If intercession starts with a Sovereign Declaration from God, everything else will fall in to place.
In last week's blog post, here, I shared how my own negative self-talk and the fall-out from it didn't stop until I learned to counter it with Truth Declarations—declaring what the Council of Heaven decrees when the gavel of Heaven strikes. If you struggle with lies spoken over you or to you that have become a part of you, start with that post.
Truth Declarations require that we do a little research: We have to know what God says in the Bible so that we know the truth. We also have to pray and listen to what God says about particular situations in order to declare what God says. It takes consistency, dedication, and time, but things start to change in our minds, our DNA, and in the next generations.
Sovereign Declarations are different. They require no consistency or dedication on our part. They are predicated on God's eternal faithfulness. However, they always unfold in God's timing, which can be frustrating to us. Sovereign Declarations are decrees from our Sovereign God that require nothing on our part for them to come to pass. As in the Creation: "and it was so."
Truth Declarations are empowering while Sovereign Declarations are relieving! One and done...they will simply come to pass. My part is to 1) ask for them (if prompted), 2) declare them (if I hear them), and 3) watch for them to come to pass. What God says, He will do.
Often, when I begin to intercede for someone who is ill, I begin by asking for God to declare that they will live and not die (Psalm 118:17). Once I hear this Sovereign Declaration and declare it, the faith to pray for specific things comes easily and the authority of God's decree carries me through the Intercessory Declarations for each specific hurdle to come. (More on Intercessory Declarations later.)
Sovereign Declarations are often based on God's promises and they happen regardless of the other parties involved. I think of Hagar as an example: Regardless of Abraham's intent, Sarah's spitefulness and insecurity, and Hagar's loss of hope or mocking behavior (parroted by her son)—nothing mattered. God fulfilled His promise to Hagar and Ishmael.
Sovereign Declarations are found all throughout the Bible. I particularly like the ones where God says (and I paraphrase) "Watch me, I'm going to do something..." But they can also be spoken to our hearts during intercession since the Courtroom of Heaven is obviously still in session in Heaven, the Great Judge of the Universe still presides, and they are both quite active in this age and will be so in the age to come.
"Remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose.'"—Isaiah 46:9-10
"For the Lord of hosts has purposed, and who will annul it? His hand is stretched out, and who will turn it back?"—Isaiah 14:27
"The Lord of hosts has sworn: “As I have planned, so shall it be, and as I have purposed, so shall it stand."—Isaiah 14:24
Declaring the many different kinds of spiritual declarations makes us an extension of the Courtroom of Heaven or mouthpieces who declare what God has decreed in Heaven, on earth (the simplest of definitions for what a prophet really is).
There are other types of declarations. I am learning as I go and as God shows me, so I am no expert but here is a PDF of what I've learned/gathered so far about declarations and what they are/are not, the types, and how they are one of our weapons of warfare. Feel free to comment, question, and share.
Grace waits for God's decree.