The goal and objective of every believer should be to speak words that are alive and filled with the anointing and presence of God Himself. The Spirit of God should be released through the words we speak.
When our spirit is in contact with the Holy Spirit, we are enabled to draw upon the anointing and release it through the words we speak. The anointing or the presence of God that is released through our words can then touch and influence those who hear them. There has to be an anointing on the speaker and the hearer. There must be anointed words and anointed ears. Those who hear the words can draw upon the one who is speaking and pull the anointing out.
When our words are filled with the Spirit of the Lord, then those who hear become aware of the presence of the Lord.
The entire second letter to Timothy is very much dedicated to the preaching of a Word that is truly alive. Paul commissioned Timothy, I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; preach the word… II Timothy 4:1–2.
Preaching the word is like a freight train, consisting of hundreds of words following one another, like boxcars. But those words, like boxcars, are not to be empty. Every word is to be filled with the anointing of God. God does not reach us through empty or pointless words, but through words that are filled with His Spirit.
Jesus said, “My words are Spirit and they are life” (John 6:63). He could have said, “My Spirit and My life come to you through a Word.” God conveys Himself through the Word He speaks.
The first verse of the Gospel of John tells us, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Then we read in verse 14, And the Word was made flesh… The physical body of Jesus Christ was actually a vehicle to convey God to us. Anyone who listened to Jesus or saw Him by revelation saw the Father and heard everything that God had to speak and bring forth. As the body of Christ in the earth, the words we speak are not to be empty, but filled with the Spirit of God.
Paul wrote to Timothy, Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth. II Timothy 2:15. We are to be a workman, not one who labors with a sense of futility, but one who believes for their words to be so filled with God that they bless those who hear them. We handle the Word of God in such a way that it brings God to others. Whenever there is not a revelation of the Lord to someone’s heart through the Word that is spoken, it can lead them astray.
Paul continued, But avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness. II Timothy 2:16. Paul warned us about empty words, those not filled with the Spirit of God that they lead to further ungodliness.
Problems are created by sermons that are not anointed, sermons that come forth from an unanointed heart. They tend to stir up trouble. When the preacher preaches against gossip, usually, the only people who listen seriously are the sheep who are not even guilty of the gossiping. While the sheep suffer over it, the goats jump for joy and later phone one another to gossip about the people to whom they think the sermon applies. The sermon that is supposed to correct the gossip only stirs up more gossip. When sermons are not anointed of the Lord, they only lead to further ungodliness, instead of correcting the problem.
When God speaks through a sermon, and the words are filled with the Spirit of God, if we have fallen short, the Holy Spirit convicts us, but we can feel Gods love in it, we can feel the nearness of God and we feel included in his family. When words are filled the Spirit of God, He imparts to us a sense of security. He acknowledges His fatherhood and His concern over us when He gives us a living Word. It always conveys His love for us.
Worldly and empty chatter leads to further ungodliness. And their talk will spread like gangrene. II Timothy 2:17a. Talk spreads like gangrene, a condition in which the bloodstream is infected. Empty chatter infects the mainstream of life that flows through the Body. Paul was making a contrast between living words that heal, and empty words which are not only harmful, but deadly.
The phrase “sound doctrine,” found in II Timothy 4:3, comes from a Greek phrase which literally means “healthful teaching.” The Greek words that describe good doctrine and teaching also pertain to healthful food. We need wholesome, healthy teaching that has life in it, teaching that causes us to grow spiritually.
Sermons and words that are spoken can be compared to either processed food or natural food. In traditional Christian churches, a great many sermons are like processed food. The people are fed a certain set diet of sermons, which are constructed so as to produce converts and church members. They are taught a number of sermons on tithing to keep the church operating financially. They will also preach on various doctrinal issues. Such artificially processed spiritual food may taste good, but it does not have a life-giving quality.
When we are in tune with the Holy Spirit the right emphasis comes naturally through the living Word that God is giving to His people in this hour. They eat what is set before them, knowing that it is living spiritual food. God is giving His people a living Word filled with everything they need—all the necessary spiritual enzymes and vitamins. For this reason we should desire to speak God into all of our words.
Our desire is to reveal the Lord in everything we do, in living words and in living works that are filled with the anointing of the Lord. We can be spiritual while doing what seems to be the most menial task for the Lord. Whatever our hand finds to do in the Lord, we do it with all of our might and with all of our strength. We bring God into everything we do, without considering whether or not the job is worthy of our efforts.
If we want to have a very important ministry, we can devote ourselves to helping the babies and the little children. They are easy to bless because they are so open to the Lord. They need the blessing of the Lord to bring a flow of health and life to them and to break any bondage upon them that hinder their moving in the Lord. Long before a child can understand with their mind, their spirit is very sensitive to blessing. It is important to bless a child even when we are caring for their daily needs.
John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Spirit before he was born. He was so sensitive to the fetus of Christ in Mary that he leaped within Elizabeth’s womb when her cousin Mary greeted her. This shows us that a child can be aware of the things of God before they are born. They can have an awareness of the Lord and be born with the blessing of the Lord already upon them.
The Word of the Lord conveys life and affects a life even from the moment of conception, at a time when the hereditary genes of the natural parents already have determined the physical characteristics within an individual. By speaking the Word of the Lord, a spiritual parent can continue to convey spiritual characteristics to the child.
Paul further instructed Timothy, But refuse foolish and ignorant speculations, knowing that they produce quarrels. And the Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth. II Timothy 2:23–25.
Throughout his second letter to Timothy, Paul reminded this young ministry of the heritage which God had given to him, the ministry which had been imparted to him by his mother, his grandmother, the elders, and by Paul himself. Timothy’s grandmother and mother started an impartation of ministry within him, the elders carried it further, and Paul was completing it; but it was still up to Timothy to bring it forth and to appropriate its full manifestation.
The Lord lays a certain responsibility upon us to see that the final phases of our maturity come forth. This comes by appropriation and impartation from God through our faith and preparation of heart.
It is important that we set our heart to appropriate an anointing from God as we speak words over one another’s lives. A release will come to many people as we are faithful to speak an anointed Word to them.
We must understand the difference between worthless words and words that God fills. We do not want to be those who speak a lot of empty words. Television and radio stations broadcast words that are usually negative and are often used to conceal the truth. We want to speak true living words that open up the truth.
The truth can be conveyed to people even if they do not understand the words, for the spirit of truth that is in the words can be conveyed to them just the same. Little children who sit in the house of God are not able to follow the intricate train of thought that comes forth in the sermon; yet they may walk in the truth that was preached even before their parents walk in it. A living truth was conveyed to their young hearts.
Beyond what the mind can grasp, the spirit is able to grasp. Our spirit is far more capable of understanding the truth under the anointing of the Word of the Lord than we realize. It is possible to feel what God is speaking in a service, even when it is spoken entirely in a foreign language which we do not understand. The Spirit comes through the words.
Jesus said, “My words are Spirit and they are life.” We need to be sure that we put God into every word that we utter. Jesus also said that men shall give an account for every idle word that they speak (Matthew 12:36). Those words are not idle in the sense of being totally inactive. Christ referred to them as being idle because they do not convey His life.
When someone is seeking a Word from God, how dangerous it is if he is given words that have no life in them. Unanointed words are like food which has had all the value removed. There is an artificial taste which deceives the one who eats it. He does not know that if he continues to eat it, he will starve to death because there is nothing nutritious in it. The person who speaks such unanointed words is accountable for them. To deliberately fool a man into self-destruction with idle words, when there is living food to give him, is equivalent to murder.
We shall give an account for every idle word spoken while “just talking.” If we do not have anything from God to say, we need to get something from God, so that He can be in every word of our counsel. We can bring God into every conversation, even if we are at work and talking about business. If we have a good spirit, we can convey something of God to people, even though we are only talking about the weather. We need to become so conscious of our oneness with the Lord, so aware of Him, that we bring Him into everything we do and everything we say.