Ignoring Symptoms: When Positive Confessions Silence the Voice of God

Today, I sit to write what may be one of the most powerful revelations of truth which God has spoken to me in recent years. 

There are so many reasons why even the silliest of false doctrines is dangerous, and it all begins with the SUPPLANTING of truth, as FALSE TEACHING replaces the spreading of the TRUE Gospel. 

That alone makes any and all false teaching EXTREMELY dangerous, as it SILENCES the true message of Jesus Christ.

From that one base of operation, Satan extends the tentacles of his distortions and perversions into every nook and cranny of the Church, secretly and deceptively grabbing hold of those who sit in a false security, wrapped in their blankets of false doctrine which erroneously tells them “No weapon formed against you shall prosper.” 

To be sure, that passage of Scripture is TRUTH…but those who believe in the many deceptions of Satan are not truly wrapped within the protection of the true Word of God. 

And…it is really that simple: Satan’s desire is to deceive the Church into believing it is SAFE and SECURE…all the while, blinding the Church to the fact that it has long been busy developing property on the sandy shores of heretical teachings.

There are two basic, ongoing, and historic themes of false doctrine: 

The prosperity gospel and the “name it claim it” doctrines. 

The prosperity gospel, of which I have often spoken, is the erroneous belief that God promises EARTHLY WEALTH to everyone who becomes a believer. The old “name it, claim it” gospel is closely related to the prosperity gospel, yet it branches out into what is the modern day POSITIVE CONFESSION gospel. It is this POSITIVE CONFESSION gospel that I want to deal with today.

POSITIVE CONFESSION hinges on the belief that we CREATE our world by what we speak. 

POSITIVE CONFESSION states that I must NEVER speak a NEGATIVE confession, which is noted as anything which verbalizes BAD things. As with any false doctrine, we find that the doctrine of POSITIVE CONFESSION is premised on a passage of Scripture…in this case, the twisted interpretation of Proverbs 18:21, which begins:

“Death and life are in the power of the tongue”. 

Of course, in context, this passage is referring to EDIFICATION, clearly noted by the relationship expressed in verse 20 and the second half of verse 21 itself, which refers to FRUIT which brings nourishment to “a man’s stomach.” 

Throughout Scripture, we never truly see ANY passage which gives CREATIVE POWER to the word’s of a man…regardless of the famous preachers who espouse such a false doctrine. There is only ONE Creator…and His CREATION will never possess the particular attributes of God which make Him God…and God ALONE. 

We seek to possess His SPIRITUAL attributes: love, peace, joy, longsuffering, etc…but NEVER will we be OMNIPRESENT, OMNISCIENT, and OMNIPOTENT. 

And neither will we ever become CREATOR.

As I have said before, our words have power in one realm only: 

EDIFICATION. 

What we speak does have “power”…but it is in the ability to BUILD UP or to TEAR DOWN someone with our words. 

To verbally ABUSE someone is destructive in nature. To TEAR DOWN someone verbally can “kill” their spirit, harming them emotionally. But I do not possess the ability to speak LITERAL DEATH on a person…to stand and say “I declare and speak DEATH on you: literal, physical death!”, at which point, the person falls dead! 

In the same way, I do not possess the ability to speak LIFE on a person, past the ability to UPLIFT them with my words of support with kind words. I cannot walk into a grave yard and say “I command you to RISE! You who are dead…I speak LIFE into your bodies! Come forth!” with the result being EMPTY GRAVES. 

Only GOD is in control of actual LIFE and DEATH…and both are in HIS hands, not OUR hands.

None of this negates our responsibility to PRAY…to pray for those who are struggling, for those who are sick, even for those who are dying. We are to pray in FAITH…BELIEVING that God can do ANYTHING and EVERYTHING…that NOTHING is impossible with God. 

But...our FAITH is in God ALONE…not in the miraculous acts He alone can perform. 

Therefore, I pray the prayer of faith for someone who is sick and/or dying…and I leave the RESULTS to God.

There is one thing we know for sure: 

Every “faith teacher” gets sick…and they eventually die. 

I said this once before in a blog: 

I have noticed that the “faith teachers” are not immune from sickness and death…regardless of their “confessions”. 

The success rate of the prayers of “faith teachers” are no better than the success rate of the prayers of ANY OTHER minister. 

Regardless of their “confessions”, they experience the same sicknesses and troubles as we all do. The facts fully confirm that statement, as many have experienced diseases and sickness and troubles. 

One noted “faith teacher” declared that he “did not allow sickness” in his home…although his own wife had cancer, going through treatments and medical procedures as prescribed by the doctors treating her.

That brings me to the primary reason for this writing today: 

To expose the deception of Satan regarding such false doctrines, as Satan successfully replaces TRUTH with blatant LIES.

Notice in the example I gave above of the minister whose wife had (has?) cancer. In that particular instance, the “faith teacher” continued to DENY that his wife had cancer, even refusing to admit that fact for a time when confronted with questions about the issue. 

This may sound so ELEMENTARY…so SIMPLE…yet, it seems to be an OVERLOOKED truth regarding those who propagate such erroneous teachings as the “faith teachers” regularly espouse…but, here is that elementary and simple truth: 

To deny a sickness...to “declare” that you are NOT sick when you ARE sick...is to be guilty of one thing: 

LYING!

You see…REALITY is TRUTH. 

We cannot change TRUTH regardless of our words or our actions. The phrase I coined approximately ten years ago remains true: 

“Truth exists…whether we like it or not.” 

Our OPINIONS on truth are IRRELEVANT. Our opinion does NOT make something TRUE. Only when our opinion is founded in the Word of God does our opinion even matter! 

And, with that in mind, we must realize that the Word of God says that Jesus is “the way, the truth, and the life.” 

And Jesus…TRUTH…has NOTHING to do with LYING!

My point?

First...let us recognize that POSITIVE CONFESSION is often nothing more than DENIAL and LYING. 

I want you to read that statement several times…and then, I am asking that you let that truth sink deep into your spirit. 

What are the ramifications of LYING under the guise of a POSITIVE CONFESSION?

Let me ask this…without considering the actual subject matter we are dealing with here:

Should the message coming from the PULPIT of the Church EVER be a LIE? Should we ever go to Church with the thought that LYING is acceptable in a sermon spoken by a man who claims he is called to be a PREACHER/PASTOR? Does the Bible state, “You shall be told a lie, and that lie will make you free.”…or…does the Bible say, “You shall know the truth, and the truth will make you free?”

Here is the example I have given before, using it again for the benefit of those who have not seen it before:

Let’s say I am driving down the highway and suddenly a police car appears behind me, the lights flashing as that piercing “warning siren” is used to notify me that he is there. I pull over, not sure of why I am being pulled over. The officer walks up to my window and says, “Sir, are you aware that your tail light is out?” I answer honestly, saying “No, officer, I was not aware of that.” Luckily, the officer gives me a warning. 

The key here is this: 

When driving, I cannot see the tail lights of my own vehicle. By the officer INFORMING me of the situation, I am now able to FIX the tail light. 

You see...

We never attempt to FIX...to CORRECT...what is wrong when we have no knowledge that something IS wrong.

My work deals with WATER DAMAGE...and we often find that the DAMAGE is due to an UNDETECTED PROBLEM that has remained HIDDEN...only being REVEALED when the EVIDENCE of the LEAK is revealed by VISIBLE DAMAGE.

No one EVER attempts to FIX a LEAK until EVIDENCE of the LEAK appears...and that EVIDENCE is DAMAGE!

KNOWING there is a PROBLEM is ESSENTIAL in FIXING a problem before it makes its presence known by VISIBLE DAMAGE!

We MUST know TRUTH in order to take care of whatever is WRONG.

So…how does a POSITIVE CONFESSION which is actually a LIE become so dangerous? 

The POSITIVE CONFESSION often…and USUALLY…MASKS/COVERS the truth, not allowing the problem/sickness/sin to be taken care of!

Regarding sickness...the Bible tells us that we are “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14). 

The unbelievable intricacies of the human body are ASTOUNDING! God actually created our bodies to fight off disease and sickness, as our bodies miraculously work to HEAL THEMSELVES. And…some sicknesses actually HELP our bodies build up ANTIBODIES…allowing our body to gain strength as antibodies SEEK and DESTROY any unwelcome germs, viruses, and/or bacteria. 

Even vaccines today are based on GOD’S design: 

To introduce an “intruder” into the body, allowing the BODY ITSELF to then begin to work as God intended…as the body finds the best way to build up IMMUNITY to the introduced “intruder”. 

It is simply AMAZING! 

We all must admit…we are INDEED “fearfully and wonderfully made.” 

Thus…we see that sickness itself serves a very valuable purpose, as it allows our body to build up ANTIBODIES which can fight off sickness and disease…even those MUCH WORSE than the sickness or disease that was just OVERCOME.

But...then we see ANOTHER problem with POSITIVE CONFESSION. 

What does the Bible tell us to do when we ARE sick (That reality alone…the Bible actually noting that we will experience times of sickness…should be a major NEON SIGN that POSITIVE CONFESSION is simply unBiblical.)?

James 5:14 says, (NKJV) “Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.” 

Here…we find a MAJOR issue with POSITIVE CONFESSION. 

How can I “call for the elders of the church” if I refuse to ADMIT that I am sick? 

Just as POSITIVE CONFESSION can create situations of LYING, they often cause people to IGNORE and DISOBEY the Word of God! 

You see…POSITIVE CONFESSION renders this portion of Scripture “unnecessary”, even relegating it to a “negative confession.” 

In truth…POSITIVE CONFESSION denotes this passage of Scripture as “faithless”…placing it in the realm of “unbelief”. Thus, James 5:14 begins to be seen as WEAKNESS…and it is noted as being in OPPOSITION to the “power that lies within us…the power of our tongue to CREATE our world…to CREATE our healing…to speak faith-filled words instead of doubt-filled words.”

Can you see it? 

Thus far, the false doctrine of POSITIVE CONFESSION has successfully caused many in the Church to speak LIES in place of TRUTH…and…it has successfully caused many in the Church to begin to IGNORE and DENY the very loving instruction of the Word of God, even causing the Word of God to be deemed IN ERROR at times!

Yes…Satan has truly deceived many when we see the Word of God…TRUTH…to be seen as IN ERROR and FALLIBLE. To believe the false doctrines of POSITIVE CONFESSION, much of Scripture MUST be rendered ERRONEOUS. 

And…who would have ever thought we would see a time when the Church itself is actually HELPING society see the Word of God as a book which contains ERRORS!

Yet…that is the day in which we live…and THAT is the danger of FALSE TEACHING!

With all of that being said…there is one last reason why FALSE TEACHING/FALSE DOCTRINE is SO VERY DANGEROUS within the Church today. 

This is something that God revealed to me during prayer yesterday…allowing me to realize that THIS is actually the MOST SERIOUS error…the most serious RESULT…of false teaching, especially in the realm of POSITIVE CONFESSION.

I am in the process of writing about the necessity of HEARING FROM GOD. God has spoken several things to me regarding DISCERNMENT in that realm. 

Today, we see men and women who CLAIM to be hearing from God…yet, we can see that their WORDS do not measure up the what God has ALREADY SPOKEN in Scripture. 

Suffice it to say…the measure of what is spoken is how it AGREES with the Word of God (the Bible). 

I do not want to reveal what God is speaking to me regarding HEARING FROM GOD…but, suffice it to say, we MUST hear from Him! 

He primarily does that through His WRITTEN WORD…but that MUST be accompanied by SOME personal times of communion with Him, with EVERY word we hear being measured by Scripture. 

We know this: 

God NEVER speaks in contradiction to His Word.

God WANTS to speak to us today: He LONGS for that communion with us! There is NOTHING more essential than our COMMUNICATION with God! If communication is broken…then trouble surely awaits!

And…it is this reality…this one truth…that we must keep in mind: 

Satan wants our communication with God INTERRUPTED or fully BROKEN. 

Thus…we can see this truth: 

If God wants to speak to us…SO DOES SATAN!

The key? 

Satan wants HIS voice to be heard IN PLACE OF the Voice of the Lord. 

Satan wants HIS voice to be INDISTINGUISHABLE, as the voice of Satan is MISTAKEN for the Voice of God. 

The ultimate goal of Satan is to SILENCE the Voice of God, replacing it with HIS OWN voice. 

But many fail to recognize the subtle way in which Satan works, as he is noted in Scripture as a DECEIVER…entering in through men who are “wolves in sheep’s clothing.”

Matthew 7:15 NKJV "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.”

Satan accomplishes this through TEACHING and PROPHECY…all of which are FALSE, opposing the truths of the Word of God. 

Thus…we see that Satan works HEAVILY in the realm of what is being SPOKEN…and his focus is NOT outside the Church. Satan focuses on what is spoken WITHIN the Church! 

Acts 20:29 says:

“For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.”

In EVERY case, Scripture shows us that Satan attacks THE FLOCK. 

Can you see it? 

What Satan wants to CHANGE and PERVERT and DISTORT and INFILTRATE and DESTROY is the MESSAGE OF THE CHURCH! 

And…the doctrines which are being espoused by “faith teachers” are actually part of Satan’s plan! 

Once the message is COMPROMISED, Satan begins to FEAST on the FLOCK!

Now…here is what God so strongly impressed on me yesterday regarding false doctrine…especially in the realm of POSITIVE CONFESSION, which is built on the false interpretation of Proverbs 18:21 (quoted earlier):

The reason Satan has DECEIVED many with the false doctrine of POSITIVE CONFESSION is this:

What we speak IS powerful…and Satan wants to REPLACE the Word of God with the “confession” of man!

As I stated before, if I am sick, yet I proclaim a POSITIVE CONFESSION, saying “I am NOT sick!”, then I am CHOOSING to speak a LIE.

Yet…notice this about sickness: SICKNESS is REALIZED by the onset of SYMPTOMS.

So…what are SYMPTOMS?

Merriam-Webster defines SYMPTOMS thusly:

1. a: subjective evidence of disease or physical disturbance; broadly: something that indicates the presence of bodily disorder

b: an evident reaction by a plant to a pathogen

2. a: something that indicates the existence of something else <symptoms of an inner turmoil>

b: a slight indication : trace

SYMPTOMS are our NOTIFICATIONS which say, “Something is wrong!” 

We should NEVER ignore SYMPTOMS! 

The examples are endless: 

Pains, swelling, bleeding…the list can go on and on. 

It is in SYMPTOMS that we are given the ability to DISCOVER that SOMETHING IS WRONG.

My Dad recently had an unusual knot come up on his forehead. That knot was actually a SYMPTOM of something wrong…allowing an EXAMINATION of the knot, revealing a cancerous growth on my Dad’s forehead. 

If not for that SYMPTOM, my Dad would not have known of the cancer which was present OUT OF VIEW/UNDER THE SKIN. Thus…it was the REVEALING POWER of the SYMPTOM which allowed for a proper DIAGNOSIS, which resulted in a surgical procedure which REMOVED the cancer.

Satan’s deceptive doctrine of POSITIVE CONFESSION is successfully blocking the realization of SYMPTOMS within the Body of Christ! 

Instead of understanding the NECESSITY of SYMPTOMS…discerning the REVELATION which a SYMPTOM can bring…the Church is IGNORING the very things that bring KNOWLEDGE into the situations being faced, allowing the PROBLEMS and SINS and STRIFE and SICKNESSES to go UNCHECKED!

It begs the use of an old phrase: 

The Church is IGNORING the need “to get to the root of the problem”, in many cases.

As with physical sickness and/or injuries, some SYMPTOMS only reveal a minor issue...as with a cut on the skin. I will call these SURFACE ISSUES. 

Yet…even with SURFACE ISSUES…something seemingly “minor” in seriousness, when left untreated, can become a MAJOR issue. The smallest cut can become INFECTED…resulting in VERY SERIOUS problems and sickness…even leading to DEATH!

But…some SYMPTOMS are a revelation of a VERY SERIOUS issue…even from their first appearance! 

And...IGNORING these SYMPTOMS can be catastrophic in the Church! 

We can all recognize this truth: 

Usually...IGNORING something will NOT make it go away! 

In most cases…in almost EVERY case…there must be TREATMENT involved.

Now…with all of this in mind (and yes…I am aware of the lengthiness of this writing), let’s sum up the SPIRITUAL ramifications of the false doctrines of POSITIVE CONFESSION:

God WANTS to have communication with us. 

God wants to GUIDE us in HIS ways. 

God desires that we would follow Him in FAITH…trusting Him, realizing that He is looking out for us. 

But...following Jesus requires us to traverse many different types of terrain. 

We will find ourselves in valleys, on mountain tops, in deserts, in floods…and in every possible transition from one terrain to the other. 

We will experience JOY and PAIN…LOSS and GAIN. 

Throughout this walk of life, God will use SYMPTOMS to bring WARNING into our lives. 

Whether SPIRITUAL or PHYSICAL, these SYMPTOMS serve a VITAL purpose: 

Providing for us the KNOWLEDGE which speaks:

 “Something is WRONG! You need to deal with this issue…IMMEDIATELY. Do not let it GROW and FESTER! Do not let it OVERWHELM your system! Do not let it lead to spiritual death! I am WARNING you because I LOVE you. Do not despise the onset of SYMPTOMS: they are My way of WARNING you…allowing you to do what is necessary to bring about a DIAGNOSIS and a TREATMENT…bringing HEALING to your body and spirit!”

When I ignore SYMPTOMS…I ignore the VOICE OF THE LORD in my life! 

And…that is Satan’s goal with POSITIVE CONFESSION: 

To get MY VOICE to speak in OPPOSITION to the Word of God. 

God is often saying “You are sick.”...all for the purpose of REVEALING a need...the need that leads me to begin to PRAY and to SEEK Him. 

And...what He REVEALS may be either a PHYSICAL or a SPIRITUAL sickness. 

It is Satan’s desire that MY VOICE speaks in OPPOSITION to God…drowning out the Holy Spirit in my life. 

In time...Satan knows that I will actually be PROGRAMMED to IGNORE and RENOUNCE the very VOICE OF GOD in my life!

The Church does not need POSITIVE CONFESSION…the Church needs TRUTH CONFESSION! 

When the Church ADMITS its SICKNESSES, we can then seek God for the remedy of HEALING for what ails us. 

We must not abandon the TRUTH for the false power of POSITIVE CONFESSION!

REALITY is more important than OZ! 

The FAIRY TALE of OZ could not negate the TRUTH of KANSAS: 

A horrible, destructive storm had ravaged the land…leaving DEATH and DESTRUCTION in its wake!

The WIZARD of OZ did NOT have any TRUE answers…and only GOD can bring us back to REALITY! 

The Church must recognize the doctrines of POSITIVE CONFESSION for what they are: 

DECEPTIONS of SATAN which SILENCE the VOICE OF GOD...allowing OUR OWN VOICE to DROWNED OUT the Spirit of God!

Let the VOICE OF GOD be heard again! Let TRUTH be proclaimed UNIMPEDED! Let TRUTH do its work as it brings CHANGE and DELIVERANCE in ways that we cannot begin to imagine! 

Let TRUTH silence the voice of Satan within the Church…allowing the work of GRACE to accomplish its purpose, bringing CONFESSION and REPENTANCE and TRANSFORMATION in the Body of Christ!

(Just a footnote: POSITIVE CONFESSION also leads its followers to label WORDS OF WARNING as “Negative confessions”. Thus…we must recognize that as God speaks WARNING to the WORLD and to the CHURCH in these last days, POSITIVE CONFESSION causes people to RENOUNCE and IGNORE the WARNINGS of the TRUE PROPHETS. This is EXACTLY what we see occurring when we read the WARNINGS of the Old Testament Prophets, as their voices were IGNORED. The people did not want to hear truth…so they refused to heed the WARNINGS of God which were spoken through the Prophets. The results were CATASTROPHIC!)