by Randal W. Deese (8-3-2026)

We believe that Scripture does not teach that believers have the power to decree and declare. The Bible does not teach that human beings possess sovereign power to create new realities, determine future events, compel circumstances, or force desired outcomes simply by speaking a “decree and declaration” formula. Sovereign and creative speech belongs uniquely to God, whose Word accomplishes His will because He alone is the Creator, Lord, and King over all things.

God Alone Speaks with Sovereign Creative Power

Scripture begins by presenting God as the One whose Word brings creation into existence:

Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light (Gen. 1:3).

The heavens were made by the Word of the Lord, and all creation exists because He commanded it (Ps. 33:6–9). God declares “the end from the beginning” and accomplishes all His purpose because none can prevent His sovereign will (Isa. 46:9–11).

Paul likewise identifies God—not believers—as the One “who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist” (Rom. 4:17). This passage does not teach that Abraham created his promised future by speaking it into existence. Abraham trusted the God who had sovereignly promised what only God could perform. Biblical faith does not imitate God’s sovereignty; it relies upon it.

God’s Word accomplishes what He sends it to accomplish because it proceeds from His own omnipotent will:

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 (Isa. 55:11).

No comparable promise is given concerning every desire, prediction, declaration, or command spoken by a believer.

Believers Proclaim God’s Word; They Do Not Create Reality

Christians are commanded to proclaim, confess, teach, testify, bless, encourage, warn, and speak the truth. These are powerful and necessary forms of biblical speech. Believers declare “the praises of Him who called” them out of darkness (1 Pet. 2:9), confess Jesus as Lord (Rom. 10:9), proclaim the gospel (Mark 16:15), and speak God’s truth with boldness (Acts 4:29–31).

Such a declaration announces what God has revealed or accomplished. It does not create truth, guarantee a preferred outcome, or exercise independent control over future events. The authority of Christian proclamation rests entirely in the truth and authority of the message God has given—not in the believer’s vocal intensity, confidence, wording, or use of a particular formula.

The prophets did not speak whatever they personally desired and then expect God to make it happen. They were required to speak only the Word God placed in their mouths:

Whatever I command you, you shall speak (Jer. 1:7).

Ezekiel was similarly instructed, “You shall speak My words to them” (Ezek. 2:7). Even Jesus declared that He did not speak independently but spoke according to the Father’s commandment (John 12:49–50). Therefore, no believer should claim greater independence in speech than the prophets, apostles, or the Lord Jesus Himself demonstrated.

Prayer Is Petition, Not Sovereign Command

Jesus taught His disciples to pray, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10). Biblical prayer confidently approaches God, but it does not replace God’s will with human sovereignty.

The apostles did not ordinarily address circumstances as though their own speech controlled reality. When threatened, they prayed to the “Sovereign Lord” and asked Him to grant them boldness and to perform signs by His power (Acts 4:24–30). When Peter was imprisoned, the Church offered “constant prayer” to God for him (Acts 12:5). They did not treat prayer as a verbal mechanism that automatically produced their preferred result.

Scripture teaches believers to ask in faith while remaining submitted to God’s wisdom and will:

Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us (1 John 5:14).

James warns against speaking presumptuously about the future. Rather than declaring that a particular plan must occur, believers should say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that” (James 4:13–16). Submission to the Lord’s will is not unbelief. It is the proper confession that God is sovereign, and we are not.

Faith Does Not Mean Faith in Our Own Words

Jesus’ teaching about speaking to a mountain must be interpreted within its own context:

Have faith in God (Mark 11:22).

The emphasis is not on faith in the believer’s ability to speak realities into existence, but on faith in God. Jesus immediately connects the saying with prayer:

Whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them (Mark 11:24).

He also connects believing prayer with forgiveness and a heart rightly ordered before God (Mark 11:25).

Faith is not confidence that our words possess creative energy. Faith is confidence in the character, promise, wisdom, and power of God. The believer does not control God through speech; the believer trusts God through prayer. Likewise, Jesus’ promises about asking in His name do not authorize using His name as a verbal formula to force a desired outcome. To ask in Jesus’ name is to ask as one who abides in Him, represents His interests, seeks His glory, and submits to His will (John 14:13–14; 15:7; 16:23–24).

The Tongue Has Great Power, but Not Divine Omnipotence

Proverbs states that

Death and life are in the power of the tongue (Prov. 18:21).

This teaches that words have profound moral, relational, emotional, and practical consequences. Words can deceive, destroy reputations, provoke violence, crush spirits, communicate wisdom, reconcile enemies, encourage the discouraged, and proclaim the message of salvation. The verse does not teach that human speech possesses God’s creative power or that every spoken statement becomes reality. The broader teaching of Proverbs concerns the consequences of wise and foolish speech, not the metaphysical creation of circumstances by verbal declaration (Prov. 12:18; 15:1–4; 16:24; 18:6–8).

James similarly describes the tongue as powerful because of the immense good or destruction it can produce through human relationships and conduct (James 3:2–12). Neither Proverbs nor James teaches that words function as spiritual laws compelling the universe to conform to human desires.

Job 22:28 Does Not Establish a Christian Decreeing Practice

The statement,

You will also declare a thing, and it will be established for you (Job 22:28)

It is frequently used to defend the practice of decreeing desired outcomes. However, these words were spoken by Eliphaz, one of Job’s counselors. At the conclusion of the book, God rebuked Eliphaz and his companions for not speaking rightly concerning Him (Job 42:7–8). A statement from a rebuked counselor cannot be removed from its literary context and treated as a universal promise that believers may decree circumstances into existence. Sound doctrine must be established from the clear and consistent teaching of Scripture, not from isolated statements spoken by people whose theology the biblical narrative corrects.

Delegated Authority Remains Subject to Christ

Jesus gave His disciples genuine authority to preach the gospel, make disciples, forgive in a ministerial sense, exercise church discipline, resist the devil, cast out demons, and minister in His name (Matt. 10:1; 16:19; 18:18; 28:18–20; Luke 10:17–20; John 20:21–23; James 4:7). Yet delegated authority is never autonomous sovereignty.

The apostles exercised authority as servants commissioned by Christ. Their power was derived, limited, and governed by the Lord who sent them. They did not teach that every Christian could determine the future, command wealth, eliminate all suffering, or guarantee healing through verbal decrees.

Paul could not merely decree that his “thorn in the flesh” disappear. He pleaded with the Lord three times, and the Lord answered according to His greater purpose: “My grace is sufficient for you” (2 Cor. 12:7–9). Paul left Trophimus sick at Miletus (2 Tim. 4:20), advised Timothy concerning recurring illness (1 Tim. 5:23), and thanked God for showing mercy to the seriously ill Epaphroditus (Phil. 2:25–27). These examples demonstrate faith, prayer, compassion, and dependence upon God—not sovereign control of circumstances through declarations.

Our Position

Therefore, the Association of Biblical Pentecostals rejects the teaching that believers possess inherent or delegated sovereignty to create reality, determine future events, guarantee healing or prosperity, cancel every hardship, or force spiritual and material outcomes through spoken decrees and declarations.

We reject the idea that words operate as impersonal spiritual laws by which believers can compel God, control the universe, or activate blessings through a prescribed formula. Such teaching confuses God’s sovereign speech with human confession, transforms prayer into command, and risks placing faith in faith, words, or techniques rather than in God.

At the same time, we affirm that believers should:

• Proclaim the promises and truth of Scripture with boldness.
• Confess Jesus Christ as Lord.
• Pray with faith, perseverance, and expectancy.
• Resist the devil in submission to God.
• Exercise spiritual gifts according to the Spirit’s will.
• Speak words that bless, heal, encourage, correct, and edify.
• Ask God for healing, provision, deliverance, and intervention.
• Trust God to answer according to His wisdom, goodness, timing, and sovereign purpose.

Biblical Pentecostal faith is neither passive nor unbelieving. We pray fervently, expect God to act, welcome the gifts and power of the Holy Spirit, and boldly proclaim what God has revealed.

Nevertheless, we recognize that power belongs to God, not to our formulas.