By Dr. Randy Carlson
We need to declare our intentions because nothing really good happens in our life until we do so. When I declared my intentions to Donna – told her that I loved her, and I wanted to be with her the rest of my life – good things followed. After I declared I wanted to further my education in an area that interested me, good things started to happen.
Many of us have thoughts, ideas and things we believe in our hearts, but something powerful happens when we declare our intentions. In fact, there is something very attractive about people who know what they believe, why they believe it and then declare it. We may not always appreciate what they declare, but they certainly draw our attention because they are convincing about what they believe.
Back in 1932, in the World Series between New York and Chicago, Babe Ruth played for the Yankees. His story has become infamous as Babe Ruth, in the fifth inning came to bat, during a tied game. Standing at bat, he takes the first two pitches, and both are strikes. They are playing in Chicago, and he’s getting hassled by those in the dugout. He points toward the flag in centerfield and then takes the swing. He puts the ball right into centerfield for a homerun. They even used the words, “he declared his intention,” and years later, we are attracted to people who will point to centerfield and say, “That’s where I’m going.”
A declaration of intention sets into motion powerful forces that can change our lives.
- Jimmy Carter, in 1974, stood in the arena in Atlanta and declared his intention to run for the presidency. He said, “I intend to win. I intend to be your next president.”
- George W. Bush, while in New Hampshire in 1999 said, “There is no turning back. I intend to be the next president of the United States.
- In 1962, John F. Kennedy declared to the world, “We will put a man on the moon, and we will bring him back by the end of this decade.”
- In 1970, Jim Lovell, John Swigert and Fred Haise launched from Cape Canaveral to go to the moon in Apollo 13, with the intention of landing on the moon and coming back safely. But after an explosion on their spacecraft, the question loomed if they were even going to survive. Lovell turns to Swigert and Haise and says, “Gentlemen, what are your intentions? I want to go home.” And they did.
- Nehemiah took a risk when he went to the king and said, “I ask you to send me to Judah, to the city of my father’s tombs that I may rebuild it.” He declared his intention and laid everything on the line for it (Nehemiah 2).
- God’s people were under persecution, and Esther had access to the king (Esther 4). But for her to go to the king, it might mean her death. Yet, Esther declared her intention: “I will go to the king, which is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.”
- Jesus, with a very discouraged, distraught and fearful bunch of disciples, declared his intention: “I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am there you may be also,” (John 14).
Paul says in Romans 10: “For with the heart one believes but with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation.” Does God have to hear from my mouth that I’m a Christian? Is that for His benefit? Something powerful happens when I declare my intention as a follower of Christ to other people. In fact, the scripture says that’s a part of the process, not that your words are going to impress God, but your words are evidence of what’s going on inside your heart. As believers in Jesus Christ, we should declare our intentions about our family, our finances, the things that we teach, our faith and how we live our lives.
Success is not accidental. We don’t fall into a successful marriage, successful health, or a successful business. God leads, but there’s a lot of intention behind those things which are good that are going to happen in our lives, as we follow Him.
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