The Favor of God

by Jerry Savelle

  I’ve learned that most Christians are great starters—but not always great finishers. We get inspired and excited about the potential we have and the kind of life that is available to us through the Word of God, but we don’t always demonstrate consistency in our attempts to achieve that lifestyle. My personal opinion is that consistency is the name of the game if we want a lifestyle marked by the blessing and favor of God.

  Now, when it comes to being consistent, I’m not perfect, by any means. But one thing I am consistent about is being obedient to the Word of God. It’s not something I do only occasionally; it’s my life. I don’t go to church on Sunday, hear a word and obey it one time, and then decide I don’t want to be obedient anymore. That’s not consistency.

  So, what exactly is consistency? Let’s look at some of the definitions of the word. “Consistency” means “firmness of character”; a consistent person is “resolute; non-compromising; persistent; free from distractions.” Another way to put it is to say that being consistent is taking on the very nature of Jesus Christ. Hebrews 13:8 tells us that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” That’s consistency.

  Developing a lifestyle of consistent obedience requires us not only to delve into the Word of God, but also to do those things that we have learned. James put it this way: “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was” (Jas. 1:22-24). In order to walk in the blessing and favor of God, we need to do what the Word tells us to do, and we need to do it every day of our lives. We need to keep the Word before us 24/7 and obey it consistently. This is how we open the door for God’s blessing to be upon our houses.

  Deuteronomy 6:11 tells us that our houses will be “full of all good things.” A house that is full of all good things is a house that the blessing of the Lord is upon. Carolyn and I have just such a house. As a matter of fact, every time I pull up in front of my house, whether I’ve been gone for an hour or a month, I always say, “I wonder what blessed people live here?” And then I say, “We do!” Carolyn and I are the blessed people who live there. Our house is paid for, and everything in it is paid for. God said in Deuteronomy that He would bless us with houses, and that’s just what He has done for Carolyn and me.

  Because we practice consistent obedience, our house is blessed. It doesn’t matter what’s happening in anybody else’s house; we will not be affected by the weather or the stock market or the economy or anything else that’s going on in the world. The Word of God says that “the wicked are overthrown and are no more, but the house of the righteous will stand” (Prov. 12:7). Similarly, in Proverbs 14:11, we read that “the house of the wicked will be overthrown, but the tent of the upright will flourish.” In other words, we can expect to achieve success and to prosper continuously, no matter what the conditions around us may be.

  While the blessing of God on our houses will cause us to flourish, it does not ensure that we will never have to do any home maintenance. I’m not talking about repairing a roof or treating for termites. As challenging as these issues can be in the natural, I’m talking about something more sinister: strife. Jesus made this statement: “If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand” (Mark 3:25). Anytime a house is full of strife, there will be no blessing on that house. Why? Because “where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work” (Jas. 3:16, KJV). In other words, the curse is operating in that house. God didn’t put it there. It’s there because the people in that house removed their umbrella of protection.

  Strife is a blessing blocker. Strife opens the door for the curse. Anytime there is strife in a house, the blessing will not operate on a continuous basis. Carolyn and I learned years ago not to let strife get a foothold in our house. That’s not to say that we’ve never had a disagreement, but the Bible says not to “let the sun go down on your wrath” (Eph. 4:26), so we are always quick to deal with our issues and quick to forgive.

  STRIFE IS A BLESSING BLOCKER. ANYTIME THERE IS STRIFE IN A HOUSE, THE BLESSING WILL NOT OPERATE ON A CONTINUOUS BASIS.

  The apostle Paul also said that we should not “give place to the devil” (Eph. 4:27), which means that we should not give the curse a legal right to land on our houses. One way we avoid making room for the curse is by removing strife, but more importantly, we must be deliberate about the words we speak.

  Our Words Carry Great Power

  Once, when I was teaching on the favor of God and the power of our words, someone asked me, “Brother Jerry, are you saying that it’s actually possible to stop the favor of God from operating in my life because of the words I speak?”

  “That’s exactly what I’m saying,” was my response.

  You see, words have great power. The Bible says that “the worlds were framed by the word of God” (Heb. 11:3). The book of Genesis describes that process:

  Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.…

  Then God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.” Thus God made the firmament.…

  Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth”; and it was so.…

  Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image” (Gen. 1:3,6-7,11,26).

  Everything that God created, including mankind, was created by His spoken words. “God said … and it was so.” It is evident that God’s words carry great power. Doesn’t it make sense that if He created us in His own image and gave us dominion over all of His creation, then our words also carry great power?

  Jesus taught about the importance of the words we speak. He said, “For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned” (Matt. 12:37). He also said, as you may recall, “For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says” (Mark 11:23). What we say matters, and I’ve learned that ensuring a continuous flow of God’s favor and blessing in my life doesn’t get any more basic than watching my mouth.

  I remember how my life changed, years ago, when I discovered that “death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit” (Prov. 18:21). As I began to learn about the power of words, I realized that my words could actually make me or break me. I discovered that my words would either set me free or take me captive. That’s when I began to change what was coming out of my mouth. I put a guard on my vocabulary.

  When I went into the ministry in 1969, I still had a lot of debt from my automotive business. I’d not yet learned about the importance of declaring God’s favor over my life. I felt a lot of pressure from the notices in the mail and the phone calls I was getting. I was an honest man, and I’d determined that everyone was going to get paid; I just didn’t know how I was going to do it.

  Knowing that Jesus said, “If two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them” (Matt.18:19), Carolyn and I made a pact with each other. We decided that if one of us started talking negatively, the other one would do one of two things: either get up and walk away, ending the conversation, or say, “Okay, that’s your confession, and I’m setting myself in agreement because all it takes is two for it to come to pass.”

  Changing the way we talked didn’t happen overnight. There were times when Carolyn might say something like, “How are we ever going to pay these bills? We’ll never get out of debt.”

  I’d respond with, “That’s your confession, so I’ll just set myself in agreement with it.”

  Then she would quickly say, “I pull down those words in Jesus’ name.”

  Or I might get up one morning a
nd declare, “Dear God, I’m sicker than a dog. I’m so sick.”

  Carolyn would say, “All right, that’s your confession; I agree that you’re sicker than a dog.”

  So I’d hasten to say, “No, I’m not sicker than a dog; I am healed.” That’s how we began to train each other to put a guard over our mouths.

  Even today there are times when I am tempted to burst out with a negative confession, but I know that I can’t afford to let down the guard I’ve put on my mouth. There’s too much at stake where the favor of God is concerned. I’m so serious about this that if I have to put some duct tape across my mouth to keep from talking negatively, then that’s what I’ll do.

  The crucial choices we’ve been talking about—establishing lifestyles of consistent obedience and watching the words of our mouths—are not unrelated. In Proverbs 4, we find this admonition: “Hear, my children, the instruction of a father, and give attention to know understanding; for I give you good doctrine: do not forsake my law” (vv. 1-2). This chapter goes on to describe the benefits of obedience and the consequences of disobedience. In verse 24 of the King James version, we’re given the following key:

  “Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee.”

  Do you know what a froward mouth is? The simplest definition I can give you is this: A froward mouth is a disobedient mouth. A froward mouth says whatever it wants, based on how it feels, regardless of what the Scripture says. A froward mouth is a mouth that is not under control because the tongue is not under control. James talked about the importance of taming the tongue:

  If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body. Indeed, we put bits in horses’ mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body. Look also at ships: although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires. Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things.

  See how great a forest a little fire kindles! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh (Jas. 3:2-12).

  James said the tongue is such an unruly member of the body that it can set on fire the course of nature. He said we can control horses and ships, but we can’t control the tongue. You may be thinking, Well, if we can’t control our tongues, why are you telling me to watch my mouth?

  James was making the point that we can control horses and ships with the natural power of bits and rudders, but there is no natural power by which we can control the tongue. Controlling the tongue requires the supernatural power of God, and that power comes from the Word of God. We’ve got to fill our hearts with the Word, and then out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth will speak.

  In chapter 2, we learned the importance of declaring the favor of God. We learned that there is a connection between our declaring the favor of God in our lives and our experiencing the manifestation of that favor. I’ve certainly found this to be true in my own life.

  For a period of time, I didn’t declare the favor of God as consistently as I had when I first took hold of this truth. As a result, I wasn’t seeing the manifestations of God’s favor as frequently as before. Something powerful happens when we release God’s Word from our mouths. Job 22:28 says, “You will also declare a thing, and it will be established for you.” In other words, when we use our mouths to declare the favor of God, He sees to it that

  His favor is established in our lives and upon our houses. Once I again started declaring the favor of God on a consistent basis, miraculous things began happening on a more consistent basis.

  GOD DESIRES THAT WE ENJOY THE BENEFITS OF A LIFE MARKED BY HIS FAVOR. BUT WALKING CONSISTENTLY IN THAT FAVOR REQUIRES THAT WE WALK IN CONSISTENT OBEDIENCE TO HIS WORD.

  God desires that each and every one of us enjoy the benefits of a life marked by His favor. But walking consistently in that favor requires that we walk in consistent obedience to His Word, taking care to guard what comes out of our mouths and speak only words of life, blessing and favor.

  For more than 40 years, I have made this my confession: The favor of God is on me, the favor of God surrounds me, and the favor of God goes before me. I have access to the throne of divine favor, and in time of need that favor comes my way. Won’t you join me and make this your confession, too?

  7

  POSITIONED FOR FAVOR

  I had heard the call of God when I was a boy, yet because preaching the gospel was not what I wanted to do, I had been running as hard and fast from that call as I possibly could. But deep down inside, although I wasn’t willing to admit it, I knew that if I didn’t surrender my life to God, I was going to be miserable no matter what level of success I achieved.

  Finally, I got tired of running—and of merely existing. I wanted life. Real life. I knew that the only way I would ever experience that kind of life was in Christ. After decades of resistance (by this time I was a grown man who had been married for three years), I finally realized that I needed God, and I needed Him desperately. I knew that my life belonged to Him. So at three o’clock on a cold February morning in 1969, I lifted my hands and said, “Lord, I don’t know if You still want me or not. I’ve been running from You all these years, but if You still want me, here I am.”

  Then I added, “I think it’s important that I let You know what a failure You’re getting.” As if He didn’t know.

  But before I could say another thing, I heard Him speak these words to me: “Don’t worry about it, son. I’m a master at making champions out of failures.”

  From the moment that I surrendered my life to Him—and I’m not talking about a month or two later, but from that very moment—I just couldn’t get enough of God. All of a sudden, I wanted to devour the Bible that Carolyn had given me several years earlier. When I opened my business, she brought it to my office, because she wanted me to have a Bible at work. As soon as she had left, I hid it. I didn’t want any of my clients seeing a Bible in my office. But after I surrendered to God, I went looking for that Bible. I finally found it under all of my paint and parts catalogs in my desk. I started reading it and couldn’t get enough of it. Even though I was scripturally illiterate, I began to study that Bible, and I soon discovered that God was a whole lot better than what I’d heard about Him.

  Growing up, I heard people say, “You’d better watch out, or God is going to get you.” I heard that so much that I got the idea God was mean. But then I found out that God is love. I found out that He loved me, and that He had an awesome plan for my life. I found out that He favored me, and that His favor was for a lifetime. I hadn’t discovered yet that I could have a continuous flow of favor and blessing in my life, because I didn’t know that bestowing continuous favor and blessing on His children was the will of God.

  I can’t expect God to give me something that is not His will. Kenneth Hagin used to say that faith operates where there is the known will of God. In other words, our faith will operate at its highest level when we know the will of God. For instance, if I’m not sure that it’s God’s will to heal me, then obviously I’m not going to have strong faith where healing is concerned. If I don’t know that it’s God’s will to prosper me, then I’ll struggle when it comes to asking Him for prosperity.

  So, I had to establish from the Word of God that it is His will for me to experience a continuous, uninterrupted flow of favor a
nd blessing—no matter what the conditions and circumstances are in the natural.

  We saw in chapter 3 that the first thing God did after creating man and woman was to pronounce a blessing over them: “Then God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth’ ” (Gen. 1:28). The Bible doesn’t say that God blessed them for a season or for a short period of time or for a dispensation. Genesis (which means “beginning”) is a revelation of God’s will for mankind—and that will was for continuous blessing and favor.

  We know that Adam blew it, but God’s intent for mankind to experience continuous favor and blessing didn’t change. The first thing God did when He began dealing with Noah was to bless him in the same way He had blessed Adam and Eve: “So God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth’ ” (Gen. 9:1).

  We also know that the blessing conferred upon Abraham by God encompasses his natural progeny, meaning Isaac, Jacob and their descendants, and also his spiritual progeny, which includes you and me. God’s blessing and favor will work in our lives today just as it worked for those whose stories we read about in the Bible. The fact that God’s blessing and favor have been made available to us on a continuous basis is now firmly established for Carolyn and me, and our faith in the veracity of the Word of God is unwavering.

  GOD’S BLESSING AND FAVOR WILL WORK IN OUR LIVES TODAY JUST AS IT WORKED FOR THOSE WHOSE STORIES WE READ ABOUT IN THE BIBLE.

  Carolyn and I have known each other for nearly our whole lives. We met when I was 11 and she was 9, and we grew up on the same street. We went to school together, and to me she was always “the little girl down the street”—that is, until I came home after being away for a while at college. I hadn’t seen her for two years, and as soon as I laid eyes on her, I noticed that she had certainly changed. We fell in love and were married in 1966. We’re still in love today.