Power Thoughts: 12 Strategies to Win the Battle of the Mind (2 page)

Simply reading this book will not be enough to accomplish the transformation I know can happen in your life. You will have to apply the principles you learn and discipline your mind to think in new ways. These new ways of thinking have the ability to improve your everyday existence and make your life much better. If you are tired of the way you have been living, you can change it by learning to think differently. You must be determined and even if you have to repeat the twelve-week program many, many times just remember that each time through you are making progress. The choice is yours; no one else can do it for you. You alone are in charge of your mind, and your mind affects every area of your life. I believe with God’s help you can change your mind, and as you do, you can change your life. God does not control us. He guides us in what is right. He gives us the spirit and fruit of self-control and the freedom to do our own thinking. Satan, who is the enemy of your soul, will try to control your life by controlling your thoughts. Sadly, a great deal of our thinking is instigated by the way we have been raised, the world around us, and evil forces at work in the world today, but the truth makes us free. You can learn brand-new ways to think that will change you and your life forever. I believe by studying this book you are embarking on a “truth journey” that will produce amazing results in your life.

Your mind can be a junkyard or a treasure chest, and you alone have the ability to choose what it will be. You can make it one or the other by deciding whether you will think thoughts that are negative, cheap, common, and low or thoughts that are positive, pure, honorable, and valuable in God’s eyes. You can think “power-enhancing” thoughts or “power-draining” thoughts. Let me encourage you to think about this book as a map that will lead you to the valuable things you need to make your mind a source of power and a treasure chest.

I believe with all my heart that you, as an individual, are a treasure, and there are incredible treasures within you. Some of these treasures you have never unearthed, because your thinking has not enabled you to realize they exist. This book can change that.

If you sincerely want to be different from how you are now, or you want some aspect of your life to be different, you must begin to think differently. If your current thinking would qualify more as “trash” than “treasure,” you can change it. Don’t poison your life with wrong thinking patterns. I challenge you to invest the time you need—whether it’s twelve weeks, a year, or some other amount of time—to renew your mind and see if you don’t reap an unbelievably wonderful dividend. Use this book to help you get started, and keep it handy for an entire year or perhaps a lifetime as you learn to change your life by changing your thinking. If you take no action, things might remain the same or they could even get worse. If you invest now, you can look forward to great improvement in every area of your life.

How to Use This Book

Power Thoughts
is meant to be
used,
not simply read. As you go through this book, mark passages that apply to your life, make notes on points that cause you to think in new ways, or take time to journal. Read mindfully—you may need to stop and reflect on a particular thought or passage. Do that! This is not a book to be raced through. Stop and pray along the way, and ask God to help you change your thinking so you can change your life. Trust me—it will be time well spent.

Throughout this book, you’ll see the words
Think about It
, sometimes followed by a question or two. Please take time to answer the questions, preferably in writing, because they are designed to help you make even more progress than reading alone will provide on your journey toward a powerful life—a life in which circumstances do not determine whether you are happy or not and stress does not overwhelm you, a life of confidence in God and in who He made you to be, a life in which you feel you can do and be everything He intends for you.

When you reach Part 2, the section devoted to twelve specific power thoughts, you’ll continue to see questions throughout the chapters, and at the end of every chapter, you’ll see a “Power Pack.” Each Power Pack is a group of Scriptures that reinforce the principles in each power thought. If you will read them, memorize them, meditate on them, obey them, and allow them to become rooted in your mind, you will see remarkable improvements in your life.

I know that the Word of God can turn a weak or mediocre existence into a powerful, exciting, fulfilling life. In various places throughout this book, I will suggest that you find Scriptures that apply to a particular mind-set or circumstance in your life. You can accomplish this several ways:

• Use the concordance in your Bible. For example, if you want to find a verse about peace, simply look up the word
peace
in the concordance and you will see listings for Scriptures about peace. Some Bibles do not have concordances; comprehensive concordances are available separately.

• Use a topical index, which you use the same way you use a concordance. Where a concordance lists Scriptures with the exact word you are looking for, a topical index lists those Scriptures and others related to the topic.

• Use an online Bible or Bible software program that has concordance and topical index capabilities.

• Use my book
The Secret Power of Speaking God’s Word
, which is arranged topically.

• Use the section titled “The Word for Your Everyday Life” in
The Everyday Life Bible,
available through Joyce Meyer Ministries or everywhere books are sold.

You are about to step onto the battlefield to remove the land mines of self-doubt, fear, and anxiety that the enemy has planted. So in the words of Paul, I remind you to “put on God’s whole armor… that you may be able successfully to stand up against [all] the strategies and the deceits of the devil” (Ephesians 6:11). I encourage you to be determined from the beginning of your journey that you will not give up. It is those who finish the race who receive the prize.

It is my prayer that the Holy Spirit will guide you as you read and contemplate the power thoughts found in this book; that He will instill in you the patience to reflect on the truths and meditate on the Word as you examine the role that each thought can—and will—play in your life.

CHAPTER

1

The Power of a Positive You

O
lympic gold medalist Scott Hamilton has said, “The only disability in life is a bad attitude.” It’s true. Nothing will hinder or handicap you in life as severely as a bad attitude. When I use the word
attitude,
I am referring to the system of thoughts, the mental posture, the mind-set, or the way of thinking with which a person approaches life. For example, if a person has a bad attitude toward work, he will think thoughts such as these:
¹

•
I have the most boring job on Earth.

•
My boss is too demanding.

•
This company needs to pay me more and treat me better.

•
I should get more vacation time.

•
I always have to do the “grunt work.”

•
No one here appreciates me.

•
I may have to work with these people around me, but I don’t have to be nice to them.

All those thoughts combine to make one big bad attitude. How could a person with those thoughts running through his mind all day ever enjoy his work, become a positive employee, or make valuable contributions to his company? He can’t—unless he changes his thoughts and develops a better attitude. Even if your employer definitely needs to make changes and improve in several areas you must realize that being negative about your job does not change your employer, but it does change your attitude into one that is “power-draining.”

Do you think the person I just described would be a good candidate for a raise or a promotion? Certainly not. But, what about a man whose attitude is built on thoughts like these?

•
I am so thankful to have a job.

•
I am going to do my very best every day.

•
I believe that God gives me favor every day with my boss.

•
I am glad to be part of a team with my coworkers even though none of us are perfect.

•
The work environment may not be ideal, but I will do my part to make it pleasant for myself and those around me.

•
I am committed to be focused and diligent while I’m on company time.

•
I would like a raise, so I will work hard to earn it.

No doubt, this person’s positive attitude will position him for promotion in his company, and if he has the same type of attitude in other areas, he will enjoy a happy and fulfilling life. Even if his employer never recognizes his attributes, God does and will either change the employer’s heart or provide better employment. God always rewards openly what we do in secret for His honor and glory.

It’s Up to You

All of us have the privilege and responsibility of choosing our attitudes, no matter what circumstances or situations we find ourselves in. The key word here is
choosing.
Attitudes don’t just happen; they are the products of our choices. Over time, the thought patterns established in our minds can put us on “autopilot,” which means that when certain types of situations occur, we are preprogrammed to think about them in certain ways. We have to interrupt this autopilot function and learn to stop our minds from going in the directions they have gone for years if that direction is not producing good things in our lives. For example:

• You may have spent years dreading being with your family for holiday celebrations, but this year, you can choose to think,
Being with family may not be my favorite activity, but I am going to purposefully look for something good in each of my relatives.

• You may have a habit of complaining of feeling overwhelmed when bills arrive in your mailbox every month, but you can begin to think,
I am going to pay as much as possible on this bill, and little by little I am getting out of debt.

It is vital for you to understand that you can choose your own thinking. You may be in a habit of merely thinking whatever falls into your mind, but you are now in the process of retraining your mind one thought at a time. As you learn to think as God thinks it enables Him to partner with you in accomplishing whatever you need to accomplish.

Think about It

What do you believe is the most important thought or attitude you need to change in your life?

An Attitude Adjustment

Winston Churchill noted that “Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.” I couldn’t agree more. All of us need “attitude adjustments” at times, and an attitude adjustment is the result of changing the way we think.

If we keep our attitudes up and positive, we will continue to climb higher and higher in life and be able to soar. But if our attitudes are down and negative, we will fall and stay on the ground of life, never able to make the journeys God intends for us or reach the destinations He has planned for us.

You may have heard the saying: “Your attitude determines your altitude.” In other words, a positive attitude will cause you to “fly high” in life, while a negative attitude will keep you down. Just as pilots have certain rules to follow to keep planes oriented, with the right attitudes and altitudes, I want to share a few rules you can follow in life to help keep your attitude positive so you can keep your “altitude” where it should be.

Rule #1: Maintain the right attitude when the going gets rough.

No matter what happens to you, determine to go through it with the right attitude. In fact, determine
beforehand
that you will keep a positive attitude in the midst of every negative situation that presents itself to you. If you make this decision and meditate on it during a good time in your life, then when difficulty arises you will already be prepared to maintain a good attitude. For example, if an unexpected bill or major repair presents itself to you, make up your mind that you will not complain because you have to tighten your belt financially for a few months to make up for it. Instead, look at the challenge as an adventure and decide you will find creative ways to cut costs for a while and look for ways to enjoy life without spending money. I have witnessed over and over how God helps people who keep a good attitude in challenging times. I recently heard of a couple who were struggling financially but were also determined to keep a good, positive, and thankful attitude. The man, who we will call John, worked in a restaurant and one day a customer had a heart attack while eating lunch there. John had some medical training from being in the armed forces and was able to administer CPR to keep the man breathing and his heart beating until the paramedics arrived. As it turned out, the man whose life was saved happened to be very wealthy and in appreciation he gave John a check for five thousand dollars as a way of saying, “Thank you for saving my life.” The good attitude the couple maintained in their financial struggle opened the door for God to work miraculously in their lives.

Throughout history, we have examples of people who have maintained good attitudes in the face of difficult times and thereby turned their problems into opportunities. Specifically, I think of various individuals who were imprisoned and composed some of the most influential writing the world has ever known, such as: “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King Jr.,
Pilgrim’s Progress
by John Bunyan
,
and Sir Walter Raleigh’s
The History of the World.
While the famous composer Ludwig van Beethoven was not literally imprisoned, he was almost totally deaf and suffered great sorrow during a period of his life—and that was when he wrote his greatest symphonies. No doubt, these people could have had terrible attitudes as they faced trouble, but they made a decision and maintained the best of attitudes through the worst of times and made contributions that are still read and heard in the world today.