I had been a Christian for 13 years when I met the man who would become my husband.

We got into quite a heated spiritual discussion because I was deeply involved in the word/faith movement and was very vocal about my beliefs. For years I had been careful to only speak positive, things. I never admitted to being sick, tired, broke, or any other negative thing. After all, I had been taught through the faith teachers that my words would create my reality. I could literally name it and claim it. The only trouble was, it was a false message. For the first time in my Christian life, I was being told that what I believed was not scriptural and that I, like millions of other believers, had been deceived. I didnt believe it and I demanded proof. This man provided me ample evidence and scriptures to prove that I was wrong. As I thought back over the years, it hit me, that maybe he had a point. I had believed and confessed for so many things that had never come to pass including my dads healing from cancer. My dad believed too and when he was close to death, he wondered out loud why God had not healed him. We had done all the right things. I wondered, too, but I shoved it to the back of my mind. I believed what I had always believed when my prayers went unanswered, that I didnt have enough faith. If I had only believed a little more, had a little more faith, my father would have been healed. I had a lot of guilt. Other instances came to mind, as well. My roommate was standing on the promise of healing for her eyes. To prove she had faith, she threw her glasses away. A couple of weeks later, embarrassed by her actions, she ordered new glasses so she could see. She felt silly and ashamed. Was God humiliating us? My friend began to explain to me the true gospel. I needed to have faith in Jesus, not in my positive confession, a set of formulas or faith in faith. Simply Jesus. He would meet my needs His way and in His timing. By claiming what I wanted I had taken God off the throne and also taken over His sovereignty. I had put myself on the throne; instead, believing I could speak and God would do whatever I spoke. It all began to make perfect sense and with it came a huge sense of freedom. The Lord had delivered me from false teaching and healed me spiritually. I was no longer living in a make-believe reality. I no longer had to worry about confessing the wrong thing. It was liberating to be honest. And God is so good, He not only delivered me from spiritual deception, He brought me a husband as part of the deal!