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Confess, Proclaim, Decree 

What exactly does it mean to “decree” and how is it different from other declarative prayers such as confessions or proclamations?

When you confess, you are admitting or testifying. In the New Testament, the word confess means to acknowledge or state a personal belief, to testify about what you believe. Believers confess their sins to God and sometimes to each other. New believers confess their faith before witnesses prior to being baptized in water. When people are called to confess in court on a witness stand; they testify to the truth under oath. Confession is powerful, but they are not the same as decrees.

To proclaim means to announce something officially or publicly, like a herald. While confession is often personal or even private, proclamation is public and much bolder. Proclamations are stronger and more official than confessions in their delivery.

A decree is different from either a confession and a proclamation in that it is brought forth through governmental initiation, an official order issued by a legal authority. This means that decrees carry much more authority than confessions or proclamations, especially when they are made in the name of the King of kings. There is no authority greater than that of Christ Jesus, and when you speak His Word, it carries incomparable weight and power. It will not be revoked!

The Bible is a book of God’s written decrees that we can, in turn, decree with authority. Decrees made in the name of Jesus are always based on the truth found in God’s written Word and are spoken with the bold, official, governmental, Kingdom authority that has been granted believers through Christ.

We must handle our words carefully, lest they not only bring blessings but sometimes curses, as we see throughout the Old Testament. We tend to speak out of whatever we are most governed by, whether that is instability and fear or the peace and confidence of God. We must choose the way of life daily so that we can decree God’s Word effectively.

Decree Godly Character:

I choose to walk worthy of the Lord in every respect, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God. I am God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good deeds which God prepared beforehand that I should walk in them.