My husband, Joe, and I have been raising pet ducks for almost twenty years now, and one of the things that has concerned us most all this time is keeping our ducks safe from predators. Thanks to my husband's ingenuity, our duck house is built like a fortress. But during the day, Libby and Larry are allowed to roam around their spacious duck pen, which is surrounded by a high metal fence.

Last week, Joe was giving our fence some maintenance, and I joked that it would be nice if he would put some barbed wire on the top of it, to discourage hawks from landing on it. Even though I hadn't seen a single hawk land on our duck pen fence for more than a year, I thought my remark would sound funny. But as soon as the words left my mouth, I got a "check" in my spirit, and I knew that I would regret saying them.

Two days later, I went out to do my daily duck chores, and I saw a huge hawk sitting on our duck pen fence, staring at my ducks. I shuddered, and then I shouted at the hawk and chased him away. Then I heard the Holy Spirit speak to my heart, saying, You called in that hawk. I repented to the Lord immediately, and I prayed that He would help me to be more careful with my words in the future.

As I thought about this incident, I recalled hearing a godly man say, "Don't call the cat when you want the dog!" We are "calling" things to ourselves all the time, whether we realize it or not. And if we aren't careful, we will "call in" the wrong things. We can call sickness to ourselves with our own words, even though they may be spoken casually or jokingly. I have heard people say, "The flu is going around again this year, and I just know that I'm going to catch it - I always do!" We can call debt and lack to ourselves when we say things like, "I could never afford that!" In my case, I "called in" a hawk, which was eyeing my pets, and thinking about how good they would be for lunch!

Jesus said that Satan is the one who "comes only to steal and kill and destroy." (John 10:10 NIV) But we can actually cooperate with the devil by speaking words that call destruction to us and our loved ones. The Bible says, "Watch your words and hold your tongue; you'll save yourself a lot of grief." (Proverbs 21:23 MSG) Let's save ourselves a lot of grief by watching every word we say!

Prayer: Lord, fill me with revelation that will help me to understand just how powerful my words really are. Teach me how to "call in" good things for me and my loved ones. Today, in the name of Jesus, I call in divine health and wholeness, and abundant provision and supply. I call in supernatural peace and joy, and security and stability. Thank You, Lord, that as I continually cooperate with You and Your Spirit, I will receive and enjoy all the benefits of my inheritance in Christ!