Cruising is a great way to get away from cell phones, meetings and our office.  So last December we boarded the Carnival Miracle and set sail for a week of quiet bliss on the seas.  God loves to speak at the most appropriate times, of which He chose a day where we were sitting on the balcony looking at the waves and enjoying the sea breeze.  He chimed in, “2019 is the year of the rudder.  The ship is built.  It is now time for the rudder to be set in place.  Set a steering committee.  Navigate into the future.”

We had been steady building our ship for a year and a half by this point.  That is, our vessel for ministry as a couple, the merging of three ministries and their administrations, the fine tuning of our combined calls and the messages that we are to release to equip the saints.  It was good to hear from the Lord that “the ship is built”, however setting sail into new waters required the rudder to be set in place or else we were going nowhere.

Rudders aren’t very big compared to the whole construct of the vessel, yet without one that vessel isn’t going anywhere.  As a child, Kimberly’s family loved to board their 17-foot sailboat on the Long Island Sound to set sail for day adventures on Fire Island.  The rudder, basically a long board with a stick adhered to the top of it determined which way we were headed and in this case in cooperation with the wind.  If not in place properly, navigation was impossible.  It had to be adjusted to the depths of the water or it would hit bottom.  If put down too far, it would drop out of the boat! (Acts 27:40)

This small piece of apparatus is quite important.  The rudder is compared to the tongue in James 3:4-5:

Behold the ships also, though they are so great and are driven by strong winds,
are still directed by a very small rudder, wherever the inclination of the pilot desires.
So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things.

The Greek word for tongue is glossa (Strong’s G1100).  It is where the word glossary originates.  It’s definition is the tongue, a member of the body, an organ of speech AND a tongue, the language or dialect used by a particular people distinct from that of other nations.  The tongue is linked with our ethnic heritage, the culture we grew up in, and our belief system.  If the motivation for the language spoken is not linked to our indigenous identity in Christ, chances are we will use it to release the language of the fallen cultures we came from.

James 3:10 goes on to say:

Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing.
My brethren, these things ought not to be so.

So, why are we telling you this?  Because we are heading into a shift.  On July 29, 2019 Kimberly heard the Lord say, “Get ready for full speed ahead.  Re-visit the rudder word.”  Here we are.  Ready to set the rudder in place and pull up anchor.  The direction of the Wind of the Holy Spirit is waiting to be navigated.  What your tongue releases will determine the way we go.  What is the shift?  It’s from watching to speaking pure speech, Holy Spirit inspired words that will lead into the waters of life.

A Hebrew Lesson

In the Hebrew culture, the calendar year is now 5779.  Go to Israel today and you will see this on their calendars.  Why?  Because they didn’t shift to the Gregorian calendar which was created to signify when Jesus came on the scene (a.k.a. B.C. and A.D.).  To understand the shift we are in, we must understand what we are coming out of.

The 5770’s began in September 2009 at Rosh Hashanah.  Here’s a little Hebrew lesson:  5700 means the year of.  70 is the Hebrew letter ‘ayin and pictorially represents an eye, a watchman, to watch, and a well.  The decade has had a focus on raising up watchmen.  Now, I (Kimberly) didn’t know this when the Lord interrupted my daily routine of brushing my teeth on August 1, 2009 and told me, “There’s a new breed of intercessors coming.  Will you lead them?” and later that day, “Watchmen Arise (a song I wrote several years earlier) is not just a song, it’s a ministry.”  In a day, Watchmen Arise International was born.  I had no idea that we were heading into a watchmen decade – but God did!

September 30, 2019 will introduce a new decade – the 5780’s.  80 is the Hebrew letter pey and pictorially it represents a mouth.  Yes, 5780 introduces the decade of the mouth, the decade of pure speech.  It has to do with the place of the throat that the mouth speaks.  This is the vocal cords!  It is also a two-edged sword and communication.  Can we see why the rudder word is significant now?

The ‘70’s suggested the priority of the eyes.  “Watchman, watchman what do you see?”  Seeing, perceiving and understanding are great, but alone this can be a silent occupation until there is something worth reporting.  That’s where the ‘80’s, the decade of the mouth comes in.  “‘Ayin gives insight, but it is the pey (the mouth) that gives insight expression.” (Hebrew for Christians)

From Vision to Pure Speech

The insights we have received in the last decade, if released in pure speech and the proper timing will release the vision of the Lord.  The prophet Habakkuk penned this is Hab 2:2-4:

Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it.
For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie.
Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.
Behold the proud.  His soul is not upright in him; But the just shall live by his faith.

What we often overlook is that Habakkuk had petitioned the Lord in the previous chapter to move according to his desired result.  What he saw and what he determined the solution to be were not accurate, hence his prayers were not being answered.  What the Lord was showing him in his exercise of manipulative prayer is that what he saw and what God planned to do about it were outside of Habakkuk’s level of understanding.

In this new decade we will see with the eyes of the Lord and be given pure eternal speech to release what He is saying.  It will be a decade of hitting His mark and seeing more measurable results in the advancing of His Kingdom than ever before.  Mature sons are intimate with the heart of their Father and speak His language.

We must check our motives.  We must verify the reports we hear.  We must speak when spoken to by the Word/Holy Spirit.  In Matthew 4:4, Jesus used pure speech to address the adversary by stating the written word of Duet 8:3, we should too.

It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’

It is Time for a Heart and Language Check!

We can see clearly from the scriptures below that our spiritual heart is very important to us.  This is the place where Holy Spirit resides.  If you ask the children, “where does Jesus live” they will tell you He lives in their heart.  Yes, we need to guard our hearts.  Don’t let anything into our heart except what is permitted by Holy Spirit.  From a pure heart will come forth pure speech.

Job 23:12 I have not departed from the commandment of His lips;
I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.

Matt 12:34 Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things?
For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.

Matt 15:8 These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips,
but their heart is far from Me.

Matt 15:11 Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man;
but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.

Matt 15:18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart,
and they defile a man.

Luke 6:45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good;
and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil.
For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

Romans 10:8-10 But what does it say?
“The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”
(that is, the word of faith which we preach):
that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus
and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
For with the heart one believes unto righteousness
and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Holy Spirit does not live in your brain complex even though He wants to see it transformed.  That is the place of many habitual strongholds.  It contains all the voices of old religious patterns, your defiled ethnic origins, corrupted earthly passions and a host of other evil.  This is not the place we want to see and speak from as we move into this new decade.  It has caused far too much soulish unmet expectations, hope deferred, manipulative prayer and has led to unbelief.

Eph 4:29 Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth,
but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.

Luke 21:15 …for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries
will not be able to contradict or resist.

It is time to rejoice and be glad as we arrive into this new season of the ‘80’s, the decade of the mouth. The Lord is well able to conform us to the image of His Son.  We will increase in our ability to hear, see and speak what the Father is wanting in this time.  Whenever Jesus released the eternal speech of His Father for the now moment it always accomplished that for which it was sent.

It is the season to pay attention to what comes out of our mouths and make sure it lines up with the heart of our Father.  We must check our motives and test the voices we hear and follow.  Take time to evaluate what you see and say.  Here is a chart to help you begin to check your speech as we enter this new decade.  May the ‘80’s be a fruitful expression of the Father’s voice through you!

About the Authors:  Richard C. & Kimberly J. Wilson, Executive Directors of Watchmen Arise International, Inc. serve as corporate trainers of societal transforming Christians, and provide training and oversight of the Kingdom Advancement School and Watchmen Arise Ministry Alliance.  The are the co-authors of Preparing for Battle and Victorious Prayer Warriors Bootcamp.  To learn more about the ministry of Watchmen Arise International, Inc. visit www.watchmenarise.com.