I Decree & Declare that I Messed Up
The Book I Regret Writing
Like most unknown writers, I have more half-baked ideas than I do fully realized stories. That being said, I have gone the popular route and self-published a few things- when I beat the odds and complete something!
I regret writing my most recent book.
If you bought one of these books, I have already reached out to you.
Everyone was so kind and gracious to me when I contacted them about discarding the book. I offered refunds to everyone, and nobody asked for their money back. That was amazing and humbling. Thank you all for that. You are amazing human beings.
Why do I regret writing this book? What was the big deal?
Here is the tea…
The book was a compilation of prayers that reflected how I personally liked to pray. Each prayer was specifically focused on asking the Lord to bring a loved one into salvation.
I described the book as a jumping off point for those who wanted to pray more consistently and more powerfully for their loved ones to come to the Lord.
The problem? I had a personal error in my understanding of prayer.
Several months after its publication, I found myself slowly unraveling my hyper-Charismatic beliefs. Suddenly, I was uneasy with things I once believed wholeheartedly. I felt like a switch got flipped inside of me. I began what I call a reconstruction of my faith.
Many have heard of those who are deconstructing their faith. These folks have been grappling with the concepts of biblical Christianity, often coming to a conclusion that they can no longer identify as a Christian. I call my journey a reconstruction, because from the beginning I knew that the fundamentals of my faith in Christ were immovable- but what was built upon my foundation was suspect.
Without going fully into the reconstruction journey that pulled my husband and I away from the Charismatic church, I will say that we began listening to new perspectives and giving critics of our tradition a chance to be heard.
We watched the documentary “American Gospel” together, and that was a huge eye opener. The documentary helped us pinpoint the things we felt uneasy about. The documentary dove deep into the doctrines of Word of Faith/ Prosperity Gospel teaching, juxtaposing those teachings with the words of Christ & the Apostles in Scripture. I highly recommend giving it a watch.
Around the time that we watched the documentary, I also found myself interested in content from Pastor Chris Rosebrough. Every time I watched one of his YouTube programs or turned on an archived episode of the Fighting for the Faith podcast, I was hit over the head with some obvious biblical truth.
Pastor Rosebrough brings the listener face to face with their own cognitive dissonance. Rosebrough’s tactic is that of comparisons- namely, comparing what is being said in the name of God to the Word of God.
I happened upon an episode pointedly titled: “Why Decreeing and Declaring Is Not Prayer.”
I was struck to the heart.
I had been taught that speaking words of faith in prayer was the highest, most authoritative form of prayer. I had been taught that it is my job as a believer to determine the will of God and then pray it into existence. I had been taught that to pray “Your will be done” was a weak, ineffectual prayer that displeased the Lord. I had been taught to instruct God in prayer.
I felt the conviction of the Holy Spirit as I listened to Rosebrough go through the Scriptures.
I was stunned and sorrowful and angry.
Stunned that I had believed something so at odds with Scripture. Sorrowful for having disrespected the Lord by praying in such a haughty manner. Angry that so many were deceived and deceiving others on this topic.
I was deceived, and I had a book in print that perpetuated this deception.
If perhaps you aren’t aware, decreeing and declaring in Charismatic circles is very common. The teaching, in a nutshell, is that Christians have been given authority as ambassadors of Christ to make things happen.
Case in point: In November of 2021, popular Charismatic pastor Bill Johnson was quoted on his church’s public Facebook page as saying that we ought to progress from asking in prayer to decreeing in prayer.
In these hyper-Charismatic circles, it is taught that we are meant to use our words to create reality and to co-labor with Christ in bringing heaven to earth.
Some even go so far as to teach that without our declarations, God cannot complete His will on the earth. When you “speak out” a thing, declaring it to happen, if your faith is strong, God can and will do that thing.
If this sounds a lot like the non-Christian practice of the Law of Attraction (LOA), well, that’s because it’s awfully similar.
As a matter of fact, another resource that sparked my reconstruction of faith was a video that described LOA. I didn’t know what it was, but I had been hearing about it from friends online. I did some research and found this video by Nastasia Grace on YouTube, explaining LOA and giving a Christian perspective.
Watching this video reminded me so much of things I had been taught about how to pray. Perhaps these teachings about “speaking things into existence” were not Christian ideas, but had other origins?
Spoiler alert: The further I researched, the more I discovered that several prominent early Charismatic and Pentecostal leaders had connections to the Mind Science cults wherein LOA finds its beginnings.
This is the tea, all spilled out.
I pulled my book off of the shelf, because it contained prayers with declarations and decrees. I declare such and such will happen. I decree that this and that will not be allowed to happen.
I feel foolish for ever having prayed in this manner, and I would hate to promote that model to anyone else. I now decree & declare that I messed up.
Prayer is about speaking to God, not bypassing His authority in order to work a principle of the Universe to get what we want- even if we think it’s God’s will. It is His prerogative to work His will on the earth.
He doesn’t need our decrees. He doesn’t, in reality, need a thing from us.
This realization that He doesn’t need us at all creates a thankfulness and an awe for God’s kindness. He has chosen us to be a part of His family. He has chosen to hear us when we call to Him. He loves us with an awesome love.
If you’ve been declaring, decreeing, or manifesting things in prayer- I would encourage you to do your homework on the practice. The foundational teachings that hold up this doctrine are at odds with Scripture.
I encourage you to humble yourself before the Lord. Jesus instructed us to Ask, Seek, & Knock in prayer. This deceptive prayer of declaration bids us to manifest instead of asking, decree a thing instead of seeking, and open the door ourselves.
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” MATTHEW 7:7–11
If you’ve stopped decreeing and declaring, and you feel the heaviness of godly sorrow and regret- I would encourage you that God is merciful. He calls us to repentance, and while we feel that sting of regret, there is healing and there is restoration on the other side.
Know that the gospel is always about us being restored to the Father through Christ. He is working sanctification in us, and we are all learning.
Also, God is sovereign. He is still working all things together for the good of those who are His. He will accomplish His word and His will.
We aren’t big enough to mess up His plan!
God bless you.
Thanks for checking in on the blog. Don’t forget to go back and click on the links if you’re interested in furthering your own research on the topics I’ve covered today!
I realize that I didn’t go deeply into Scripture in this blog or articulate much evidence for my position against declaration/decree/manifestation, but my aim was to spill the tea on my book and my reasoning for pulling it from sale. For the sake of keeping it short and to the point, I am letting my links tell the rest of the story.
