The primary Scripture verse to support the teaching is:
“Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways.” (Job 22:28 KJV)
The Hebrew word translated ‘decree’ in the verse is ‘gazar’ which is a verb in the masculine singular, and means in context to completely cut and divide; to establish precisely, to decide; to make a decision or promise that something will be carried out successfully. It does not mean or infer “an official decree.” The Hebrew word used throughout the Old Testament, which means to officially decree to enact, prescribe, engrave, govern, is ‘khoke’ and comes from the root word ‘chaqaq.’
A more accurate translation of the verse makes this clear; “You will decide on a matter, and it will be established for you, and light will shine on your ways” (ESV).
In the New Testament, there are 11 Greek words that are translated as ‘declare,’ and in context, virtually all of them mean to publically announce, report, make known, tell, make understandable, to confess, to praise and celebrate, to agree.
The discussion in Job 22 is about the fact that Job must repent of his sins. Eliphaz was sincere in his appeal to Job, just as Zophar was sincere when he asked Job to return to God (11:13-20). "Submit to God and be at peace with Him; in this way prosperity will come to you" (22:21, NIV). The word translated "prosperity" means "good of every kind." Submitting to God means to stop fighting Him and accept His terms of peace (James 4:1-10). It also means to listen to His Word and obey what He says (Job 22:22). A sinner must put away sin (v. 23) and make God their greatest treasure (v. 25); they must pray and seek God's face (v. 27).
God promises to those who repent and return to Him that He will restore them (v. 23) and will make Himself precious to them (v. 25) so that all their delight will be in Him alone and not in earthly wealth or pleasure (v. 26). God will answer their prayers and enable them to do His will (v. 27) as He gives direction and light (v. 28). Because they are restored to fellowship with God, they can help others who have fallen (vv. 29-30).
Eliphaz had a solution for Job’s problems and offered it in this last section of his speech. Job had to return to God (v. 23), but Eliphaz used multiple images. The first verb in v. 22 is the same term he uses twice in v. 2, where he questions the possibility of being of use to God. The verb used means that Job must be reconciled to God, with a clear contextual implication that it would have to be on God’s terms.
The Hebrew has “be reconciled to him,” but it is clear from v. 23 that it is God who is meant, and some translations make this reference explicit. Other ways in which Job needed to return to God was to be at peace with Him so that good things would begin happening again (v. 21), by not accusing Him any longer, accept words of instruction from His mouth (v. 22) and take them to heart so he would stop being wicked and be “built-up” (v. 23); and also stop trusting in gold, and instead, start believing God so that he could be restored to his former prosperity (v. 24).
Starting with verse 26, the effects of Job returning to God are in the foreground. Job would be pleased with God and would be able to lift his face to Him, a sign that God would have accepted him. Verses 27-30 show how far God’s favor would extend to Job, and whatever Job prayed for would be granted.
Verse 28, the initial verse in the discussion, was not spoken by God. It was spoken by Eliphaz, who was one of Job's friends. The Bible describes him as a miserable comforter who was rebuked by God for not speaking what was right (Job 42:7).
Declare the Truth
Everything a person says is technically a declaration. If a person says “I’m going to paint the barn now” that is a declaration their intent is to go and begin painting. Their intention to paint the barn requires self-effort to buy the paint, and everything else needed to get the job done and then start painting. The fact that the person declared their intent to paint does not cause the barn to get painted. It is their active involvement that results in the barn getting painted. A person says it because it is a statement of fact.
There is nothing supernatural about making a declaration. Every praise to God is a declaration that He is great. However, saying that does not make Him great. He is great on His own! Decreed declarations don’t cause anything to happen. The authority and power that God alone possesses are what makes things happen. The Born–Again Christian is not co-equal with God, nor do they have equal, or more, authority than what He has given them.
Prayer
God lives within the Born-Again Christian, His Bride, who became the Holy of Holies at the moment of salvation and were completely filled with the Holy Spirit. They have intimate access to converse with Him without having to 'decree' or 'declare' something. Nowhere in the Bible does it say or infer that.
Prayer is a dialogue with God. A person does not need to petition Him in a man-made maze or labyrinth to “connect” with a god who lives somewhere way out there in prayer, or kneel in dimly lit candle filled rooms using single words and phrases chanted through centered deep rhythmic breathing as a kind of ethereal mental exercise of mystical introspection and spiritual ascent.
Prayer is no different than a conversation between a husband and wife. I don’t know of any healthy relationship that is spent "decreeing" and "declaring" rather than just conversing. I can only imagine what a dysfunctional relationship it would be if that is how they communicated.
The Holy Spirit, who lives within the Born-Again Christian, speaks on their behalf when they do not know what to say because they have the same intimacy with God as between a husband and wife.
Active Believing
The Bible says that “Abraham believed God, who calls those things which are not as though they were” (Rom 4:17 ESV). It does not say or means that the Born-Again Christian can decree and declare things which presently do not exist, or realities not yet realized as though they did.
The ability to speak things into existence is an incommunicable attribute of God alone. Abraham did not have this ability, which is why he trusted God. Abraham never confessed or declared anything. God promised him that he would have a son through Sarah’s dead womb. Abraham didn't have any ability to make this happen. Instead, he trusted God, who alone had this ability and power. God is the one who declared and made it happen.
Jesus declared about Himself that “all authority in heaven and earth is given to Me - Go and make disciples” (Matt 28:18 ESV). Jesus never said that all authority in heaven and earth is given to the Born-Again Christian. He noted that it was given to Him alone.
There were occasions when Jesus sent out the disciples, before His ascension and Pentecost, and gave them authority to cast out demons and heal the sick (Luke 10). When Jesus ascended into Heaven, He commissioned them and gave specific authority to continue healing the sick and casting out demons, as well as to preach the Gospel and disciple the nations, but He did not give them all authority (Mark 16). When a person becomes Born-Again, they are mandated to fulfill the same Great Commission.
The Apostle Paul was given a thorn – a messenger of satan to buffet him. He didn’t declare and decree that the thorn go away, nor did he rebuke the thorns. He instead, humbly petitioned God to remove it three times and then stopped when God said to him, ‘My grace is sufficient for you (2 Cor 12:7).
Jesus taught the disciples how to pray in humility “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” (Luke 11:2-4 KJV). He didn’t teach them how to make declarations. The Lord’s prayer contains a line that says the Born-Again Christian is not to worry about anything but to make their supplications known to God, and let His peace reign in them according to His will (Phil 4:7). An essential part of petitioning God in prayer is humble submission to His will. The Born-Again Christian does not have any authority to do things outside of God’s will.
The Born-Again Christian cannot walk daily in the supernatural anointing of the Holy Spirit, or crucify the flesh daily, by declaring and decreeing. That is a bit arrogant and presumptuous. The Bible does not teach that they have any authority or power to decree and declare anything to happen. Only God has that power.
The entire council of God throughout Scripture teaches that if a person works hard, and invests wisely in God, He will cause their work to prosper. God values humility and brokenness (Ps 51:17). God resists the proud and gives the favor of His grace to the humble (James 4:6).
Nowhere in the Bible does it command, nor is there any theological foundation to teach, the Born-Again Christian to 'decree or declare' things over their life as done because a person believes they have received it when it has not actually happened, but they can publicly praise and boast about God and declare they agree with Him because they believe in Him (Ps 2:7). Any attempt to compel, manipulate, or even force God to act, is rooted in metaphysics and the occult.
The Bible tells the Born-Again Christian to ask God in repentant humility for their daily bread to be supplied and for all their needs to be met. When they pray for anything beyond that, they must accept that it is “not" according to their “will, but His “be done” (Luke 22:42).
God is looking for those who will trust Him beyond their own human senses, understanding, and experience. He desires His people to stop trusting earthly sources for filling their longings and desires. He wants to prove that He is a better refuge and strength than anyone or anything else so that they would lean on, and cling to Him, turning their affections to no other by placing their trust, confidence, security and total dependence on Him alone and be satisfied with nothing else.
