"Never run at your giant with your mouth shut!" These are the words the Lord spoke to me as a key to killing my giants. We all face many giants in life that must be conquered before we can receive and do all that God has for us. As you know, some of these giants can be persistent. Speaking the Word of God releases God's power to win in each conflict. Winning the war of words is necessary to win the fight of faith.

First Samuel 17 gives a a picture of the faith-filled words that were spoken and determined the outcome of the war. As you can see from the following passage, David's word-war did not begin with Goliath; it actually began with Saul. You could call this the pre-fight warm up.

Some people lose before they ever get to the real fight. Let's see how David won:

And David said to Saul, "Let no man's heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine."

And Saul said to David, "Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him: for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth."

And David said unto Saul, "Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear; and took a lamb out of the flock: And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him and slew him. Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God. David said moreover, The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear; he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine."

And Saul said unto David, "Go, and the Lord be with thee. "

And when the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdained him: for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair countenance. And the Philistine said unto David, "Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves?" And the Philistine said to David, "Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field."

Then said David to the Philistine, "Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with the sword and spear: for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hands."

And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and come and draw nigh to meet David, that David hasted, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth.

So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sward in the hand of David.

Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith.

And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled.
(1 Sam. 17: 32-37, 42-51)

This is the classic story of David and Goliath. The real battle was won before David actually killed Goliath. A war of words had to  be won before victory could be consummated.

Never run at your giant with your mouth shut! Before David ran at Goliath a war of word went on. Goliath said—David said—Goliath said—David said—David ran toward the Philistine—David prevailed over the Philistine. You know the story well. We all love it. I want to emphasize that David won the war of words before he won the victory. Never let the devil have the last word.

Another example of winning the war of words is found in Matthew 4. Jesus won the war of words with Satan and refused to give in to temptation.  

And when the tempter came to Him [Jesus], he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.

But He answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

Then the devil taketh Him up into the holy city, and setteth Him on a pinnacle of the temple, And saith unto Him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it written, He shall give His angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.

Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

Again, the devil taketh Him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showeth Him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;

And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, it thou wilt fall down and worship me. And saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.

Then the devil leaveth Him, and, behold angels came and ministered unto Him. 
(Matt. 4:3-11)

In the same way, we see Jesus face Satan in the wilderness in Matthew 4. Jesus defeated Satan by speaking the Word of God. Satan said—Jesus said —Satan said—Jesus said—Satan said—Jesus said. Notice that the Lord Jesus Christ won the war of words and put the devil on the run. Even Jesus had to "say" three times before the devil left.

The power of speaking the Word of God is evident and necessary to win the fight of faith. The spirit of faith believes and speaks (2Corinthians 4:13). Jesus said in Mark 11:23, "Whosoever shall say...believe that those things which he saith...he shall have whatsoever he saith." In that verse Jesus clearly tells us how faith works. He said, "believe" once but He said, "say, saith, saith" three times. Faith is released by speaking. If you are silent, you lose by default. You must win the war of words to win in every conflict. 

Prisoners of Words
A war of words is going on in each of our lives every day. Winning that war will determine life or death, blessing or cursing. Many people are held hostage by their words; they are prisoners of words.

Proverbs 6:2 says, "Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with the words of thy mouth." The Jerusalem Bible says, "...through words of yours you have been entrapped." Basic English says, "...the sayings of your lips have overcome you."  According to Proverbs 18:21, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue." James 3 tells us that the direction and destiny of our life is determined by the tongue.

We must win the war of words before we win in any area of life. God has supplied the ammunition, the Word, to win in every area. There is life, healing, joy, victory, and blessing in the Word of God. You are a believer and you must speak what you believe for victory to be yours.  The confession of your lips that has grown out of faith in your heart will absolutely defeat the adversary in every combat. That means Satan cannot win if you will hold fast to your confession and allow your words to register on your spirit.

God's Word In Your Mouth
You can see why the devil would fight against you getting the Word in your mouth. Everything Jesus did is activated by getting the Word in your mouth and in your heart. Reinhard Bonnke said the Lord told him, My Word in your mouth is just as powerful as My Word in My mouth."

The thing you need to focus on is getting the Word in your mouth. When you get the Word in your mouth, you have the answer. The answer is already in the Word! You have the same spirit of faith that David had, Paul had, and the Lord Jesus had. Fight the good fight of faith by believing and speaking. Say what God has done for you in the plan of redemption. Say what Jesus has done through His blood and the power of His resurrection. God's Word spoken through your lips wins in every conflict!

Summary Points: Never run at your giant with your mouth shut! 1 Samuel 17 

• Never let the devil have the last word.
• The confession of your lips that has grown out of faith in your heart will absolutely defeat the adversary in every combat.
• If you are silent, you lose by default.