA? Are you ready to get back to your roots?

If so, pray this:

• Thank the Lord for creating you with a purpose. Thank Him for His good plans for your life.
• Thank Him for making you unique and special, and for giving you a unique role in the Body of Christ.
• Thank Him for assigning to you things that bring you joy, such as creativity, certain hobbies, your spiritual gifts, and so on.
• Praise Him for blessing you with these things, and for bringing you into closer relationship with Himself using these things!
• Confess to the Lord any ways that you have walked away from the ancient paths. If you haven’t been spending time with Him in those ways that are special between you and Him; if you haven’t been seeking Him with all your heart in Bible study and prayer; if you haven’t been using your spiritual gifts very much (or at all) … confess all those things to Him.
• Ask the Lord today to help you rediscover the ancient paths, where the good way is, and to walk in them.
• Ask the Lord to give you rest for your soul. Tell Him that you are coming to Him, claiming His promise that He will give you rest when you are weary and heavy laden.
• Ask the Lord to bless you, increase you, and comfort you today.
• Ask Him to take everything in you that is wilderness–things that are dry and hard–and water them and make them blossom like a rose!
• Pray that the Lord would restore your song, and that thanksgiving and melody would rise up out of your body, soul, heart, and spirit to Him in abundance once again!
• Thank Him for healing and restoring your soul, and for helping you get back to your spiritual DNA.

Beloved, Jesus is our Good Shepherd.

He will refresh and heal your soul if you will ask Him to do so, and then take the time to allow Him to do that work in your life!

And for our evening prayer points, we are praying about speaking life.

The Bible is REALLY clear, and somewhat stern, about the importance of our spoken words. Scripture tells us that we will give an account for all our words. Look at what Jesus said to the Pharisees in Matthew 12:

“Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned” (Matthew 12:34-37 NKJV).

That’s pretty serious: for every idle word we speak, we will give an account of it in the day of judgment. Lord, have mercy! Forgive us, Lord! For we have surely all sinned with our words.

O beloved, it is our sacred duty to speak LIFE.

Especially as ministers of the Gospel, how can we speak words that pollute? We must not do so! We are to speak as the very oracles of God Himself:

1 Peter 4:11: “If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen” (1 Peter 4:11 NKJV).

And if we will speak as God speaks, He will give us tremendous impact and influence to touch others with hope, refreshment, and encouragement. As the Son of God Himself spoke in Isaiah 50:

Isaiah 50:4-5: “The Lord God has given Me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him who is weary. He awakens Me morning by morning, He awakens My ear to hear as the learned. The Lord God has opened My ear; and I was not rebellious, nor did I turn away” (Isaiah 50:4-5 NKJV).

In fact, the Lord commands us to only speak things that impart GRACE to the hearer.

Look at Ephesians 4:29:

“Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers” (Ephesians 4:29 NKJV).

O beloved, this is serious stuff!

Even our living conditions are determined by the fruit of our mouth!

I speak the Word over my life, family, and this ministry every day–and I truly believe that is why and how the Lord has sustained us, even during dark times … and even when so many other Gospel efforts are being decimated. We have been impacted by hard times, but we are “pressed but not crushed!” And I truly believe that He is sustaining us because we speak the Word and claim His promises no matter what, even during the darkest of hours!

O beloved, it’s so important to speak God’s Word out of your mouth over your own life.

This is a big part of how to receive blessing from the Lord!

The book of Proverbs–which is all God’s Holy Spirit teaching how to operate in His Kingdom–is really clear on this. Look at these three promises/passages from Proverbs:

Proverbs 18:20-21: “A man’s stomach shall be satisfied from the fruit of his mouth; from the produce of his lips he shall be filled. Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit” (Proverbs 18:20-21 NKJV).

Proverbs 13:2: “A man shall eat well by the fruit of his mouth, but the soul of the unfaithful feeds on violence” (Proverbs 13:2 NKJV).

Proverbs 12:14: “A man will be satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth, and the recompense of a man’s hands will be rendered to him” (Proverbs 12:14 NKJV).

O beloved, we must learn to speak life.

And if you are already speaking life, you can still ask Jesus to purge your words and renew your ability to speak as the oracles of God. Especially in public ministry–but, just as importantly, in ministry to your family and friends throughout daily life–we must speak as God speaks, and only as God speaks! We have to learn to measure our words and think before we speak, saying only what we know to be true, right, and Biblical in any given moment.

Lord, help us!

Are you ready to pray?

Pray as follows today, asking the Lord to help you speak life:

• Tell the Father that you come before Him in Jesus’ name.
• Thank Him that He is good, and that His mercy endures forever.
• Confess to the Lord any sins you have committed by speaking idle words, or by speaking words that were not from Him.
• Ask the Lord to purify your heart, and to give you clean hands and a pure heart–for it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks.
• Ask the Lord to forgive you for every idle word you have ever spoken. Plead the blood of Jesus over those words, and ask that they would be broken off your life–and that the Lord would fill you and your life with His Holy Spirit and cover you with His blood in all those areas.
• Pray that, from now on, Holy Spirit would convict you and help you to speak only words that justify you; words that bring life and impart grace to the hearers and blessings to you.
• Ask the Lord to give you the tongue of the learned, that you may speak a word in due season to those who are weary.
• Ask Him to waken your ear morning by morning to hear as His disciple. Pray that He would help you to not be rebellious against Him, but to be humble before Him, and to speak only what He speaks, every moment of every day.
• Pray that He would help you to speak as the very oracles of God, today and every day.
• Pray that God would be glorified through your words!
• Ask the Lord to satisfy you with good things as you learn to speak the words that He speaks–words of life–over every aspect of your life.
• Pray that He would show you the direct connection between your words and the fruit of your words.
• Commit your words, mouth, and tongue to Him, and ask Him to cleanse your lips as He did for Isaiah in Isaiah chapter 6.
• Thank Him for His help, His mercy, and His grace in forgiving your sins and helping you to speak words of LIFE from now on, and give Him all the praise!

Beloved, you cannot truly walk in the ways of God if you do not speak the words of God.

Every person has room to come up higher in this area. And when you do begin to speak only words of life–or even get more serious about doing so, if you have already begun working on this–you will see change and growth, even healing and deliverance, like you have never seen before.

Are you committed to speaking only words of life from now on, by the grace and help of God? Are you asking the Lord to help you rediscover the ancient paths and get back to your roots? If so, leave a comment below!