Activate Heaven

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork.

—PSALM 19:1, NKJV

IT IS NOT a common revelation that “the heavens” in this verse also refers to believers. Many understand that there are types and symbols in prophetic language, but few have uncovered the connection between the heavens declaring the glory of God and believers using their voices and words to proclaim the glory of God in the earth. This is really an amazing revelation in the Word of God about the power of our voices and the words we say.

I began to study this topic a while ago, and when I study, I also begin to write. Over time I had compiled a lot of research and thoughts on this revelation and began to preach it. So much freedom has come to people who have encountered this message—people who, again, have felt silenced, muzzled, shut down, and ignored. I believe a new freedom will also come to you as you receive this revelation. Understanding your position in heavenly places and what it means for you as you exist on the earth will have a profound effect on how you respond to your calling in God.

Throughout this chapter I’m going to share several verses to bring out this revelation. My primary text is going to be Psalm 19, but I am going to begin with a familiar verse out of Romans.

Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

—ROMANS 10:17

You’ve likely heard this verse, probably hundreds of times. For me it became familiar because it was one of the major verses referenced in the Word of Faith movement, which I was exposed to in the early 1980s. It basically confirms that if you want faith, you must hear the Word of God through someone preaching it or by speaking it out of your mouth. That seems pretty simple. Then the next verse says:

But I say, have they not heard? Yes indeed: “Their sound has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.”

—ROMANS 10:18, NKJV

Here, Paul was saying that in his generation, the gospel had been preached to the ends of the known world at that particular time, primarily referring to the Roman world, which included all of Europe, the Middle East, parts of Asia, and parts of North Africa—what we know as the Roman Empire. Most of that world at that time, Jews and Gentiles alike, had heard the gospel.

The apostles were being sent to all these different nations. Paul went to Rome. He had a desire to go to Spain and possibly France, which was called Gaul, but it is not known if he made it there. He and the apostles were sent out to all of Asia, Asia Minor, North Africa, and as far as Babylon. They preached the gospel in these regions and established churches.

So he was writing and asking, How could all these people hear the gospel without a preacher? And then how could preachers (the apostles at the time) preach except they be sent? Because “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. But I say, have they not heard?” (Rom. 10:17–18, NKJV). And the answer was yes, they have heard, because “their sound has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world” (Rom. 10:18, NKJV). The apostles had been preaching the gospel to the known world, and there was a real move of God in the first century.

But what’s not often discussed and is very interesting about this passage in Romans 10 is that verse 18 is quoted from Psalm 19:4, all except one word. The Book of Romans says:

Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.

—ROMANS 10:18, ESV

Their sound has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.

—ROMANS 10:18, NKJV, EMPHASIS ADDED

Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.

—PSALM 19:4, ESV

Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.

—PSALM 19:4, EMPHASIS ADDED

Voice. Sound. Line. The Hebrew word translated line (KJV) or voice (ESV) in Psalm 19:4 is connected to “a rim, a musical string or accord”; “the string of a harp; hence sound.”¹ The Greek word translated “voice” or “sound” in Romans 10:18 is used to mean “musical sound, whether vocal or instrumental”; “utterance.”²

When the everyday person reads Psalm 19, he or she may not see it as a representation of the gospel being preached. But evidently when Paul read it, the Spirit of God opened his eyes and understanding and told him that this was the fulfillment of a verse in Psalm 19.

Let’s take a look at the first four verses of this psalm and notice what they tell us:

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech [“nor language” is added in the KJV], nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. Their voice [or “line” in the KJV] goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun.

—PSALM 19:1–4, ESV

I used to read this psalm and think it referred to the literal heavenly bodies God created—the sun, moon, and stars—and that the psalmist was saying their miraculous existence, their hanging there in the sky, testified of God’s glory. I believe that’s a good interpretation. When you look up into the heavens, the heavens declare God’s glory. Yes.

I remember talking to a preacher who was raised in Bulgaria, which was once a Communist nation. He said that when he was growing up, he was not taught anything about God. It was against the law to preach the gospel in Bulgaria at that time. But when he looked in the sky, he said he knew there was a God. Even though laws can be passed attempting to stop the preaching of the gospel, you can’t stop the stars from shining. You can’t keep God out, because all you have to do is look to the heavens and see the sun, the moon, the stars—they declare the glory of God; they speak for God.

The Bulgarian preacher went on to say that even though it was against the law to hear or preach about God, he knew his government was telling him lies. Through the testimony of the stars, sun, and moon, God began to deal with him. He eventually received salvation and became a preacher.

In the same way as this preacher, I’ve always looked at Psalm 19 as saying the physical heavens—the sun, moon, and stars—are testaments to the glory of God. What’s interesting, though, is that verses 2 and 3 say, “Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.” It seems as if this psalmist is prophesying about something bigger, something more than just the sun, moon, and stars, because he begins to talk about their voice.

The psalm continues: “Their line has gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world” (v. 4, NKJV). As I showed previously, this is the portion of the passage Paul quotes in Romans 10:18 regarding the preaching of the gospel. He saw apostolically and by revelation that Psalm 19 was a prophecy of the gospel being preached throughout the earth. It is about the actual preaching of the gospel, the sound of the voices of the preachers of the gospel, which causes faith to arise when it is heard. So this psalm is not just talking about the sun, moon, and stars. It is a proclamation about the day when the voice of the preacher would be heard in every nation.

In reading this, my questions were, Why would Paul open with writing about the heavens declaring the glory of God and then shift into the preacher’s voice and their line going throughout the entire world? What is the connection between the heavens and the voice of the preacher? Why would Paul quote a prophetic word from Psalm 19 in Romans 10 and correlate it with the preaching of the gospel? How does Romans 10:18 connect with the heavens declaring the glory of God? Why would Paul quote that particular verse?

According to Thayer’s Greek Lexicon, “Paul transfers what is said in Psalm 18:5 (Ps. 19:5) to the voices of the preachers of the gospel.” ³ Who are the preachers of the gospel? According to Matthew 24:14 and Mark 16:15, we, as disciples of Christ, are “the preachers.”

This is why we need revelation. There are some scriptures that from the surface say something we easily comprehend, yet our minds don’t fully understand the deeper meanings. We need the Spirit of God to open up these mysteries to us, as some scriptures are saying something a bit different from what we would think.

So now, seeing that Paul put Psalm 19 in the context of the preaching of the gospel, you can understand that of course the sun, moon, and stars shine everywhere. There’s no place where they don’t shine. However, could it be that at times the Lord uses “heavens” not just to refer to the physical heavens but also to refer to His people? Could it be that in connecting this to the voice of the believer, which is sent out from God and commissioned by Him, there is no place where our voices will not be heard?

It has been eye opening to me and so many others to explore the possibility that it is not just the heavens that declare, but it is also you who declare, speak, proclaim, herald, publish, and announce the saving gospel of the kingdom. I see it as another expression of our identity as believers. This is where I began to declare, “I am the heavens.” You are the heavens the psalmist was writing about. Through Paul’s transference, as Thayer’s points to, you and I—our voices—are the heavens that shine and declare the glory of God and go throughout the earth. Several more passages in Psalms continue this theme.

Psalm 89:5 says, “And the heavens will praise Your wonders, O LORD” (NKJV). The heavens praise. Psalm 96:11 says, “Let the heavens rejoice” (NKJV). Then Psalm 148:1 says, “Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD from the heavens; praise Him in the heights” (NKJV). And verse 4 of that chapter says, “Praise Him, you heavens of heavens, and you waters above the heavens” (NKJV). Then Psalm 103:19 says, “The LORD hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all.” This last verse is interesting, because according to Luke 17:21, the kingdom of God is in us. The kingdom has a throne, and Psalm 103:19 says the throne is in the heavens, which according to Paul’s new covenant revelation is us.

The parallels between a believer’s voice and identity in Christ and the heavens declaring speaks to the unique nature of prophetic language. If you recall, prophetic language gives us insight into biblical types and shadows of the old covenant and how they foretold of the new covenant realities fulfilled through Christ. The Law, Passover, Pentecost, Day of Atonement, dietary laws, circumcision, sabbaths, and the like were all shadows. Christ brought to us the reality and fullness of these Old Testament laws, customs, and ordinances.

I believe that the heavens declaring serves as an “example and shadow of heavenly things” (Heb. 8:5) and point to “a shadow of good things to come” (Heb. 10:1) for God’s people. So when Psalm 19 makes mention of the sun, moon, and stars, I believe that it is not speaking of “the very image of the things” (Heb. 10:1), but that they are types and shadows of who we are in Christ.

We see this further in Daniel 4:26, which says, “And whereas they commanded to leave the stump of the tree roots; thy kingdom shall be sure unto thee, after that thou shalt have known that the heavens do rule.” The heavens rule. The heavens praise. The heavens rejoice. We also praise, rule, and rejoice.

So these references to the heavens declaring the glory of God, the heavens praising, ruling, rejoicing, and speaking are not only about the physical realities of the heavens but also are pointing to the spiritual realities that exist for His people. Through this prophetic language we are being given greater depth into who we are and where our realm of authority lies. Our sound and voice are heard throughout the world. The Scriptures say that we sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Eph. 2:6). That is our position. The kingdom of God is from heaven and is in us.

As I pondered verses that say, “Praise the Lord, heavens,” I would look up to heaven and question, “Are they praising God? Are the sun, moon, and stars clapping and praising God?” Then I thought about how the Bible says that the trees clap their hands (Isa. 55:12), how it calls us “trees of righteousness” (Isa. 61:3), or when it says, “Let the sea roar” (Ps. 98:7). Sea represents nations.⁴ We can then read the verse as saying, “Let the nations roar.”

So, again, seeing the connection between Psalm 19:4 and Romans 10:18—the heavens declaring and the voice of the preacher/believer—is about understanding prophetic terminology we sometimes miss. Sometimes we try to understand Scripture, yet we don’t understand prophetic language, and we read everything literally.

Sometimes we don’t realize who we are until the Spirit of God shows us in Scripture. The revelation Paul had concerning Psalm 19 is to let you know you’re not just anybody. Let me say it this way: When you speak by the Spirit of God, heaven is speaking. Heaven is declaring. Heaven is uttering its voice. Heaven is decreeing. Then as we saw in Psalm 103:19, heaven rules over all, which means that we, as the people of God, walk in authority.

In the natural, the heavens rule over the earth. But spiritually, we are the heavens that rule over the earth. It’s time for the people of God to realize we’re not just another person stuck on the planet. We are sitting in heavenly places in Christ. We are the heavens God spoke of, and it is time for heaven’s voice to be heard on the earth. There’s been enough of listening to earth’s voice. It is time for heaven’s voice to be heard, and we are—you are—heaven’s voice.

When you open your mouth by the Spirit of God, it is not you speaking; it is God. Wherever you go, you need to bring heaven. No matter how much hell the enemy has tried to bring in, when you open your mouth, heaven comes. When you open your mouth by the Spirit of God, the sick get healed, demons come out, miracles happen, and finances are released. When heaven gets involved, no matter how messed up a situation is, things begin to turn around.

The anointing of heaven breaks every yoke. It breaks every barrier. People need that word from heaven. When you open your mouth and stop complaining and begin to prophesy, heaven shows up. Stop talking about how bad it is and begin to open your mouth like the heavens and declare the word of the Lord.

Know that when you step into someone’s life, heaven shows up. As I said in the introduction, you bring the glory and power of God. You bring heaven’s authority. When you as a child of God show up on the scene, heaven shows up. We read where the Bible says that the heavens rule over everything. What that says to me is that no matter how many demons are there, when you show up, they have to go.

Have you ever heard somebody say, “My life is a living hell”? Do not agree with that kind of thinking. Declare that you are the heavens and that when you show up, heaven shows up. Sometimes in our desire to empathize and show compassion, we downplay the power that is living inside us. Refuse to let demons of hell run your life. Declare glory, prosperity, anointing, healing, power, joy, salvation, praise, worship, dancing, celebrating, the anointing, the presence of God, and the Word of God over your life. These are the things of heaven. These are the things that should follow you everywhere you go.

It is so important that you get this, because the devil will make you think you are just another person down here trying to make it. You aren’t. The kingdom of God, which is heaven, resides in you. The problems we experience so often boil down to the fact that we don’t know our identity in Christ. We don’t really know who we are. We don’t know what really happens when we open our mouths. We don’t know what really happens when we begin to sing about the anointing of God. We don’t understand what’s really happening when we prophesy. We can get so used to these spiritual activities that we just take them for granted, and we forget the power we have in our voices.

The devil uses this and tries to put a muzzle on our mouths. He tries to make us think we can’t say anything, or if we do, it won’t make a difference. But I pray that if you come close to shutting up, you’ll feel like Jeremiah, like there is fire shut up in your bones.

If I say, “I will not mention his word or speak anymore in his name,” his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.

—JEREMIAH 20:9, NIV

Every person or circumstance that the enemy used to tell you to sit down and not say anything must not have known that you can’t shut up heaven. Those devices of the enemy that tried to limit your voice by communicating that your voice is not important, that you can’t go far, that you are just limited to preaching a small sermon to a small group of people do not know the power of heaven in your voice.

What’s happening now—and there are some not-so-good things about it—is that everybody has a phone and their own “TV” program called Facebook Live, Instagram Live, YouTube, Periscope, and others. There is no reason for any of us to remain silent when God has put a word in our mouths.

God has given you a voice that reverberates in the heavens, and I am writing this book to help you activate your voice. So much within our lives is voice activated. Some things won’t happen until you open your mouth. Like Job 22:28 says, you shall decree a thing, and it will be established. You can speak to mountains and they will be removed and cast into the sea. The mountains will obey you. There are some things that don’t happen until heaven speaks. Don’t sit there and be quiet. You’d better learn how to talk back to the devil. You’d better learn how to rebuke the devil and take authority over the mountains he puts in your way. You’d better learn how to open your mouth and prophesy, because some things will not happen until your voice is released.

God is going to take the muzzle off your mouth. He’s going to break that spirit of fear that keeps you from saying what He wants you to say. He is going to break that assignment of hell against your voice and the major demons set against our voices.

Right now, the devil may have you afraid to say what God says, but you cannot be afraid. You must speak boldly and with courage. You must speak with faith (in another chapter I will teach more on virtues such as faith and how they cause us to stay on track with God).

At one time, I used to preach something that was against what is traditionally preached, and I was afraid to preach it. One day I said, “God, if I say this, I’m going to get in trouble.”

When I preached that message, it brought deliverance and healing to the people who heard it. It was not an easy message. It was a word that could have led people to send me all kinds of complaints and disapproval.

Those who followed Jesus heard Him say things like, “For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him” (John 6:55–56, NKJV). We see Jesus’ words as symbolic, but His disciples took them literally: “This is a hard saying; who can understand it?” (v. 60, NKJV). What man of God would ask people to take part in cannibalism? Jesus said things people couldn’t handle.

But God gave you a voice, and when you open your mouth and use it, people get delivered, healed, and restored. Your voice will bother demons, because you are the heavens. When heaven speaks, demons hate it. It takes a voice speaking with the authority of heaven to cast out devils, to tell them, “Come out.”

Jesus spoke to winds and waves because He knew who He was. You must become comfortable with the sound of your voice, the unique way that you are meant to declare the glory of God. This is what we will discover throughout this book. But before we go on, let’s make some decrees.

In the name of Jesus, there’s a new anointing coming on my voice and onto my words.

I receive a fresh anointing to speak as the oracle of God.

From this day forward, when I open my mouth, I believe miracles will be released. Every time I open my mouth, I expect a miracle.

Your finances are about to change. Your mind is about to change. Your family is about to change. Your ministry is about to change. You will prophesy to your city or your nation, and the government and economy will change, because you opened your mouth and decreed it.

Lord, thank You for releasing my voice. Every demon that has come against my voice, I rebuke you, in the name of Jesus. You cannot kill my voice. You cannot stop my voice. You cannot hinder my voice. Every spirit that has attacked my voice, I rebuke you. My voice is loose, in the name of Jesus. Amen.