“My son, pay attention to what I say; turn your ear to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to one’s whole body.” -Proverbs 4:20-22

Years ago when I started to seek God about His will for body and health, He led me to Proverbs 4:20-22, which tells us that when we stay connected to God and keep His word in our hearts, it will bring life and health to us.

When I think about scriptures like this, I like to create an image in my mind of what it means to receive life from Gods word. Often times I think of a tree that is big, strong, and tall that has branches that can support great weight, and is not easily swayed by storms. This kind of tree has roots going down deep into rich soil, and taps into a live giving flow of water. Likewise, when our roots go down deep in the Lord, and the soil of our hearts are fertile ground, His word and presence is like a stream of living water that brings life and vitality.

Practically speaking, how do we stay connected to His word? This Scripture tells us that in order to keep God's word in our hearts we must incline our ears to them, as well as keep them before our eyes. In addition to listening and reading the scriptures, (through messages, etc.), another practical way that we can keep Gods word in our heart is by writing scriptures down and keeping them before our eyes all throughout the day.

I have been doing this for years, and I will tell you, there is nothing as powerful as keeping God's word before your eyes, especially on difficult days or hard seasons of life. I like to put scriptures and promises God has given me on little note cards, and pin them up on my bathroom mirror, in my car, and on my refrigerator, really anywhere that I can see them. When I look at them, I speak them out, so I can hear God's word in my ears and remind my own heart of what He has said about me.

In addition to being encouraging, when we speak the Word of God in faith, it can be one of our most powerful weapons against the devil (Ephesians 6:17). We can also see that Jesus, who is our ultimate example, used the spoken Word of God to defeat the enemy when He was tempted, which caused Him to walk in victory over temptation and sin. (Matthew 4:4 ). Proverbs 18:21 tells us that death and life are in the power of every word we speak, and there is nothing more life-giving than declaring what God says about us!

Ready to start speaking life over your health, body, and current circumstances? After receiving this revelation from the Lord, I got to work and compiled a list of scriptures that related directly to my health and body, and personalized them, making them into decelerations! Here are 20 Decelerations for Health to start declaring today!

Prayer: “Lord, please help me to use my words to build up and create life around me. When I am speaking words of doubt, fear, or destruction, please show me Holy Spirit, and help me to put a guard on my mouth. When a problem stands in my way, I will speak to the problem and command it to get out of my way in the Name of Jesus. As I speak your Word today, I thank you that it will produce life. In Jesus’ Name, Amen!”