T he question is, “How can I lay hold of an abundant life? What do I have to do?  I must not be holding my mouth right” Well, first off, you can’t have what you speak against, so yes, there’s a possibility “you aren’t holding your mouth right”, that is, in agreement with God’s Word.
There are many people who insist what you say has no effect on your life, but I beg to differ.  In fact, let me prove it to you with this simple exercise.  If you’re married, go to your spouse and tell them, “You’re the ugliest, most worthless human being I’ve ever met!” Now, what are your chances that they will grab you and kiss you and say how much they love you?  See?  Words most CERTAINLY affect your life. You’ll probably sleep on the sofa tonight. Maybe permanently in fact.   In case you aren’t married, just go say the same thing to your boss.  You’ll learn REAL quickly how your words affect your life, I promise.
Now, in John 10:10, the Lord Jesus said, The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. How does the devil steal from you?  Mostly by using the words of your own mouth.  Your words have authority, and the devil has power, but no authority.  So, he uses YOUR authority by YOUR words, coupled with his power,  to bring all the rotten stuff you speak into your life. “Oh, I just can’t ever get ahead.  I’m so broke I can’t even pay attention.”  “Nobody likes me”. “I just can’t get a good job.”  Everything I own keeps breaking.” Are any of those YOUR favorite phrases?  Aha! Problem found!  Now, how do we solve it?
Well, we know the Lord Jesus said that He came that we might have life, and that we might have it more abundantly.  Notice He said MIGHT.  That means, it’s available, but not necessarily for YOU, because it depends on how YOU believe, speak, and act.  That also means if you’re not living an abundant life, it isn’t God’s fault.  In fact, there could be an infinitely tiny, remote possibility (exceedingly unlikely, though) chance it could be YOUR fault.  You see, life is a choice, evidenced by Deuteronomy 30:19, which says; I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:
God says He has put abundance and blessing, death and cursing before you, therefore CHOOSE.  “Oh, my, what do I do? God gives you not only the test, but the correct ANSWER as well!  CHOOSE LIFE!!   DUH!  Wouldn’t anyone choose life?  No, sadly, not everyone chooses life.  In fact, most speak words AGAINST life and blessing.  Just listen to your own words.  Are they aligned with life and blessing?  Really?  I’ll bet if you record every word you say for a day, and go back and listen, you’d be shocked to find how many times you spoke cursing and death over yourself or your goods, or your family, or your job, or your finances.  Prove me wrong if you can!
Look at what is written in Mark 11:22-24: And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.  For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
I can hear it now, “I’ve tried that stuff, and it just didn’t work for me!” Oh, give it up, will you?  Jesus said it DOES work, in fact, because you believed in your heart it wouldn’t work, and you said it out of your mouth, IT DIDN’T WORK FOR YOU.  The inescapable truth is, you got EXACTLY what you believed in your heart and said with your mouth. There is much uncertainty in this world today, but there is one thing for certain, and that is, God’s Word cannot be broken. You see, I’m speaking from experience here.  I believed and spoke trash years ago myself, and until I got into God’s Word and took control of what I believed in my heart and spoke with my mouth, I reaped the same sorry results year after year, even though I knew better.  But I was stubborn, like many of you, and I just wouldn’t change.  Then someone told me,” If you don’t like what you’re reaping, then plant a different crop.” You know, that just made good sense.  For years I had been planting the seeds for things I didn’t like, and I kept getting an abundant harvest of things I didn’t like.  What things?  Aw, stuff like sickness, strife, poverty, anger, bitterness, the normal stuff I’d been living with for years.  There’s a saying, “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.” No rocket science there!
I decided it was time for a change of harvest.  That necessitated a change of SEED planted.  It didn’t just turn around in two hours, like in a fairy tale, but it didn’t take very long, either.  Each day I was careful to speak only what God’s Word said about the situations I was dealing with.  First off, I was dying of melanomas and liver cancer, so that was the first change that had to be made IMMEDIATELY.  No longer was I speaking the problem, that I only had a couple weeks to live.  If I wasn’t saying “I’m healed by the stripes of Jesus”, then I was saying, “Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits; who forgiveth all my iniquities, who healeth all my diseases.” I just wouldn’t let anything but life and blessing come out of my mouth, for it was MY CHOICE, life and blessing, or death and cursing.  God said THEREFORE CHOOSE LIFE, and that was exactly what the plan was from then on.
Well, after the cancer was gone, I attacked my lack of finances next.  And that turned around too.  Of course my hard work didn’t hurt any either.  But if I hadn’t overcome sickness and death with God’s Word, there would not have been any hard work following after.  Asking for and believing for and receiving wisdom came next.  Remember, “Believe ye receive them and ye shall have them.” Yeah, ya gotta believe.  Sorry, there’s just no way around it.
Over a period of time, just like a natural seed takes time to sprout and mature until harvest, what I came to believe and speak by way of God’s Word, absolutely changed my life.  I can honestly say now I’m living an abundant life, thanks to God.  He made it available for me, and by my choice it is my life today.  Is that abundant life available to YOU?  Absolutely yes.  Will you live it too?  That isn’t MY choice, it’s YOURS.  God already made HIS choice, and He has put everything in place for YOU to live life more abundantly.  Now it’s up to you.  Stop making excuses for choosing death and cursing; CHOOSE LIFE!  You’ll be glad you did.  And so will GOD.  After all, He didn’t put the abundant life here on earth for the devil and his crew.  He put it here for the children of the Most High.  (That’s you, by the way.)  And if it so happens you’re not one of the children of the Most High, it’s available for you to become one RIGHT NOW.  What do you say?  There’s an abundant life in Christ Jesus waiting.  Someone has to live it, so it might as well be YOU!