Thoughts: Decreeing and Declaring

 To decree something is to issue a formal and authoritative order that has the force of law. Decreeing and declaring do not make your prayer more powerful; they are based on misinterpretations of scriptures, and these misinterpretations overstate the authority Christ gives us and are rooted in our will, not God's. Decreeing and declaring are speaking a command or authoritative order with the idea of causing something to come into existence.

Romans 4:17 is one of the verses that those who believe in decree and declaring quote. This verse refers to an attribute of God in that Abraham believed God, who calls those things which are not as though they were. Those who believe in decreeing and declaring think that they can speak things into existence based on this verse.

Job 22:28 is another verse that they base their belief on. "Thou shalt decree a thing, and it shall be established". This is actually spoken by Eliphaz, who was rebuked by God for his words.

Ps. 2:7 states "I will declare the decree the Lord has said" or, as the NIV says, "I will proclaim the decree of the Lord". Here, the author was repeating what God said.

What is the biblical precedent for decreeing and declaring? Decreeing and declaring are similar to the positive confession movement. Asking for something from God or decreeing it may be presumptuous.

Decreeing and declaring have similarities to magical incantations. Abracadabra (I create as I speak) in Aramaic or in Hebrew, "it came to pass as it was spoken". This is the concept that our words have the power to literally cause things to happen. This originates from Gnostic teaching and is foundational to New Age, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Christian Science. It is a form of divination and witchcraft.  Isn't abracadabra similar to "you have what you say"? This is a phrase that witchcraft uses.

Wasn't Satan asking Jesus to decree when he told him to turn the stones into bread? 

Do we need to ask if this is an instance of mind over matter or visualization? If so, we are looking at New Age or Christian Science ideas.

The idea of speaking something into existence says that we have the same creative power as God. Where does that leave us when we should be asking in the will of God? The Word of Faith movement teaches decreeing and declaring. They also claim to be "little gods".

Unfortunately, there are times when those who subscribe to decreeing and declaring find that what they decree or declare does not come to pass. The excuse they will be given by others within the movement is that they lack faith. To have someone tell you that you do not have enough faith can be damaging to your belief in God. 

There are a few questions we need to ask:

1. Are we trying to be God?
2. Are we trusting God or are we trusting in something else, like the words we speak?
3. Does this remove the sovereignty of God?
4. Who is in control here?
5. If we were to go to a king and try to order him around, how do you think he would respond? Why would God respond any differently?
6. Could we be considered presumptuous or even arrogant here?
7. Could this come across as an attempt to bully God?