A recent blab it and grab it article provides a great opportunity to take apart the entire word of faith movement...

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You said in your heart, 'I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north; - Isaiah 14:13 (ESV)

But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." -- Genesis 3: 4-5 (ESV)

https://www.charismamag.com/spirit/prophecy/40047-don-t-let-demons-determine-your-destiny-mdash-prophesy-with-these-truths

The key verses today embody the sin of Lucifer. In the Isaiah verse we see that the once favored angel wanted more than God had given him. He in fact wanted to be God. He aspired to ascend to heaven, above the stars of God, and set his own throne on high. For this and the rebellion he orchestrated, he was cast down from heaven. Later, he would offer to Eve in the garden the very same sin -- you will be like God - and she fell just like Lucifer before her. It is not surprising that this sin has been repeated throughout the history of man and through this very day and age. Make no mistake about it beloved. Those who refuse to entertain the notion of God either through atheism or agnosticism simply prefer to be their own god. Unfortunately, many who profess to be believers also prefer to be their own god as well. While most heresies involve the sin of Lucifer perhaps none embodies it better than word faith theology. Simply put, word faith usurps what belongs to God. It usurps the power of God. It usurps the authority of God. Those who have carried it out to its logical end such as Creflo Dollar and Joyce Meyer teach that we are in fact little gods. Those who even go further like the late Myles Munroe insist that God cannot actually do anything on earth without our permission. Yes, you read that right. The above linked article from this week is from word faith adherent Kathy DeGraw who fancies herself a prophetic spiritual warfare strategist. No, that is not found anywhere in scripture but when your entire belief system is unbiblical, why stop there? Let us reason together once more through the depraved mind of a word faith acolyte.

"Are you prophesying over your destiny, or are you allowing your destiny to be dictated by everyday life happenings and a spiritual realm that is out to destroy God's will for your life?

The devil comes to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10). However, Jesus has given us authority over all things (Luke 10:19). Are you prophesying and speaking out through decreeing and declaring what you want to see come to pass, or are you being complacent and passive in pursuing the things of God and your prophetic destiny?" -- Kathy DeGraw

Where to begin? The first notion offered here is the false teaching that everyone can prophesy and as such we should "prophesying over our own lives." This is of course nonsense. Prophecy is listed specifically as a gift that is given by the Holy Spirit and the bible expressly teaches that not all prophesy. The adherents will insist that this is done as a matter of faith but it takes no faith to speak erroneously for God. Where a false prophet will lie to you about what God has said, Kathy is teaching you that you can lie to yourself as well. Perhaps most ironic is that she cannot even see the logical disconnect in what she has said here. Destiny is something that will happen to us. Now only God knows our destiny because He sees all time but Kathy DeGraw is intimating that you can actually control your own destiny. You can change it but by changing it we lose the ability to consider it destiny! Look how much power she is willing to steal from God Almighty! Not content with displaying a false faith in oneself she now moves into co-opting the Word of God to try and prop up this false doctrine. As soon as she turns to Scripture though she is forced to lie because the Scriptures do not support her.

John 10:10 -- Kathy presents this verse as saying the enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy but that is not what the verse actually says. The verse says the thief comes to kill, steal and destroy. So is the thief the devil? Absolutely not. If we read the passage we find the context reveals that the thief is the false prophet and teacher! How ironic again! Jesus is the Good Shepherd and the thief only enters by climbing the fence. Where the Good Shepherd comes to bring us life the false thief brings only eternal death because he does not care for the sheep and does not bring the Gospel.

Luke 10:19 -- This passage is from the sending out of the 72 to preach the Gospel. One can argue that these powers were given to them, not meant as a hand-me-down throughout all time to all believers. We do not even need to go there however as the main point of the story, as Jesus teaches them, is not the power they were given but the fact that their names were written in heaven. Jesus did not give us authority over all things in this verse either but rather that as we bring the Gospel, we shall prevail over the enemy.

So we see that no scripture is safe from the twisting of someone who follows word faith theology. The next false teaching embodied in this opening salvo is the notion of declaring and decreeing. This teaching is that we can speak things into existence in our lives. Now, who has the ability to speak things into existence? That's right -- God does! We have no power to declare or decree anything. Our words do not contain to power of creation. This teaching is purely demonic. It makes one believe that everything negative in their life can be attributed to some sense of spiritual sloth on their part and by their mere spoken words; they can provide a prosperous and joyful future. Tell that to the underground Christian in China or the persecuted Christian in the Middle East. Any doctrine that does not work past our own shores is false by definition. DeGraw continues:

"The Bible says, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue" (Prov. 18:21a). The Word of God further instructs us that we have authority to speak to our mountain and call things into existence. We need to be active in our faith as we enter 2019 and not sit around silently waiting for things to happen, but be bold and activate our faith to expect more and better as we enter the new year. Instead of accepting defeat, stagnancy and a victim mentality, we need to be proactive and activate the voice and authority within us that Jesus gave us and speak out and prophesy to our situation and future." -- Kathy DeGraw

How many scriptures does she intend to abuse? Proverbs 18:21 is a staple of word faith heresy and is once again built upon ignorance to context. Take a moment now and read all of Proverbs 18 and ask what is the point Solomon is trying to make? Is he teaching about speaking things into existence? Here are some examples:

A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion. (Verse 2)

A fool's lips walk into a fight, and his mouth invites a beating. (Verse 6)

Before destruction a man's heart is haughty, but humility comes before honor. (Verse 12)

If one gives an answer before he hears, it is his folly and shame. (Verse 13)

These and many more verses are what lead up to verse 21. When we cross reference with James' discussion on the tongue we see the point being made is that the tongue can build up or tear down, not that it possesses some power to alter reality or create. In fact, word faithers say Proverbs 18:21 means they can essentially control the tongue but what does James say about that?

For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. -- James 3:7-8 (ESV)

The entire premise of Word faith lays in tatters when you actually read their proof texts in context. The next scripture reference is to Matthew 21:21 and speaking to our mountain. Again we see the word faith poison focusing on the "speaking" reference and usurping what belongs to God. Here is the entire verse:

And Jesus answered them, "Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, 'Be taken up and thrown into the sea,' it will happen. -- Matthew 21:21 (ESV)

Now remember the portrayal here is your power. What you can do based upon what God has said. Now look at the verse. Who is Jesus teaching we need to have faith in? Ourselves or Him? Who is it that Jesus is teaching you must not doubt? Yourself or Him? These may seem trite questions but they are at the heart of what is wrong with word faith heresy. Word faith teaches faith in man while the bible teaches faith in Christ. If you have faith in Him and you do not doubt Him then your request (mountain removal) will be aligned with His will only. Word faith teachers like Kathy DeGraw are not teaching His will but our own. The next scripture she casually mangles is possibly the biggest lie in the word faith theology:

as it is written, "I have made you the father of many nations"--in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. -- Romans 4:17 (ESV)

Now I want you to read this verse closely beloved and ask yourself who calls things into existence that do not exist? Kathy DeGraw said "God further instructs us that we have authority to speak to our mountain and call things into existence." There is a technical theological term for this. We call it a lie. God did not instruct us to call anything into existence beloved. That is HIS power. The example provided explains why. God called Abraham a father of many nations before he ever was such. Why can God do this? Because He sees all time! He is the Alpha and Omega! He sees every day we ever have on earth before we are even born! Kathy DeGraw has no such power and certainly no such authority. We do not "activate our faith." We either have it or we do not. DeGraw is teaching you to have faith on your own power and authority and lying to you that God has given this to you when He has not.

"Our heavenly Father gave us authority so we could use it. Prophetically, I keep hearing in the Spirit that He wants us to know when we speak out, our words will get results and activate the angelic realm and bind the demonic realm. The Lord has been showing me that He wants us to know that when we speak out, our words hit a target. He desires that we know our authority and our words produce results." -- Kathy DeGraw

No Kathy. That is not the Father you are hearing. If it were He would be violating His own word that says not everyone can prophesy. We see here another facet of word faith theology in over-spiritualization by co-opting angels and demons. Somehow they believe they can command angels and that they can bind demons. The authority she continues to usurp belongs to God. The words that produce results are His words, not ours. Once again, this is the sin of Lucifer on display.

"Envision words going out of your mouth and hitting a target. When your words go out, they are established in the atmosphere. He desires for us to know, really know the power of our authority and the words we speak, and what we can put out to establish and destroy. It is Matthew 16:19 in action." -- Kathy DeGraw

Mercifully, this is the final verse she eviscerates to try and proof text her heresy. Notice the pattern though. She references partial scriptures without citing the context or many cases the entire verse. She claims here that Matthew 16:19 is the theology of our words having the authority to establish and destroy. Let's turn back to the bible:

I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." -- Matthew 16:19 (ESV)

As a standalone verse it may appear she is onto something until you pull back and read the context. Jesus is not speaking to us. He is speaking to Peter because he answered correctly that He was the Christ. Now, even if you wish to carry this forward, what does Jesus mean? Is he giving Peter some form of control over establishing and destroying things with the mere power of his words? Of course not. The keys to the kingdom is referring to the Gospel. Peter would preach the first sermon at Pentecost and by possessing the keys through the Gospel it was decided who could enter the kingdom and who could not. Remember however, Peter is the vehicle of God's power -- not the possessor of it. Kathy DeGraw would also be saddened to learn that binding and loosing were Jewish legal terms simply defining what was allowed and what was not. Once again the context revealing that this is always all about Jesus. DeGraw concludes:

"Christians often are attracted to the prophetic, desiring and even seeking a prophetic word from a prophet or someone operating in the gift of the prophetic. However, Jesus told us to speak to our mountain, and when we believe we can receive. Instead of us seeking others to prophesy over and into our own situation why don't we take the very authority Jesus gave us and declare out of our mouths the plans heaven has written for us? We can do it; the problem is we aren't doing it. What are you going to do to activate the spiritual realm on your behalf and set in action the course of your year to head in a positive direction?" -- Kathy DeGraw

She sums up her heresy quite nicely here. She is right that many Charismatic Christians seek the prophetic too much instead of relying on the final prophecy known as the bible. The reason why they are so out of balance in their understanding however is because of false prophets and teachers like Kathy DeGraw. The speaking to our mountain reference has nothing to do with our power and authority but faith in His. I remember last year there was a facebook post on Joel Osteen's page from a man who was distraught. He did not understand how come his house was being padlocked by the marshall the following week when he had tithed, gave and spoken positively over his life like Joel taught him. As sad as the post was the responses were more horrifying. Blaming him for a lack of faith. Insisting that he had to speak to his mountain and call things into existence things that were not. I do not know what happened to his faith but after he lost his house the following week would it surprise anyone if he walked away blaming God and still thinking he was saved when he probably never was? There are always real victims to heresy beloved. Word faith teachers are covered in the blood of their victims -- make no mistakle about it. They will answer for every single soul. Seek out teachers who focus you on the Savior not what power you can leverege from Him. Do the work of a Berean and do not settle for verse fragments taken out of context. Speak to the mountains of false teaachers and prophets out there today and cast them into the sea. At least that is line with God's will.

Reverend Anthony Wade -- January 18, 2019

Authors Bio:
Credentialed Minister of the Gospel for the Assemblies of God. Owner and founder of 828 ministries. Vice President for Goodwill Industries. Always remember that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.