When you speak something into happening, whether in normal human work life (such as the boss says “Nobody takes time off until this job is finished”) or in faith (such as when you know severe pain is blocking God’s will being done so you command the injury to go), either way, the words hang there in the ether just existing and affecting all sorts of things until the words’ purposes are accomplished. Even in physics they call particles “charged” because some property given to them makes them behave in certain ways, as if they have been commanded, charged, to behave that way. It is a metaphor, or is it? The OT says that God did not let any of Samuel’s words fall to the ground. Words can have affect, because in some mysterious way they exist. Stoics called this the cosmic ledger. Some assumed there is an ether, a kind of blackboard on which cosmic events can be written and recorded for later effect. Einstein tried to debunk this with his theory of relativity, but could only do so regarding space and time and gravity. More than this exists. So when you next say something very purposefully, believe it can affect things. In practice it might mean spirits know and remember you said it, as with prayers, and it gets honoured if it is said without doubting, with genuine faith in God. That is why we pray, as people have done all through time. We say it or think it intently and trust that it gets heard, remembered, acted on. Words are sometimes powerful. But as when God prepared a big fish for Jonah, it might require actions happen in the past to provide the outcome when needed. God sees the future and can do things or command angels to do thngs now to answer somebody’s future need or prayer. Usually the answer starts to happen after the prayer, but nothing is impossible with God. If we know God’s power, and willingness to do things or command things for us, we can pray with faith, depending on His love. In any case, if spoken or thought words were merely noises or brain waves with no affect, nobody would pray. Yet people of all cultures pray perhaps several times a day.
