The Words You Speak Become the House You Live In

The words you speak become the house you live in. — Hafiz

A life story chapter by: Susan Deborah Schiller

Many of us are living as widows and orphans while God has promised us abundant life. Could it be that the experience of poverty, whether in finances, opportunities, or quality of our relationships is directly linked to our prayer life?

Prayers are prophesies! They predict our future. Weak prayers create a weak life. Be relentless! Wrestle with God! He can handle it! ~ Sandi Krakowski

In dreams, God began to get my full attention, showing me symbolically the broken down house that was my soul. I would walk through this small, broken down house (what we would call "humble" in Christian lingo) and all of the sudden, I'd open a door and discover to my absolute astonishment that while we had been living a small, cramped lifestyle – all along there were spacious, lovely rooms with well-stocked kitchens and shelves just a few steps away… all ours!

At the time of these dreams, my husband and I were living in a very tiny apartment with three small children. One evening he came home from work and began to yell at me for not having dinner on the table right away. He didn't stop yelling at me until he realized there was no food in the house, no grocery money, and no paycheck.

This is how we lived, even while serving as leaders in our church. My husband and I had graduated from a Christian college but we didn't know how to access Heaven's provision. 

Photo Credit: Sandi Krakowski

Through the dreams God was trying to show me we needed a new perspective. We were not living a Kingdom lifestyle, even though we were tithers, givers, and leaders in our church.

The form of prayer we had been taught and were teaching others to pray was little more than begging. It was like having a grocery list and we'd simply name off our needs and then hope our request would be filled. 

In 2007, I began to "reverse the curses" by praying in a different way. Listening to God and writing down His promises, personalizing them, and reading them to myself every day unlocked doors to a whole new world for me!

Consider this prayer model, written by King David – a man after God's own heart, from Psalm 119. David began his career path to world leader as a shepherd boy. He was the lowest of the low, rambling in the wilderness leading sheep. His life got a little more exciting when he defeated the giant, Goliath, and saved the day for his country. But God sent him back into the wilderness, where he was relentlessly chased by a pathological King Saul into caves, where he hid for years. You wouldn't expect him to end up ruling a dynasty that God promised would be eternal. But it happened. It's recorded in the history books, and I believe how it came about happened in advance, as David prayed and sang in the desert… his prayers wrote his future:

I'm feeling terrible – I couldn't feel worse!

Get me on my feet again. You promised, remember?

When I told my story, you responded;

train me well in your deep wisdom.

Help me understand these things inside and out

so I can ponder your miracle-wonders.

My sad life's dilapidated, a falling-down barn;

build me up again by your Word.

Barricade the road that goes Nowhere;

grace me with your clear revelation.

I choose the true road to Somewhere,

I post road signs at every curve and corner.

I grasp and cling to whatever you tell me;

God, don't let me down!

I'll run the course you lay out for me

if you'll just show me how…

… Deflect the harsh words of my critics —

but what you say is always so good.

See how hungry I am for your counsel;

preserve my life through your righteous ways!

Prayers based on God's promises and eternal truth have helped me to build that dream house I saw in my dreams. What you speak is what you get, God once taught me.

Writing to freedom, for me, is rooted in the form of declarative prayers, based on God's Word mixed in with the telling of my story, just like King David modeled. The more I write, the more I heal. It's been quite an adventure in freedom and fullness!

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With all my love,

Sue

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