In this article, we are looking at the “Declaration of Faith.” And we are going to start our observation by looking at the meaning of declaration. When we say declaration, what does it mean?

 

Declaration is a formal statement or an explicit announcement. You know, I think yesterday in the news, we were watching how that the President or the Prime Minister of Israel was saying on the TV to the citizens of Israel, that “Israelis, we are at war,” it's a declaration. Because it's a former statement, it is not like you heard it from someone, not somebody said, and I quote. It's a formal statement. It is an announcement. Don't think we are at peace, we are at war. So, it's a declaration.

 

Now, he made that declaration in Israel, probably in Tel Aviv. But that announcement has gone to all the nations. So much so that the President of the United States of America had to come on National TV to also say that they are solidly behind Israel and, really, they are going to go to any length to make sure that they protect that nation. Why? They made a declaration.

 

The same thing we must understand in the kingdom is that we have the power, we have the authority, we have the backing of God to make declarations. So, a declaration is a formal statement. So, when you are making a declaration, you are not making a declaration, murmuring or complaining, it is a formal statement. I am putting this statement out. And we know the kingdom that we represent is a kingdom of light, it is a kingdom of Jesus, when you make an announcement in the spiritual realm, it goes across, why? We are spirit beings. That's why Jesus said, “For every idle word you speak,” You call it an idle word. What it means is that for every word you speak, you will give an account, why? It is a declaration.

 

You call it an informal statement but because you are a spiritual being. He did not say that every roar of the lion, you will give account. It is every word you speak, why? You are spirit. For every word you speak as a spiritual being, you will give account. Why because every word you speak is a formal statement, it is an explicit announcement. So, you don't take your word for granted, they are declarations. When you come to the place of prayer, and you make declarations, the Bible says, “Whatever you allow on earth,” meaning that by your declaration you are allowing, by your declaration, you are disallowing. That's how strong our declarations are.

 

So, a declaration is a formal statement, an explicit announcement. I am not hiding words, this is it. So, the word of God is filled with statements and announcements. If God wants to do a thing, what does He do? He speaks. In Genesis chapter 1, God introduced us to declarations. Let's go there together; the book of the beginnings. Let's see how God introduced us to declarations. Genesis chapter 1, let’s read from verse 1 “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. ² The earth was without form and void, and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.”

 

Did He stop there? Did change happen there? But verse 3, the Bible says, “Then God said” What did God do? He made a formal statement. He made an explicit announcement. What was it? He said, “Let there be Light”. That's a declaration. God made a declaration, and He did not doubt it. And that's why the Bible says that you can say to this mountain, Jesus was saying to His disciples, “Be thou removed and cast into the sea and He said, you will have whatever you say,” because it's a declaration. You will have, you will possess, you will experience, you will partake of whatever you say.

 

 So, God introduced us, He is the first personality that introduced us to the declaration. I am fast forwarding to Genesis chapter 1 verse 26, the Bible says, “Let us make man in our image and according to our likeness”. So, if it's according to His image, it is in the image of a speaking spirit because the first thing we notice about God here is that He is a speaking Spirit. So, if you are made in the image of God, you must be a speaking spirit. In the likeness of God, you must be bold about your declarations.

 

God looked at the pathetic situation of the earth. God did not murmur. God did not complain. God did not go into self-pity mood. God made a declaration. He said, “This situation of the earth, I am disallowing it,” when you disallow something, it is by declaration. Now when the Palestine decided to go into Israel and take their citizens, they declared war. And when the Prime Minister of Israel came out, he was mincing words, the situation we are in; we are not going to pamper anybody. We are not going to go into any diplomatic dialogue. This is war! It is a declaration.

 

So, the devil cannot be toying with your life and you are not making declarations. The devil cannot come and steal from you, and you are not making declarations. The devil cannot destroy what God has given to you and you are not making declarations. Whatever you don't disallow, you have allowed. Whatever you don't speak against, you are telling yourself, I am accommodating it. The Prime Minister of Israel said, “We are not allowing this, we are nipping this in the bud. No more, you can't come into our nation and take our citizens and kill them. You can no longer steal, kill and destroy in this nation, this is war.

 

How many of us have actually declared war against the kingdom of darkness? By the declaration of God in Genesis 1:3, God made an explicit announcement against darkness, God made a formal statement against darkness, “Let there be light”. In a debate, people speak for or against. Every time you make a declaration, you are speaking for or against.

 

So, the question is, your declaration, what are you declaring for? What are you declaring against? Every time we come to the place of prayer, we are speaking for and against. When Jesus was going to teach his disciples how to pray, He said, “In this wise you will pray, Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name; your kingdom come, your will be done,” what is that prayer speaking for? Speaking for the kingdom! “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread,” speaking for provision. “Forgive our trespasses as we forgive those that trespass against us,” speaking against trespasses. “Deliver us from the evil one,” speaking against the evil one. So, when we come to the place of prayer, as we live our lives using prayer as a lifestyle, we must be speaking for and against, for the kingdom of God and against the kingdom of darkness. God gave us this example, “Let there be light,” because His kingdom is a kingdom of light. He allowed His kingdom, “Let your kingdom come”.

 

So, when you are praying, “Let your kingdom come,” you are praying that everything that the kingdom of God represents, let it be allowed. Let light be allowed. Let life be allowed. Everything the kingdom represents. He said, “Let there be light and there was light”. So, the word of God is filled with statements and announcements of our faith, showing our absolute dependence on God, showing our trust in God. The declaration of faith that we make in the kingdom is not according to our capacity, but the capacity of God. When we make declarations of faith, we don't declare according to our capacity, but according to the capacity of God. No wonder the angels when they wanted to rebuke the devil. They said, “The Lord rebuke you,” because we know the Lord is strong and mighty, He is mighty in battle.

 

See that declaration of faith in Psalms, which says, “Lift up your heads, O you gates! And be lifted up you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in. ⁸ Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, The Lord mighty in battle”. The declaration of faith is according to the capacity of God, showing our trust and reliance on Him.

 

Why Is It Important For Us To Have Declarations Of Faith?  Why Is The Declaration Of Faith Important For All Believers? Why should we be making those formal announcements?

 

James chapter 1 verses 2 to 4, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, ³ knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. ⁴ But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing”.

 

Our emphasis is on verse 4, “Let patience have its perfect work,” I'm going to explain what this means to us. When you are making declarations, it does not mean the situation will change. It does not mean that at the point when you make your declaration, things are already fully in shape, but it says you are going somewhere, it said, “Let patience,” what does patience mean? It means that as you are declaring, wait. To be patient is to wait. “Let patience have its perfect work.” But those that wait upon the Lord; not wait upon themselves; not wait upon their pastors, those that wait upon the Lord, the Lord will renew their strength. And when the Lord renews their strength, the Bible says, “They will mount up with wings”. What's going on? That is what James chapter 1 verse 4 is saying to us.

 

“Let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect.” You may be perfect; your life may be perfect. Your education may be perfect, your marriage may be perfect, and complete, meaning that perfect is not the same as complete, may be perfect and complete. The Bible says that we should ask until our joy is full. Jesus said, “Ask and you will receive. Seek and you will find. Knock and the door shall be opened unto you”. And He went further to the next verse and said, “For whosoever asks,” how do you ask in the kingdom? Declarations! You make declarations.

 

When you make the declaration in the kingdom, it is an announcement in the realm of the spirit. Because, have this understanding, know this for a truth; the spiritual controls the physical. One of the apostles made us to understand, he said, “A 1000 years before God is like a day, and a day like 1000 years.” Now contextually, let's look at it. He is saying to us, you can say you have been praying, you have been waiting, you have been fasting, that God should send you rain. God has already released the rain. The moment you prayed, at the point where you turned to heaven and lifted up your voice, God heard because He said, His ears is not far away that He cannot hear your cry,” He said, “His hand is not short that He cannot save you”. So, He has already heard you.

 

But you see, how the spiritual will transit to the physical will take time. And that's why James chapter 1 says, “Let patience,” what you require, that will bring what you need from the spiritual to the physical is patience. “But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete.” If you can wait, you will be perfected. If you can wait, you will be complete. If you can wait, you will lack nothing. That's why we make declarations of faith. When we make declarations of faith, we are making an announcement in the realm of the Spirit.

 

 Jesus said, “Until now you have asked nothing, ask...” What is He saying? Until now, there are no words in the realm of the spirit that I can work with in your favour. Until now, I don't have your request. I can't see your asking. I can't see your seeking. I can't see your knocking. We must make declarations of faith. In the realm of the spirit, words are important. They carry power. The Bible says, “Where the word of a king is there is power,” Words are importance. We are spirit beings; we are speaking spirits.

 

We are going to see some other scriptures that will show us how men and women in the Scripture made declarations of faith. But before we go there, let's go to Philippians chapter 4 verses 6 to 7, “Be anxious for nothing.” we are looking at why it is important for us to make declarations of faith. “Be anxious for nothing,” let's pause there. I know we've read this Scripture before but we want to break it down.

 

“Be anxious for nothing,” I want to recoin it: “Let nothing put you in the state of anxiety. Let nothing put you in a fearful, hopeless, and helpless situation”. Have you seen where people are anxious before? It is a state of helplessness, it’s a state of hopelessness, and it’s a state of confusion. And the Bible says, “Be anxious for nothing,” re-coining it in my own words, let nothing makes you anxious; not a doctor's report, not a foreign report about your country, not a security report. Let nothing make you anxious.

 

“But in everything, by prayer,” what is prayer? Speaking to God, showing your reliance on God, showing your dependence of God, making declarations of faith! Because God said, “Without faith, it is impossible to please Him”. “By prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests,” another word for requests is your petition. Another word for a petition is your needs. “Let your requests be made known to God, did you see man there? Did you see the name of your pastor there? “Be made known to God, let your requests; your petition, your needs, let them be made known to God, and,” once that is settled, verse 7, “and the peace of God,” did you see, “and your answer?” Did you see, “and your solution?”

 

“…and the peace of God,” what you will get, the first thing that happens to you; your immediate experience when you turn to God is that “the peace of God which passes, surpasses all understanding will guard your heart and mind through Christ Jesus.” What is this scripture saying? You make declarations of faith not in your name, but in the name of Jesus, and your focus is God. “God, I don't know how to live and survive in Nigeria, help me!”

 

David said, “And I will lift up my eyes to the hills, from where comes my help, my help comes from the Lord,” and the peace when I turn to God with my requests and my needs; and the peace of God. I'm not going to get my answer immediately. I might not get my answer immediately. I might not get my solution immediately. But there is something I will get, the Bible calls it and the peace of God

 

There is a song that says: “Why worry when you can pray? Why worry, Jesus is the way!”

Why be anxious when you can pray? Have you not noticed that it is in anxiety that we make the worst decisions? It is in anxiety that we make the worst choices.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him.

 And He shall direct, and he shall direct your part.”

 

You will hear a voice behind you say, “This is the way,” will situations of life make us anxious? Yes! Will circumstances and things occur that will make us want to be in an anxious state? Yes! But He said, we have a choice to make, be anxious for nothing! You have a choice to make, I have a choice to make, “be anxious for nothing!” Because we are in this world, we are here, challenges will happen, be anxious for nothing!

 

Psalm 62 verses 5 to 8, we are still looking at the importance of the declaration of faith. Why is it important for us to make declarations of faith? Psalm 62 verses 5 to 8, “my soul waits silently for God alone,” God alone! “I have no confidence in the flesh,” it is when you have confidence in the flesh that you will be anxious. ‘My soul waits silently! Another word for ‘wait silently,’ is patiently. “For God alone, for my expectation is from Him”. My expectation is not from any man, my expectation is from Him. “He alone is my rock,” I stand firmly. “My rock and my salvation, He is my defence. I shall not be moved. In God is my salvation and my glory, the rock of my strength and my refuge is in God.”

 

That's why we make declarations of faith because we are patiently waiting on Him, because He is our rock, our defense! “Let no man trouble me,” was it not Apostle Paul speaking? “for a beer on my body the marks of Christ”. Declaration of faith! In God is my salvation, in God is my glory, in God is my tomorrow, and in God is my future!

 

See what Jesus said in John chapter 14 verse 27, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you, not as the world gives”. Not as the world gives do I give you, let not your heart be troubled. The reason we make declarations of faith is that we have the peace of Christ. We have the peace of Christ that surpasses human understanding. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

 

The Bible says that the devil is going about like a roaring lion seeking whom to devour. But Jesus said, “Let not your heart be troubled,” why? You have the lion of the tribe of Judah on your side. The devil goes about like, but he is not. He goes about like, he is not! So, let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

 

See the hymn that we sang: “Whatever my lot, thou have taught me to say, it is well…” You have taught me to say in the midst of whatever circumstance that is around me, you have taught me to declare, you have taught me to make a formal announcement, to declare boldly, to make an explicit statement, “It is well with my soul”.

 

Isaiah chapter 3 verse 10 still buttresses that point, “Say to the righteous that it shall be well with them for they shall eat the fruits of their doings,” say to the righteous, no matter what the devil is doing in your neighborhood. No matter what the devil is doing in your country, no matter what the devil is doing in your place of work, no matter what is going on, “Say to the righteous that it shall be well with them for they shall eat the fruits of their doings”.

 

Quickly, let us look at six examples of men and women who made declarations of faith in utmost despair, confusion, in hopelessness, see the declarations that they made. We'll start with David, in Psalm chapter 118.

 

The first example we want to look at is David. Psalm 118 verse 17, see the declaration of David, he said, “I shall not die, but live and declare the works of the Lord”. See, when you read some of the Psalms of David, these were moments when Saul was seeking to kill him; when he was running from one cave to another, from one hiding spot to another, he was in despair. Imagine that the President of Nigeria wants to kill somebody. Do you know the infrastructure and architecture of government that is at his disposal? Meaning there is nowhere he is hiding that they cannot find him. They would have sent DSS to go and do an undercover arrangement in his neighbourhood. He won't even know. But every time God rescued him (David), every time God showed up for him, and based on that understanding, he knew that God was for him and not against him. He said, “I shall not die, but live and declare the works of the Lord”. These are examples of men and women who made declarations of faith.

 

See what David also said in Psalm 23 verse 1. We are familiar with that. He said, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want”. You see that, that came as a result of deep understanding. That's why the Bible makes us to understand that those that come to God must believe that He is, what do you know God to be? David understood being a shepherd, because he was a shepherd of few sheep according to his brothers. He knew how he protected the sheep. When the lion came, when the bear came, with that understanding, he said, “The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing,” and I will lack nothing, why? It's a declaration of faith born out of conviction.

 

You just don't talk for talking sake, declarations of faith, they are born out of conviction. Let's see another example. The second person that we are going to see is Job. Job chapter 19 verse 25, these are men and women who kept up their confession, their declaration of faith in the midst of despair, hopelessness and confusion. Job chapter 19 verse 25 to verse 27, “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and he shall stand at last on the earth and after my skin is destroyed this, I know that in my flesh, I shall see God whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold and not another, how my heart yearns within me”.

 

This was a man that lost all his livelihood in one day, lost his children in a swift, the devil afflicted him with boils and made him homeless, but see his declaration of faith. What produces this kind of declaration over and over is what Jesus said in John chapter 14, verse 27, “My peace I give to you. You can’t make a declaration of faith if the peace of God is not in you. When Jesus was on the boat with His disciples, and there was a lot of confusion, he was sleeping, and his disciples came to Him, “Master, Teacher, do you care less that we perish here?” And He rose from His sleep are rebuked the storm. You can't give what you don’t have. If there is no conviction from your inside, your declarations will not be potent and powerful. See the declaration of Job. He said, “…and after my skin is destroyed, this I know that in my flesh, I shall see God”. What is our declaration?

 

Let's see another example. The third one; the example of Mary in Luke Chapter 1 verse 38, we are looking at the example of Mary there, and her declaration. And Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her”. A word came to Mary, a word she did not understand, a word she did not comprehend; it has not happened before. She was confused, in her confusion, she made a declaration of faith, “Let it be to me, according to your word”. Even though I might not fully understand it, even though I might not fully comprehend it, “Let it be to me, according to your word”.

 

Example, number four; let us see Apostle Paul. I have given an example of Apostle Paul before, but let us see the example of Apostle Paul in Romans chapter 8 verse 37. You know, he was speaking and said, “What shall separate us from the love of Christ; shall tribulation…, that is in verse 35? Then he went to verse 37 and said, “Yet in all these things, Yet in all of the shipwrecks; in all of the persecution; in all of the nakedness, in all of the peril, in all of the sword, he said, “yet in all these things, we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.”  You wonder how does somebody conquer in perils, perils of famine, of nakedness, of shipwreck, and all manners of perils? He was in prison, yet writing to people to rejoice. Declaration of faith!

 

Number five, let's look at the example of the woman who created an accommodation for the prophet in 2^nd Kings chapter 4. This is such a very strong example. 2nd Kings chapter 4 verse 26. That woman demonstrated her faith in God. The Shunammite woman! In verse 26, the man of God said, “Please, run now to meet her, and say to her, ‘Is it well with you? Is it well with your husband? Is it well with the child?’” And she answered, “It is well.” ²⁷ Now when she came to the man of God at the hill, she caught him by the feet, but Gehazi came near to push her away. But the man of God said, “Let her alone; for her soul is in deep distress...”

 

This was a woman whose soul was in deep distress, but our declaration was sound. ‘ Is it well with your husband? Is it well with you? Is it well with the child?’ And she answered, “It is well.” “For her soul is in deep distress, and the Lord has hidden it from me and has not told me” She said, “It is well”. If we go on to verse 32, you will see how she had what she said. She declared it is well. There were three questions that were asked her: is it well with you, is it well with your husband, is it well with the child? And she said, “It is well.” Her answer was, “It is well concerning everyone”. And she had what she said.

 

Number six, our mentor and our model, Jesus Christ; He showed us the power of declaration in Matthew chapter 4 when the devil came to Him. Matthew chapter 4, let's read from 1 to 10. That's our last example. “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. ² And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. ³ Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”

 

His present predicament was that He was hungry. And the devil came and offered, “Are you not the Son of God, why are you angry like this? It looks like an harmless question, right? It looks like a question that you could just pamper the devil and say, “He means well. Oh, he's looking out for me”. But see what Jesus said. But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” His declaration of faith was in accordance with the word of God, from deep conviction, not from hunger. Jesus was not speaking from his hunger; He was speaking from His faith.

 

As we journey on the earth, we must not speak from our distress, we must not speak from our despair. We must not speak from our confusion. We must speak from our faith in God. Jesus was hungry, no doubt. He did not speak from hunger.

 

In John chapter 4, when he met the woman by the well, he was also hungry, but there was something God wanted to do. He didn’t say, “is this time for ministry, let them go and bring the food quickly, let Me sit down here and just finish the food they bring?” No, He was still discerning. He picked the signal in his spirit that there's something God wants to do with this woman. And he started conversing. He started making declarations and He won an entire city.

 

Declaration of faith comes from the place of conviction. You must not speak as a believer based on the circumstances around you. Job was not speaking out of his despair. That Shunammite woman was not speaking out of her distress. Jesus was not speaking out of his hunger. Apostle Paul was not speaking out of his perils. These were men and women that had their faith rooted in Christ, and it was expressed in their declaration.

 

Our declaration of faith must be rooted in who we are; we are in the image and the likeness of God. You don’t speak what God would not say. God was not complaining in Genesis chapter 1 when the earth was void, and without form, shapeless and all of that. He wasn't speaking out of frustration. “I created heaven and earth, see how the earth is now.” God wasn’t speaking out of frustration? He said, “Let there be light,” what do I want to see? When you have a child that is a bit hard, and you know that that child has a very strong personality. Everything you're asking him not to do, that is the same thing he is doing. Don’t speak out of frustration. The mother of Jabez gave him a name out of frustration. Instead of looking and speaking by faith she called him Jabez, meaning child of Sorrow! She was speaking based on her circumstance.

 

The same thing with Rachel, she called her son, “Benoni” [Son of My Sorrow], because she was speaking out of her frustration. As children of God, as believers, our declarations must be out of faith. What do you desire to see? What do you want to speak for? What do you want to allow? What do you want to speak against? What do you want to disallow? What door do you want to close? And you want it closed forever? What door do you want to open and remain open forever?

 

In our own time, we can go through the Matthew chapter 4 verse 1 to 10, and read how Jesus made declarations of faith. Did he need glory? Yes! He came to the earth to restore man's glory but that's not how He was going to get it. So, he kept declaring the word of God.

 

As believers, this is what we have been called to. We must make formal announcements. We must make explicit statements in the realm of the spirit that is in agreement with the image of whose we are, and the likeness of whose we have. If you are a child of God; made in the image and the likeness of God, start making declarations of faith, start speaking the words in the realm of the spirit, start making those announcements, start making those bold statements about who God has made you; about the things you are allowing; about the things you are speaking for, and the things you are speaking against.

Thanks for the gift of your time, I am Lara Gboyega Adedeji!

Feel free to share your thoughts or testimony in the comment box below. I promise to respond to them as soon as possible!