Power Thoughts: 12 Strategies to Win the Battle of the Mind (9 page)

For we are God’s [own] handiwork (His workmanship), recreated in Christ Jesus, [born anew] that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us [taking paths which He prepared ahead of time], that we should walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live].

(Ephesians 2:10)

Think about It

How can you work a ten-minute “think session” into your daily routine?

Breaking Up with Bad Habits

God offers each of us a great life, but we must renew our minds and learn to think on purpose if we want to experience all He has planned for us. Perhaps one of the areas we need to be most deliberate and purposeful about is the area of habits. Habits are actions we do repeatedly, sometimes without even thinking about them, or things we have done so often that they become our natural responses to certain situations.

For example, I have a habit of putting on lipstick after I eat when I am out in public. My friends tease me because I do it so often. I get out my pocket mirror and my lipstick, and I apply it. When I am home I use a lip moisturizer instead. I don’t believe I ever consciously think about it; I have just done it for so long that it is a habit. The moment I sense my lips feeling dry, I apply something to moisturize. I also wiggle my toes a lot. I don’t even know why I do it; it is just a habit. At least it keeps blood circulating in my feet, which is a good thing.

Some people make a habit of putting their car keys in the same place every time they enter their homes or offices. Some make sure absolutely nothing is left in their in-box (whether it’s physical or electronic) at the end of each work day. Some have a habit of daily exercise or eating healthfully. Some fill their gas tanks when they are halfway empty instead of almost all the way empty. These are good habits. Of course, people have bad habits too—biting their nails, interrupting others when they are speaking, not turning lights off when they leave certain rooms, leaving messes for others to clean up, or being chronically late.

We all have habits such as the ones I mentioned; many of them are unique to us as individuals and we may not know anyone else who does what we do exactly the way we do it. Some habits that are harmless are not necessarily the ones we must be concerned with, but our harmful habits need to be broken and replaced with good ones. Bad habits are not broken simply because we want to break them; we must break them on purpose and that will require determination and diligence.

I found thirty-four references in the
Amplified Bible
for the word
habitually.
That tells me that God expects us to form good habits. The psalmist David said that the man who wants to prosper and succeed needs to
habitually
ponder and meditate on God’s word by day and by night (see Psalm 1:2, 3, emphasis mine). This tells me that establishing the habits necessary for success takes discipline and consistency, especially in our thought life. With enough discipline and consistency, we can break bad habits and new ones can be formed.

Think about breaking a bad habit like you would breaking up with a bad boyfriend. Interestingly enough, we could miss the boyfriend even though we knew we did the right thing in breaking up with him. We might feel lonely for a while and be tempted to go back to him, but if we remain firm in our resolve we will eventually no longer miss him and find someone else that provides a healthy relationship for us. In like manner, we may break a bad habit and yet miss it for a while, even being tempted to go back to old ways. This is the time to set your mind and keep it set in the new direction because you don’t want to remain in bondage to the old and miss the good new thing God has for you.

In the New Testament, Paul writes that we must habitually put to death the evil deeds prompted by the body if we want to truly and genuinely live (see Romans 8:13). He is simply saying that we must learn to discern what is not God’s will, and therefore not good for us, and we must habitually say no to those things. Doing the right thing once or even a few times does not equal success, but
habitually
doing right will produce a life worth living. It may not be easy, but it will be worth the effort.

Don’t get discouraged if at first you feel you are making little or no progress in forming new habits. Remember that habits take time. As I mentioned in the Introduction to Part 1, some experts say a habit can be developed in twenty-one days, while others say it takes a month. I don’t know if these figures are accurate or not, but I do know from experience that anything I stick with thirty days does begin to get ingrained in my thinking, my character, and my routine. Thirty days gives me a good beginning and I would rather spend my time going forward rather than backward. So, if you need to form a new habit, give it a try for thirty days. At the end of that time period, see where you are. If it seems established, congratulations; you have a new habit. If not, stay diligent, disciplined, and focused and you will eventually succeed. The person who never gives up always sees victory.

Think about It

What good habits do you need to develop in your life? How will you start? When will you start?

The Importance of Meditating on God’s Word

All of the successful people we read about in the Bible had a habit of meditating on God’s Word. They knew that it was the way to keep their minds renewed to God’s ways. To meditate simply means to roll over and over in your mind, to mutter softly or speak out loud. We all do know how to meditate but we often apply the principle in harmful areas. I can easily meditate all day long on my problems or something someone did that hurt me. I can actually do it without even trying, but I can also choose to meditate on something else that will benefit me and be pleasing to God.

Meditation is actually very powerful. I like to look at meditating on God’s word as chewing my food. If I swallow my food whole, then I don’t get the nutrition that is in it and it does me virtually no good with the exception that I might get a stomachache. If I skim over God’s Word or just hear a weekly sermon in church, it is like swallowing it whole, but never getting the good things out of it that God wants me to have. The word of God actually has inherent power in it and I believe that power is best released as we think on it over and over.

A friend of mine that I will call Pete shared an experience from his own life that I believe makes this point very clearly. He shared that he had had a lifelong problem with lusting after other women in his thoughts. This was especially painful to him because he is a minister and knew that the principles he taught and believed in should be working in his own life. He had shared this with his wife for accountability and although they prayed about it diligently he found no relief. This of course greatly grieved Pete because he did not want to think these wrong thoughts, but no matter how hard he tried he could not seem to stop. If he saw a pretty woman, his mind would imagine all sorts of things that were unclean and inappropriate. After many years of absolute agony over this problem, his health began to fail and through the difficult circumstances he encountered he sought God in a deeper way than ever before in his life. God showed him several things that were helpful, but the one that was the most important concerned forming a habit of meditating on God’s Word. My friend had no idea that this would solve his lifelong problem with lustful thoughts, but in obedience to God he began with a Scripture about loving others. We are called to freedom; our freedom should not be an excuse for selfishness, but we should serve one another out of love (see Galatians 5:13).

He meditated on this portion of Scripture diligently, thinking about it often throughout the day. This continued for several days and then he had an occasion to be at the swimming pool at the hotel where he was staying. He wanted to go to the pool with his family but actually dreaded it because he knew that he was likely to see women in bathing suits and feared that his mind would more than likely be filled with the same lustful thoughts he had fought for years. He did indeed see a very beautiful woman and she was dressed in a very scanty and extremely revealing bikini, but Pete surprisingly discovered that his first thoughts were, “I wonder if this woman dresses like this because she has never had anyone to genuinely love her, and I wonder if she has ever known the unconditional love of God?” He began praying for her much to his surprise and was delighted to realize that he was not even tempted to think lustful thoughts. I might add that this amazing victory has continued from that time until the present. Pete has continued his journey of meditating daily on portions of Scripture and has found it to be totally life-changing for him. Although he is a minister and was educated in God’s Word, he was not getting the power out of it that was available to him because he had not developed a habit of meditating on it.

I pray that Pete’s story will be fuel for the journey you have ahead of you.

In the next part of this book, I will offer and explain twelve specific power thoughts—ammunition for you to use as you wage war against the enemy on the battlefield of your mind. As I stated previously, this book is not meant to be merely read, but to be studied, and the twelve power thoughts need to be meditated on until they become habits. These simple, yet powerful, thoughts are keys to victory in the mental battle that we fight in life, and they will bring an amazing dimension of power to you. They have absolutely transformed my life, and I believe they will do the same for you. But remember, you have to meditate on them, which means to think them on purpose!

PART II

Power Thoughts

Watch your thoughts, for they become words.

Watch your words, for they become actions.

Watch your actions, for they become habits.

Watch your habits, for they become character.

Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.

—Anonymous

The Power Thoughts Program

The twelve power thoughts you are about to study can completely transform your life. Each one is solidly based on God’s Word, and though I have personally experienced the power of these thoughts, they are not merely my own ideas or opinions, nor are they some kind of “humanistic mind science.” They are all scriptural, and their purpose is to encourage you to bring your thinking into agreement with God so you can enjoy Him and His good plan for you.

As you go through the power thoughts, you will see that I often suggest that you meditate on them or on a passage of Scripture that affirms them. Dr. Caroline Leaf teaches that the most important thing we can do is meditate because meditation, which she also calls being “interactive with information,” is a process that causes the brain to function as it’s designed to, using both the left and right hemispheres in the proper ways. Simply put, meditation is good for your mind! In addition to rolling these power thoughts over and over in your mind, I would also like to suggest that you repeat them out loud and verbalize the Scriptures relating to them. I find that writing things down and saying them out loud is part of my meditation process that really helps me form new mind-sets.

Even though meditation is an excellent way to use our brains, I find that some people today are uncomfortable with or afraid of the word
meditation
because it is frequently used in eastern religious practices that are false and in New Age practices, which leave God out of everything or present Him as whatever a person wants Him to be. Actually, meditation was a biblical principle before anyone else decided to use it for other purposes. Those who adopted it for ungodly use simply found a God-ordained principle that worked and began using it in a humanistic way. Don’t be afraid of meditation and the principle of positive thought and confession; just be sure what you say and meditate on agrees with God’s Word.

The Twelve-Week Plan

1. First, read through the rest of the book so you have an idea of what the twelve power thoughts are. You will probably feel right away that some of them are what you need right now more than others, but all of them are important and necessary to maintain the good life God desires for us.

2. After reading the book, go back to the first power thought and meditate on it for one week. Make that thought part of your everyday life. Speak it out loud several times a day. More is better than less!

3. Write down the power thought that you are studying in large letters and put it in several places where you will see it every day—the more places the better!

4. Get a journal and write down your own thoughts about the power thought for the week. Use this time to get to know “you” in a deeper and more honest way. Talking to a friend or family member about what you are learning is another good way to get it rooted in your heart. Just make sure you choose someone who will be encouraging to you.

As the days go by you will find the power thought of the week becoming a part of you that affects all your actions. As you move to the next power thought, the previous one will still be part of your meditation but you won’t have to work at it as much. You will find each of them becoming part of who you are.