Prayer Unfiltered: Declaring Truth Without Decreeing Outcomes (Part 2)

In this episode of The Father’s Business Podcast, Kimberly and Elizabeth continue their conversation on declaration prayers, blessing, healing, and the power of our words.

Together, they wrestle honestly with passages like “speak to the mountain,” “declare a thing,” and “bind and loose,” asking how these Scriptures should be understood in context. This conversation is not about praying small or doubting God’s power. It is about learning how to pray boldly while staying submitted to God’s authority, God’s timing, and God’s will.

What did Jesus mean when He said to speak to the mountain—and are we using those words the way He intended? And what about binding and loosing, declaring a thing, and praying with authority… are we missing something?

Kimberly and Elizabeth also dive deeper into the powerful—and often misunderstood—topic of declaration prayers. To bring clarity, balance, and truth, they unpack key Scriptures like:

✔️ Mark 11

✔️ Job 22

✔️ Matthew 16

✔️ Matthew 18

✔️ Jesus' prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane

This isn’t about shrinking your prayers or doubting God’s power. It’s about learning how to pray boldly without stepping outside of God’s authority. Kimberly and Elizabeth explore what it really means to declare who God is, bless what we’re entrusting to Him, and release the pressure of controlling outcomes.

If you have ever felt confused, pressured, or even hurt by prayers that declared a specific outcome over your life, this episode offers clarity, compassion, and a biblical framework for discernment. You can pray with faith, bless with authority, and still trust God with the outcome.

Subscribe for more real, honest conversations about faith, prayer, healing, spiritual growth, and living fully as sons and daughters of God.

Transcript

When Verses Become Blank Checks

SPEAKER_00 0:00

I don't like these verses when they get pulled out of context and people use it as a blank check permission to do things that they were never asked of God to do.

SPEAKER_01 0:09

So we are his sons and daughters covenantally. We are also kings and priests, as scripture says in Ephesians and Romans. So Elizabeth, shouldn't we speak like people who have authority? And aren't we able to declare things because of that truth?

Welcome And Series Context

SPEAKER_00 0:27

Hey friends, I'm Kimberly. And I'm Elizabeth, and this is the Father's Business Podcast, born out of Sylvia Gunter's heart for people to know who God is and who they are in Him.

SPEAKER_01 0:38

So wherever you're listening from today, we pray that you will sense his nearness and know that you are his beloved sons and daughters. We're really glad you're here with us today.

Recap On Declaration And Blessing

SPEAKER_01 0:50

Hey everybody, welcome back to the Father's Business Podcast. We're on part two in this series. Last week we talked about praying declaration prayers. We also talked about blessing others and blessing ourselves and what that looked like. So that sets the stage for where we're going today. So just so you know, if you're popping in today and you're like, what are they talking about? Go listen to part one from last week. This week we're gonna start with the other side to that conversation. So the, well, what about scripture that says this? And so we're just gonna pick up on that and we're gonna trust that if you haven't listened to part one, you'll listen to part one because we don't want questions that haven't listened to part one and part two. It goes together, just so you know that today. So, I mean, we'll take your questions. We will. We will always take your questions, but I do know that it's helpful to have both pieces of that. So one of the things we talked about last week was the fact that our words have power. Um, our words matter deeply. Death and life are in the power of the tongue. Probably one of the top questions that that we get is what about, and I'm throwing this one to you, Elizabeth. Oh boy.

Mark 11 And Speaking Mountains

SPEAKER_01 1:53

What about when Jesus tells us to speak to the mountain? I believe it's in Mark. Yes. Because I can hear someone saying, Elizabeth, Kimberly, Jesus literally told us to speak to the mountain in Mark. Yeah, he did. So what do we do with that? How do we process that passage in light of what we were saying last week about how we don't really want to pray declaration prayers at people?

SPEAKER_00 2:16

Right. Well, let me just read the scripture for us. It says in Mark 11, 22 to 24, have faith in God, Jesus answered. Truly I tell you, if anyone says to the mountain, go throw yourself into the sea, and does not doubt in their heart, but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. Now, you and I can really both have enough life experience to know that ain't true, because there are things that we have prayed for and believed in our heart, and they haven't happened. So what does that mean? And this is gonna have to be where I am gonna have to kind of lean back in on the life of Jesus. I don't fully know what Jesus was saying in that passage about speak to the mountain and it'll move. I think you got to understand the greater context of what he was talking about in that chapter and to those people. But Jesus himself did not speak to everything and everything moved. He listened to what his father told him. I only do what I hear the father telling me to do. He was again talking about the podcast that I recorded while you were out of town. It was about submitted authority. And I do believe there are times when God will tell us to pray boldly. But our conversation last week was not, do we believe and have faith that God can move and heal or save? It was about how we handle the language of that and speaking that directly to the person. But even Jesus himself in the Garden of Gethsemane, he he could have spoken to a mountain and a mountain would have moved. He could have said, I'm not gonna do this, and he and he wouldn't have had to. But his posture was, not my will, but your will be done. And so I think it is about yes, believing that our prayers have power, that we do have faith to believe that God can do mighty things, but not putting the faith in the outcome, putting the faith in the God who's going to move the mountain is would be my rebuttal to that. I I can't fully explain it, Kimberly. Maybe you have a better, deeper thought than I do on this. But I mean, Jesus is saying right there, if you have faith in your heart, then it'll happen. And I think that's what gets taken out of context and ends up being something we beat ourselves up with, which is well, I guess I just didn't have enough faith. And that's why it didn't turn out that way. But going back to the story I was sharing last week about my dad, we had tremendous faith that God could heal my dad from Alzheimer's, that it didn't have to end the way that it did. And so it wasn't a lack of faith or a lack of begging God to do something different or blessing his spirit or throwing everything you could possibly throw at it. It's just that was not the greater will of what God had for my dad, for me, for my mom, for my brothers, for everyone that it impacted. So we've got to balance this theology of my words have power, therefore I can speak and things will happen, with what is the greater story that God is doing.

SPEAKER_01 5:10

Yeah, I also think about where scripture says, have faith as small as a mustard seed, you know. And and so it's I don't think we're told in scripture to have a certain amount of faith. We're told to have faith. And so when we start saying my faith is too weak or my faith is too small, I mean, there's times where I think Jesus was pushing back on people, but it's not because they didn't have enough faith. It's because when we really look at it, we have faith or we don't have faith. Right. And so I I don't think we again when we measure that, just like we said last week, we're looking at us, we're looking internal, we're looking at at us versus God. And so I do think there's a measure to which God is wanting to say, I can move a mountain if it be my will. And that's where I go, well, okay, here we are, subject to God's will again. That one is always another conversation, right?

SPEAKER_00 6:01

Sure. Sure. And part of it is the mountain that got moved for my dad was not that he was physically healed, but that mom and I continue to believe that God was good and faithful and kind and and a way maker, and we saw him show up for us in miraculous ways, even through a very hard situation. And so, which which mountain is moving would be my other question. I think we read that and go, okay, well, the mountain that's moving is the one that makes my life uncomfortable. So, much like I say when I feel God answers prayers because he answers them the way I want them answered, in the way I want them answered, in the time I want them answered. That to me is what goodness feels like. And what I have walked through and continue to walk through as I process all that is God is still good, even when circumstances don't look like goodness to me. And that takes greater faith, I believe, sometimes than to continue to come to him as a loving father when what he's allowing to happen in your life doesn't feel very loving at all. That to me is moving a bigger mountain than if the healing had come. Yeah.

Job 22:28 And Context Clarity

SPEAKER_01 7:03

So what about in Job, where Job says in Job 22, 28, he says, declare a thing and it will be established. We're talking about declaration prayers, and right there it says, declare a thing and it will be established. So so what's going on there?

SPEAKER_00 7:16

Well, context matters in that one, because that line doesn't come from God. That line comes from one of Job's friends. So one of Job's friends says, declare a thing and it will be established. Now, okay, we can we can get into semantics, Kimberly, of well, it is in scripture, scripture is inspired by God, but God did not say to Job, declare a thing and I will establish it. And I think this verse gets pulled out of context by certain people that believe in more of a name it and claim it type of faith that will know Joe, yeah, like you just said, Job 22, 28 says, declare a thing and it'll be established. But that's not necessarily a promise from God. That was Job's friend telling him that that's what he believed to be true. And there are a lot of places in scripture where there's narrative going on. It's a story. That doesn't mean that we take that one verse out of context and go, well, obviously, then God's promised it, because that's not necessarily what God has promised. Now, God said in other places, like Jeremiah in other places, call on me and I will answer you and I will show you things you do not know. That is God's voice speaking to his people. That verse I can take and go, okay, all right, God said that. But I think that is where it gets kind of fuzzy when we start building doctrine on the words of the friends of Job. So Kimberly, let me let me toss one at you since you're you love asking me questions.

Binding And Loosing In Matthew

SPEAKER_00 8:40

The another verse or an idea that gets thrown out a lot in Christian circles is the idea of Jesus giving us authority to bind and loose things. So therefore, by the power of our declarations, we can bind and loose things. And they often quote Matthew 16 and Matthew 18 verses where it talks about what you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and what you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. But there's there's more to those passages than just that, right?

SPEAKER_01 9:06

There are. And I can speak to the Matthew 18 one. Matthew 18 is under the context of what to do if you're if someone sins against you. And it's talking about going to them and telling them their fault directly, taking someone else with you, or going before the church, you know? And then it goes on to say in verse 18, truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again, I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven, for where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am among them. This entire passage is not talking necessarily about prayer, even, which is where we take those last two verses. Right. It's it's actually in the context of how to repair and how to handle when someone sins against you. Right. So the context of that matters. You can't just pluck out verse 17, you can't just pluck out verses 18 and 19. You can't just say, Well, two or three gathered in my name, their God will be. No, this is there's a context to this, okay? And so I'm not disagreeing that God will be there when we pray, because he wants the church to be unified. He wants us to pray either, but that's a different passage. That's Jesus' prayer in the book of John, where he wants us to be unified and pray together and he'll be there with us. But that's not what's happening here. And so this passage is not about binding and loosing, where we bind and loose things so that heaven will obey our words. It it is about the earth coming into agreement with heaven's authority. It's about whatever is bound on earth shall be bound in heaven, whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. That's again, that's God's work. And I think that's the point in all of this is we are under God's authority. We are under kingdom authority. In Matthew 16, that verse is connected to Peter's confession, where Jesus is saying, Peter, you are the rock on which I will build my church. And Peter is confessing that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. And so all of that is not a blank check for us to bind anything we dislike and loose any outcome we want. That's that's what I want people to hear in this. Like, this is about whether authority exists. You talked about that in your two podcasts where I was out of town and you were recording by yourself. What's important is submission to God's will and to God's authority when we pray. So this is not a blank check, like I said, to just go bind and loose things on earth so they'll be bound and loose in heaven.

SPEAKER_00 11:26

So I think you have to go back the core model of prayer that Jesus gives us when the Lord's prayer, where he says, Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven, meaning it's already established in heaven, and we are about the business of trying to get our part, earth, our souls, our spirits, our bodies, all of who we are in alignment with what God is already doing. And there may be times that how we get ourselves into that alignment with him is we do cut off things that are not of God and we welcome things that are of God. And that's the way I like to think of binding and loosing, not necessarily as I talked about in those podcasts that we released, going around and deciding on my own what needs to be bound, what needed what needs to be loosed, and being, you know, the Holy Spirit police here on earth. I think as the more we come into alignment with him and allow who we are to show up in the fullness of our identity in him, then that binding and loosing is going to naturally happen. If I'm a covenant daughter of God most high and you're a covenant daughter of God most high, Kimberly, and we walk into a situation living in that alignment, darkness is going to take notice that someone who is submitted to kingdom authority and is not afraid to stand in their identity is present and it is going to have an impact on the environment. But I like you, I don't like these verses when they get pulled out of context and people use it as a blank check permission to do things that they were never asked of God to do.

Identity And Authority Under God

SPEAKER_00 12:57

Right.

SPEAKER_01 12:57

So speaking of our identity and the fact that we are on kingdom business and we are co-heirs with Christ, we are his sons and daughters covenantally, we are also kings and priests, as scripture says in Ephesians and Romans. So, Elizabeth, shouldn't we speak like people who have authority? And aren't we able to declare things because of that truth?

SPEAKER_00 13:17

I think we are allowed to declare who God is, and we are allowed to declare who who we are in him. We are allowed to declare the promises that God has made for his people. So, yes, there's a lot that we're allowed to declare, but am I allowed to start looking around and in my own mind decide what the outcome should be and declaring that that's what God wants to do? No, that is beyond what I don't know what God's up to. And I think sometimes I might be praying too small. And what if I'm declaring this, you know, 50% outcome and God's like, well, okay, but I was gonna give you 100%, but you didn't ask for 100%. You declared 50%. So there you go. I don't know how it all works because I don't understand the bigger story. There is a spirit realm, there is an earthly realm, there is a God on a throne who is so far beyond anything that I understand that it is a much better place for me to go. Yes, I am seated with him in authority. And that is what I'm a covenant daughter of God most high is. I am going to ask God to push back anything that's not of him. I am going to stand in the full authority that God has given me, but I also need to understand I'm under authority. Much like, say, Kimberly, you or I, we had parents that were just extravagantly wealthy. That'd be great, wouldn't it? But it's not like they just give us their credit card and say, go buy whatever you want. Like that there are some limitations on what a good father allows his children to do. So, yes, Jesus was also our co-heir in Christ, right? I mean, we're seated with Christ in heavenly places and co-heirs with him. Watch how Jesus lived his life. Watch how submitted he stayed to his father. And then we in no way should try to step outside of those bounds and do more than Jesus did, which was I will only do what I hear the Father doing and only say what I hear the Father speaking. He, I mean, he was God, right? So he had the ability to say whatever he wanted to say, but he submitted himself to the authority of his father while he was here on

Declarations That Build Real Faith

SPEAKER_00 15:15

earth. So, you know, Kimberly, another objection that I've heard from this kind of teaching as we've released these podcasts and even as we've taught things at Rock and other places is but doesn't declaration build my faith and help stop me from agreeing with fear and not just the whole idea of if I'm not doing declaration prayer, then I my faith is not being built.

SPEAKER_01 15:37

Yeah. And I I again I think this is where we declare who God is. Just not not to put it simply, but to put it simply, I'm not gonna declare things so that I can build my faith. I'm simply going to declare who God is and know that my belief and declaration of who God is will build my faith. My faith needs to grow in who God is. So I'm gonna declare things like Romans 10, 17, faith comes from hearing and hearing through the Word of Christ. I'm gonna declare Psalm 103, 1 through 5, bless the Lord, forget not all his benefits. Romans 8, 38, 39, nothing can separate us from God's love. 2 Corinthians 10 5. I've got a list here. Take every thought captive to obey Christ. And the last one I'm thinking of in this context would be Philippians 4.8. Think on what is true, honorable, just pure, lovely, and commendable. So I I'm not gonna say, I decree I'll be healed by Friday. I'm not gonna declare those particular outcomes because I don't think those specific outcomes are what God has clearly promised. What he has promised is that faith comes from hearing his word and that he will not forget me, that he will not separate me from his love, that he will be who he says he can be. So I want to stay in that line of declarations are safe and true when they bring my heart into agreement with God's revealed truth and not again trying to force an outcome. So I think we've talked about that some, but just to reiterate that one more time, I think it's gotta be in agreement with who God is and his truth that he's revealed to us through his word.

SPEAKER_00 17:09

Yeah. So Kimberly, kind of following those lines, I think the other thing that people push back on is but if I don't declare healing, financial prosperity, you know, wholeness in my relationship with my marriage or those things, am I not just leaving room for doubt?

SPEAKER_01 17:23

Yeah, I would say submission is not doubt and trust is not unbelief. I think we know that because Jesus prayed in Luke 22, 42. He said, Not my will, but yours be done. That was not weak faith. And I mean, no one had more faith than Jesus, but he had to pray, not my will but yours be done in submission. I don't think it's leaving room for doubt. I think it's, I mean, we can ask boldly for healing. James 5, 14 through 16 tells the sick to call for the elders of the church to be prayed over. You know, like we can bless the body to receive what God has for us. We can resist infection, fear, confusion, anything that's not of God. We can absolutely pray for complete restoration and healing and wholeness. And we leave the outcome in God's hands. Yeah, that's not weakness to me. That's a mature faith. So I don't I don't think of surrender as unbelief. It's surrender is faith that trusts God even with the outcome, which is hard.

Bold Prayer Without Formulas

SPEAKER_01 18:19

So throw another one at you. What about Peter saying? Peter boldly said, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. Paul. Paul commanded spirits to come out. Yeah. So the apostles commanded healing. What about us?

SPEAKER_00 18:33

They did. So there are times in scripture where we see Peter, Paul, Jesus, some of the disciples, the 72 that he sent out. There are times that we are called to pray boldly and we are allowed to see that God moves. But I don't want us to take stories we see in Acts and in the Gospels and turn it into a formula. And that's where I kind of push back on this is there are people out there teaching that everyone in a wheelchair should be spoken to and they should be immediately healed. And like it's not a successful meeting unless everyone who came there with any kind of infirmity is healed. That's not what we see in scripture. Even all these stories that we're referencing in Acts, it wasn't everybody in every village everywhere that God moved. There are specific times when God may call you to pray something, but even in that, we're again not trying to say don't be bold in prayer, don't pray for healing. It's leaving room for the person you're praying for to not come under the feeling of shame and condemnation if God doesn't move in that way. Because I can sense that I think God wants to heal my friend. But is that God's spirit? Maybe. Is that my heart's desire that so desperately wants them to have freedom and healing that some of my own agendas getting mixed in there? Could be. And that's again why we want to be bold. We want to pray in accordance with scripture and God's will, but we want to use prayer language that allows room for God to move the way God wants to move. Do I believe in praying for healing? Absolutely. I've watched God heal people as we have prayed for them. I've watched God heal people as we've blessed them, but I've also watched enough situations around me where we prayed fervently. Groups, corporate groups of people prayed fervently, and God chose to move a different way. And so we never want to leave the person that is in need feeling like, well, it's because I didn't have enough faith that everyone else got healing but me because I didn't have enough

Discernment When Others Pray Over You

SPEAKER_00 20:35

faith. So going back to what what started this conversation, Kimberly, going back to the very beginning was a heartfelt email from a friend who is dealing with physical problems and had someone come and declare over them, God is going to heal you. And it didn't sit right with her. And I and I want to bring it back to that because this is what I want to say to all of us. You don't have to receive everything everybody prays over you. And we've got to have discernment. And there are times that someone has said, Can I pray for you? And they start praying and it doesn't sit right. It doesn't feel right in that moment, silently, or if you're more bold, you could maybe talk to your friend about it. But I have more than once sat there in silence and said, Father, if any of this is from you, I want everything you've got for me. But if this is not of you, I am not going to accept anything that doesn't come from your hand first. And so we are allowed to be careful who we allow to pray for us. And as the praise, the ones who are praying for our friends, we need to be so careful to ask permission. Ask permission, can I pray for you? Can I pray for your healing? If you're with the person, can I lay my hand on you? Like every step we do in prayer, we need to be more concerned about the person we are praying for than what we want to pray. And if they're not open to it, you back off and you let God be God. And if this has happened to you, if you've received a declaration of prayer, the first thing I would say is trust your gut and your discernment. If that didn't land right with you for some reason, don't accept it as truth. Take it to God and say, God, what of this do I need to hold on to and what do I need to let go of? And also remember to be kind to your friends. They mean well, but sometimes we're all human and we miss the mark. So we're told in 1 Thessalonians 5.21 to test everything and hold fast to what is good. And I would say that for not only people praying for you, but sermons you listen to, this podcast, anything that is spiritual input into your life, you have the right to take it and say, God, I want to hold on to what is true and I want to let go of anything that's not of you. And if someone praying for you causes you to feel shame, condemnation, uh, guilt, any of these negative emotions, that's not the fruit of God. So I would be very cautious about just receiving something because a more spiritual person than you or the the big name who came to town prayed something over you or spoke something over you and it didn't feel quite right with you. That is your spirit and the Holy Spirit having a conversation about discernment. And I would ask you to lean into that and trust

Key Takeaways And Closing

SPEAKER_00 23:13

that.

SPEAKER_01 23:13

Yeah. So as we wrap up this conversation, I think what you can carry with you these realities. We can declare what God has revealed in his word. We can bless what you are entrusting to him. We do not decree what he has not spoken clearly in his word. We can declare who God is, we can declare who we are in Christ, we can declare what Scripture has clearly promised. But when it comes to those specific outcomes, the healing, the timing, the results, the medical details, the financial specifics, unless God has clearly spoken, we would rather bless, ask, submit to God, and trust what He wants and what He will do rather than decree what we aren't sure and confident of. It's not weakness, it's not unbelief, it's submitted authority. We have authority. We're on kingdom business, but it is submitted authority. We keep coming back to that because we think it's so important. Friends, you can pray boldly without carrying the burden of being God. You can bless with authority, you can trust the one who knows what you do not know to be 100% accurate. And we can stand in faith, not because our words are sovereign and truth, but because Jesus is sovereign and he is Lord. So we always take it back to Jesus and his character and who he is. So thanks for being with us today. Thanks for wrestling through the hard topics with us. We'll be back next time with more fun questions.

SPEAKER_00 24:37

Send more questions. Yep.

SPEAKER_01 24:38

We'll see you next time.

SPEAKER_00 24:40

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