Renewal: A Personal Reflection and Prayer

Mick Turner

I wanted to take this opportunity to share with you a prayer that I have been using to start my day for the past five weeks or so. It is a prayer that I composed, based on the principles of praying the scriptures, and it has brought much clarity and passion into my life – not to mention reassurance of my ongoing renewal and restoration in the image of Christ. The prayer, a simple one really, is as follows. The Spirit has put it on my heart that someone needs to see this so it will eventually show up on the Sacred Mind Ministries site and the LifeBrook blog as well……

 

 Today is indeed the first day of the rest of my life –

Today is a day of resurrection, renewal, and restoration and I greet this day with enthusiasm, confidence, and passion.

 This confident passion arises from my acceptance that in Christ I am a new creation and that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

 Today I know that the old indeed is passing away and that the new has been born. I am a being of light and love, committed to my spiritual growth, service to others, and becoming the optimal version of myself.

 Today I declare, along with the Great Apostle, that with the power of the Holy Spirit, I am forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead. I press forward into the future toward the goal and the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

 In Christ most blessed name,

 Amen

(C) L.D. Turner 2009/All Rights Reserved

 

Not I, But Christ (Part Two)

Mick Turner

Walking in Our True Identity: Issues and Obstacles

 

Sometimes, when I sit down and reflect on the many gifts we, as Christians, have been given by the Creator I am literally overwhelmed. As the Old Testament scripture tells us, we can expect “showers of blessing.” When I really think about it, few of these magnificent outflows of God’s grace are as precious as our new identity “in Christ.”

 

Paul tells us clearly that the new has come and that the old has been swept away. The slate has been wiped clean, the old person was crucified with Christ right there on the cross and in a very real sense, sins’ power over us is gone. I think few of us believers fully comprehend the power of Paul’s teaching here.

 

The problem is so few of us, especially this Christ-follower, seem to walk in our new identity as if sins’ domination over us has been defeated. I often wonder why this is. Why do so few of us reach out with open hands to accept this undeserved gift from heaven? I think the answer(s) to this problem is complex. In the paragraphs below, I want to discuss just a few possibilities and, in subsequent posts, perhaps a few more.

 

In its most fundamental sense, the process of fully appropriating your new identity in Christ is the greatest gift you can give to the world. Operating under you old identity, you were spiritually dead, cut off from the source of your true life. You were under the control of your lower nature, what Paul referred to as “the flesh.” Furthermore, you were held under the sway of both the world and the enemy. Living under the burdensome limitations of your old self, there was no way you could possibly approach the dynamic creativity and productivity of your God-given potential.

 

Now, however, by taking possession of who and what you are “in Christ,” you can discover your divine potential, find your spiritual calling, develop you personal vision, and grow into the best version of yourself. In Christ, you are reborn – you are spiritually alive and capable of making your own unique contribution to the world. When you become the best version of yourself, when you walk in your glory, you are in reality a gift of God to a hurting world.

 

It kind of takes your breath away, doesn’t it?

 

As Christians, we cannot underestimate the value of what God has done for us in this regard. Also, we cannot underestimate the value to God’s kingdom of having a cadre of committed believers that full well understand and accept exactly who and what they now are. We must realize, however, that there will be obstacles thrown in the path of our full appropriation of this new God-given and God-honoring identity.

 

In terms of the enemy and the world, these two forces often act in concert to minimize our awareness of what we have been granted in Christ. After all, the popular views of our culture are often in opposition to what God would have us do, whether it is in terms of our actual behavior or, at an even more subtle level, how we think and how we view the world. Let’s take a brief look at how these two forces, Satan and the world, might be a formidable obstacle when it comes to understanding our true blessings “in Christ.”

 

In today’s spiritual marketplace, the church is often assailed by the enemy in ways both manifest and subtle. One of Satan’s main strategies is to put forth teachings that contain a grain of scriptural truth and, at least on the surface, sound good, especially from a worldly perspective. For example, many contemporary Bible teachers focus on material wealth and prosperity. Don’t get me wrong – there is nothing wrong with wealth and having possessions, so long as we are not controlled by them. However, these teachers often go to scripture to support their contentions and, in so doing, often miss the point of the particular verse or portion of scripture they cite. Most of the current prosperity gospel advocates justify their teaching by quoting Jesus in John 10:10:

 

I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.

 

According to the prosperity teachers, Jesus was speaking of material abundance when he uttered these words. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Given the situation they were in, I doubt the early Christians were overly concerned with gaining material wealth. In the early days of the church, the prime focus was on solidifying the local church, spreading the gospel, and staying alive.

 

 When Christ spoke of abundance in John 10:10, he was speaking of the fullness of life. Here Jesus is talking about the fact that through his mission, believers will now have the capacity to have the fullness of life that was lost due to the fall. In essence, He was referring to a restored humanity, now in proper relationship with God and ready to bear fruit.

 

 

The theological minutia surrounding the discussions of justification and sanctification can be both confusing and distracting. Although gaining an understanding of these concepts is important, for our present conversation going into depth about such matters would be an unnecessary distraction. For now, let’s just suffice to say that understanding and accepting who we are in Christ is central to the process of spiritual formation. Further, it is important that we see that our adoption into God’s family is an act of grace. Neil Anderson tells us:

 

Only as we see ourselves as sons and daughters of God can we really grow in holiness (see Romans 8:15). Only as we are free from the task of trying to gain a relationship with God by our own righteousness or cleanness will we be free to appropriate His righteousness and holiness for our growth.

 

Without Christ, his work on the cross and in rising from the tomb, we could not even begin to progress in terms of spiritual formation. In order to grow in spirit, we have to be connected to God. Just as a fish cannot thrive unless it is in water, we cannot thrive outside of our natural environment, which is proper connection with God. Christ’s mission accomplished this reconnection with our Maker and made all spiritual formation possible. Without the regeneration provided by the mission of Christ, we would remain in a state of separation from God. Listen to Neil Anderson as he so accurately elaborates this theme:

 

Spiritual growth in the Christian life requires a relationship with God, who is the fountain of spiritual life. Only through this relationship can we bear new seed or tap into the root of life. As in nature, unless there is some seed or root of life within an organism, no growth can take place. So unless there is a root of life within the believer – that is, some core of spiritual life – growth is impossible. There is nothing to grow.

 

The thrust of what is being said in this article is centered on the fact that we need to seize our proper identity in Christ, but in doing so, we must also understand the work of Christ on the cross and through his resurrection and ascension. Underlying this vital comprehension is that fact that we cannot be who and what we were intended to be without being in proper, intimate relationship with God. In order for that to be possible, our relationship must be restored. That’s where the Blood of Christ comes into play. Through his death, in some mysterious way Christ paid the debt for our sin and made reunion with the Father possible.

 

Beyond that, through his dying to self and rising in new life, we, too, may also die to our old way of being and rise in newness of life. But the story doesn’t end there. Christ, through his ascension into heaven, made possible the coming of the Holy Spirit. As Christ himself said, “Unless I leave, the Spirit won’t come.” As stated, Christ’s departure and his seat at the right hand of the Father make possible the Spirit’s presence in our lives. Now, just as the Father walked in the garden with the first couple, the Spirit walks along side of us. Even more important, he has also taken up residence within us.

 

It is not enough to die and rise again. We must also live in a new manner and it is the Spirit that makes this new way of thinking, feeling, behaving and relating possible. Grasp that, and you are well on your way of appropriating your new identity in Christ.

 

If we desire to keep the process of spiritual renewal moving forward – if we want to continue the process of replacing the old with the new – if we desire to get to the goal Paul described so well as living not as I but as Christ, then we have to engage the dynamic process of renewing our minds.

 

The Renewal of the Mind

 

Paul tells us in Romans 12:2 that the key to personal and spiritual transformation is to renew the mind. The Apostle we must remember was a very learned man who studied with some of the greatest Rabbis of his era. It is therefore not surprising that Paul had deep insight into what made the human being tick, especially on a mental level.

 

Where we run into difficulty these days is with the psycho-spiritual technology necessary to follow Paul’s sage advice and effect a renewing of the mind. The most frequently heard strategy mentioned both in pulpit and pop Christian psychology is to immerse yourself in scripture. Certainly, this is a sound strategy and it can do no harm. Any time we spend in intimate relationship with scripture is time well spent. However, I have found that in order to fully appropriate the tools God has so graciously given us for transforming our minds, we need to develop at least a rudimentary understanding of the terrain of our minds and, armed with that knowledge, use scripture to its full advantage in the process of cognitive transformation.

(to be continued….)

(c) L. D. Turner 2009/All Rights Reserved

 

Wise Words for Today

…studies have shown that a new idea must be repeated an average of twenty-nine times to create a neural “pathway” or “bridge,” which means it is then a part of our thinking…I have read other studies that said new ideas have to be heard an average of four times just to be retained and thirty times or more to become a belief which changes our thinking…..The renewing of our mind is a much slower, more tedious matter than many want to consider. This is why the Bible itself is so redundant, repeating many lessons over and over. This is also why successful athletes go through the same drills and workouts over and over for the entire time they remain successful athletes in their sport…..I am saying this to encourage you – when you read something you have read before or heard somewhere else, do not skip over it – pray over it. Let it sink in a little deeper. Ask the Lord to water the seed, and He will – over and over. This is required if your are going to be doers of the Word, bearing fruit, and accomplishing the purpose for which you are now on this earth.

Rick Joyner

(from The Apostolic Ministry)

 

Renewing the Mind: Conscious Cognition and Affirmative Prayer

Mick Turner

Throughout his letters, Paul repeatedly demonstrates his understanding of the importance of dealing with our minds. The Apostle clearly recognizes that the mind is where our behaviors and actions begin and he also understands that it is in the mental realm where the enemy is most likely to launch his most diabolical attacks. It is for this reason that Paul tells his readers over and over again how important it is for the believer to renew the mind.

 

Here at LifeBrook clients and visitors often here phrases and terms related to dealing with the mind in general and the process of renewing the mind in particular. In our training programs on “Strategies for Renewing the Mind” and “Who We Are In Christ,” we typically explore the importance of developing what we call Conscious Cognition. Basically, conscious cognition involves assisting participants develop the ability to be acutely aware of their mental functioning. The more conscious we are about out thinking, the more equipped we are to master our minds.

 

“Conscious Cognition” is based on the teachings of Paul regarding the renewal of the mind, tearing down strongholds, and taking thoughts captive for Christ. The actual practice of conscious cognition involves disciplines such as positive thinking, positive imaging, positive statements, and affirmative prayer.

 

We have found that the most fruitful exercise for most people involves what is popularly referred to as Affirmative Prayer.

 

How to Form an Affirmative Prayer

 

1.                  Affirm your identity as a child of God and a new creation in Christ.

2.                  Affirm your positive connection with the Divine and the presence of the Holy Spirit in your life.

3.                  Voice your desired goal in positive, affirmative words in the present tense.

4.                  Express your gratitude for having your desire granted by God.

5.                  Close prayer in Jesus’ name with a firm and joyous Amen!

 

After your formal prayer session, your Affirmative Prayer process continues in three important ways. First, maintain a sense of positive expectation in which you faithfully believe your prayer has already been answered. This is not wishful thinking or a “fake it til you make it” pretense. Instead, it is the faithful acknowledgement that, just as scripture promises, your blessing has already been provided on the spiritual world. This brings us to the second manner in which your Affirmative Prayer process continues. You act as if the object that you prayed for has already been obtained in the physical world. What this does is aid in the process of bringing your already granted blessing from the spiritual world down into the flesh and blood reality of your daily life.

 

The third way in which your Affirmative Prayer session continues involves a personalized affirmation. This type of affirmation is a short phrase, usually gleaned from Step Three in the process described above. For example, if you prayed for an increased sense of confidence and courage, your personalized affirmation might be:

 

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want; I am courageous and confident in all my endeavors.

 

The important point here is to repeat this shortened form of your prayer session as often as possible. It is especially important to repeat your personalized affirmation when you first arise in the morning, and just before going to sleep. Another method that has been helpful for many Christ-followers is to coordinate their affirmation with their breathing, just as when performing “breath prayers.”

 

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. (inhale)

I am confident and courageous in all my endeavors. (exhale)

 

I have found affirmative prayer to be an excellent modality of approaching our relationship with the Creator. As stated earlier, effective affirmative prayer is always based on scriptural promises. The actual process of affirmative prayer as described in the preceding paragraphs is not designed to remind God of his promises. God does not need to be reminded of anything. Criticizing the method of affirmative prayer based on the “reminding God” notion is a mistaken and futile practice.

 

Affirmative prayer does help remind us of our need for God, our utter dependence upon God, and of the generous blessings he has already provided for us. With these thoughts in mind, let’s look at an example of an affirmative prayer that meets the criteria laid out above.

 

I take possession of the reality that I am a child of the Living God and a new creation in Christ. I acknowledge that because I have been adopted into the family of the One True God, His eternal light shines in me and through me, casting His presence and His love onto a dark, hurting world. The Holy Spirit, a full one-third of my Heavenly Father lives in me, making me powerful and whole, capable of doing great things for the glory of God.

 

 Therefore, I go forth each day with confidence and courage, meeting the challenges of life with faith and optimism, knowing that the Lord is within me, equipping me for any circumstance.

 

Lord, I thank you for your presence within me, beside me, above me, and in every circumstance, and I am especially grateful for your gifts of courage and confidence, the very things I requested as I approached your throne.

 

With love and gratitude, I pray these things in Jesus’ most holy name, the name at which every knee shall bow. Amen…

 

Remember also that the abbreviated form of the prayer is:

 

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want; I am courageous and confident in all my endeavors.

 

I have found that for both the long form and the short form, repetition is the key to success. Our bad habits of thought were formed in the exact same way as we, along with the Holy Spirit, will go about forming new habits of thinking that will move forward the process of renewing our minds. Each time we repeat our positive affirmations and our affirmative prayers, we make a little progress toward our goal. We repeat it, and we move forward a little more – and on and on it goes. The good news here is that we can soon begin to see change taking place and that change, no matter how small, is significant. When we experience the fact that change is possible; when we see through our own experience that we are actually making gains – this provides us with the ability to live in hope and optimism.

 

As time passes and we remain faithful in our practice, the pace of change accelerates. Our friends and associates will notice that we are somehow different. Even if they can’t put their finger on exactly what has changed, they know that for some reason you are easier to be around. Whereas before you often greeted them with a flat expression and a diverted gaze, now you approach them with a smile and look them in the eye. And guess what, my friend? This opens a door for you to share the source of the “new you.” As you continue to manifest the fact that you are, indeed, a new creation, you will have increased opportunities to share how this all came about.

 

Renewal of the mind, as Paul pointed out, is the key to an effective walk of faith. If you have been ignoring Paul’s insistence of cognitive renewal, why not get back to it? And if you have been avoiding this teaching, why not push yourself to get on with it? Your progress will be minimal until you place a renewed mind in the new you, the new creation.

 

Also, I suggest that you keep in mind the goal of all this work toward the mind’s renewal, as well as other disciplines in your program of spiritual formation. You want to get to the point where, as the Apostle, you can say with confidence the four words that best describe the state of the truly transformed Christian’s life:

 

Not I, but Christ…

 

© L.D. Turner 2008/All Rights Reserved

 

Keeping Our Thought Life Simple

Mick Turner

* Another version of this article was published some time back under another title. During prayer time today, I felt led by the Spirit to bring it forward and post it a second time. Perhaps there is someone out there who needs it.

Many times I find I have to remind myself to keep things simple when it comes to my walk of faith. I am a thinker, a questioner, and an unapologetic mystic by nature and taking things on face value is sometimes difficult for me. Still, I do need to keep ever before me the principle of simplicity and work hard to refrain from climbing aboard my train of thought when it pulls out of the station, bound for a destination I know from experience is not worth visiting.

 

I am fortunate and thankful that for some years now the Holy Spirit seems to be both alerting me when I am about to let my thoughts get the best of me and assisting me in refraining from doing so. I still have major problems with this but I am getting better.

 

In my own case, this admonition of the Spirit to keep thing simple means that I have to make every effort to not get caught up in my thinking. An old buddy of mine who has been sober in Alcoholics Anonymous for over 30 years now once told me that the most valuable lesson he learned early in his recovery was that when he was alone he was “behind enemy lines.” In some ways, I think this can be true in my case as well. I have a marked tendency to over-think things, especially spiritual issues, and, as a result, experience one of two mental states and neither is positive.

 

In the first case it seems that when I climb on board the train of my thought and allow it to leave the station with my ticket punched, I many times never arrive at a destination. Instead, I end up confused, frustrated, angry and, in the final analysis, spiritually paralyzed. This state of affairs makes it difficult for me to apply certain aspects of the Lord’s teaching to my daily life, which ends up making me even more frustrated.

 

These situations tend to occur when I become somewhat obsessed with some aspect of the Christian faith that I find especially hard to understand and/or accept. For example, I have major difficulty wrapping my mind and my heart around the whole notion of what theologians have long called the “substitutionary atonement.” This is the idea that the blood of Christ, shed on the cross at Calvary, somehow appeased a wrathful God that was more than a little ticked off with us humans because of our disobedience, otherwise known as “sin.” According to this theory, we owed God big time and, to make matters worse, there really wasn’t any way we could pay up. The only solution was for God to come down here, take on flesh, and be sacrificed in order to pay the debt.

 

I am well aware of all the explanations of this doctrine as well as the notion that blood sacrifice of animals was a common practice among humans since recorded history began. I am also aware that it was the central practice of the Jews. On the Day of Atonement the people brought their sacrifices into the Temple and they were offered up to God as a covering for their sins. The Old Testament is filled with the details of these sacrifices and, at least to the casual reader, they make Jehovah appear to be a barbaric tyrant whose forgiveness and clemency must be purchased with the currency of life and blood. Those who support this notion of substitutionary atonement put forth the idea that Christ was sinless and the ultimate, perfect sacrifice. His death on the cross appeased God once and for all.

 

I must confess that I still struggle with this teaching. I cannot fathom how God, the incomprehensible intelligence that forged this universe, would somehow be moved to mercy after a man in colorful robes and a big hat walked into the Holy of Holies and slit a lamb’s throat. Even now, after all these years of being associated with the faith, as I sit here and type this I am appalled and mystified.

 

My reaction to Mel Gibson’s film “The Passion” was not like most. I walked out of the theater wondering, “What kind of God would require such a hideous thing?” My conclusion was: God wouldn’t.

 

This is an example of how I have, with the Holy Spirit’s help, learned to put certain issues on the shelf and not waste valuable spiritual energies trying to resolve them in my own way and in my own time. In terms of the “Substitutionary Atonement,” I eventually came to a resolution on the issue and, in so doing, was able to clarify several other issues as well.

 

In the second case, I sometimes allow the actions and thoughts of others to drive me to distraction. For example, when a Christian leader of the fundamentalist/conservative persuasion does or says something that is patently stupid and offensive, but gets a lot of press nonetheless, it tends to get me riled up more than it should. Rather than letting this slide off my back as I should, I start over-thinking the event, ruminating on how it is these very sorts of things that gives Christianity such a bad name in our society, and just in general working myself into a lather. I especially have to struggle with this issue during election years, like this one. When the Religious Right, joined at the hip with the Republican Party, engages in dishonesty, distortion, and other forms of “less than Christ-like” behavior, all just to gain political leverage, I am disgusted and find myself wanting to flee any association with Christianity.

 

A prime example of this second tendency to let my mind run away with itself occurred a few years back when a very prominent Christian leader and pastor advocated “taking out” the President of Venezuela. I was mortified as were many other sincere believers. My suspicion is the Christian leader in question didn’t have his WWJD bracelet on that day.

 

On more than one occasion, these very sorts of happenings have nearly convinced me that it would be best if I just jettisoned Christianity altogether. I have explored many faith systems over the years and can see much benefit in many of them. When I work myself up to a near-Chernobyl state of mind over the comments or stridently-voiced opinions of a believer who thinks he or she is the final authority on God’s truth, a big part of me wants to declare myself a Buddhist and be done with it.

 

It would seem, however, the Hound of Heaven will not allow me to take such a course of action, no matter how much I may want to. I am, at the end of the day, eternally grateful for this. I love Christ, his mission, his Holy Spirit, and his faithfulness to me when I am far less than faithful to him. Further, I believe each of us, myself included, has a specific mission to accomplish in this life and if I, like Jonah, head in a direction other than my own revealed Nineveh, I just might end up in the belly of a whale.

 

I am sure some of you can’t relate to this dilemma of over-thinking things that either you can’t get your mind around or you just can’t tolerate. For you fortunate souls, all I can offer is the suggestion that you express a deep thankfulness for being so blessed. As to those of you who are afflicted as I am, I can offer the strategies that seem to work for me. I hope you find that they work for you, at least to some extent. However, I also understand that we are all wired differently and what works for me may not be your solution.

 

I have found that with all things it is best to begin with prayer. I ask the Lord to help me where I can’t help myself. I confess that I have major difficulty accepting certain things, or that I am angry at a Christian leader who said or did something that most civilized people would consider an affront to either reason or personal dignity. I ask for a forgiving spirit and to have the capacity to put away those aspects of the faith that I can’t understand or accept. I also ask for wisdom just in case it might be the Lord’s prerogative to give me valuable insight into the issue I am ruminating about.

 

After prayer, I have found that focusing on the very basic principles of my worldview is of immense help in keeping things simple on the cognitive front. In essence, what I remind myself of is those things that I do firmly hold to be true and, beyond that, give the rest to God.

 

Fueled by prayer, I next engage in the ongoing and often difficult process of taking every thought captive for Christ. By this I mean that I do not allow myself to get past the first one or two thoughts on one of these issues. I just shut it down, period. There are times when I will pick up a troubling issue and let my mind work on it, but these days I try to do this only by appointment. In terms of my thoughts, I now try not to accept “walk-ins.”

(c) L.D. Turner 2008/All Rights Reserved

 

Renewing the Sub-Conscious Mind

Mick Turner

Paul tells us in Romans 12:2 that the key to personal and spiritual transformation is to renew the mind. The Apostle we must remember was a very learned man who studied with some of the greatest Rabbis of his era. It is therefore not surprising that Paul had deep insight into what made the human being tick, especially on a mental level.

 

Where we run into difficulty these days is with the psycho-spiritual technology necessary to follow Paul’s sage advice and effect a renewing of the mind. The most frequently heard strategy mentioned both in pulpit and pop Christian psychology is to immerse yourself in scripture. Certainly, this is a sound strategy and it can do no harm. Any time we spend in intimate relationship with scripture is time well spent. However, I have found that in order to fully appropriate the tools God has so graciously given us for transforming our minds, we need to develop at least a rudimentary understanding of the terrain of our minds and, armed with that knowledge, use scripture to its full advantage in the process of cognitive transformation.

 

My experience has been that God would never tell us what to do without providing us with the wisdom and the means to do it. With that thought in mind, consider it sound reasoning to assert that the Lord would not include in scripture the admonition to be transformed by the renewal of the mind if he didn’t provide us with the technology of how to go about the process. Sometimes he provides this directly through scripture; and at other times he gives us the knowledge through humankind’s own discoveries. In the case of renewing our minds, he has done both. Let’s begin by looking at a simplistic but effective map of our minds.

 

Most knowledgeable Bible teachers tell us that our minds have two basic aspects, the conscious mind and the subconscious mind. When I teach on this subject, I stress the belief that we in fact have three minds. In addition to the two aspects already mentioned, I am convinced that we also have what we here at LifeBrook call the “Sacred Mind.” Scripture refers to the Sacred Mind as “the mind of Christ.” Our Sacred Mind is in many ways our true inner Spirit and it is that part of our being God communicates with directly. Just as the “Mind of Christ” revealed God’s will directly to Jesus, so our Sacred Mind can do the same for us. I don’t want to digress too far here as the Sacred Mind is not related to our present discussion, at least until the later stages. Still, I did want to mention this aspect of our makeup because it is of central importance to our effective and vital spiritual living.

 

Our conscious mind is that part of our mental life that we are aware of and it is the part of our mind where our conscious thought takes place. The important thing to understand about the conscious mind is that we have control over it. We can, in fact, choose what we think and, by the same token, we can choose not to think about certain things. I know that many of you may now be thinking, “Wait a minute. This guy must not know me too well because I have very little choice in terms of what goes on in my mind.” I can relate to what you are saying in that unless we become mindful of our thought life, it can seem to have a distinct life of its own. The reality is, however, you can choose to be in control of your thought life. And even if, like a train coming into a station, a thought comes into your mind that you believe you did not choose, you have a choice whether or not to get on board and leave the station. By this I mean you have a choice about whether or not to focus on that thought and let it keep going in your mind. Not getting aboard a train of unhealthy thinking is the practical implications of Paul’s teaching about the importance of “taking thoughts captive for Christ.”

 

Once we begin the process of dealing with our patterns of negative thinking it is easy to become frustrated, especially in the early stages. I found that the more I attempted to stop myself from thinking in habitually unhealthy ways, the more I encountered this habituated negativity. It’s like my mind said, “Oh, so you wanna tell me what to do, eh? Okay, watch this!” I found out that my mind had both a life of its own and more power of me than I realized. My attempt to redirect my thinking was like a declaration of war.

 

As far as my ego, my “small mind,” was concerned, it was a declaration of war and, indeed, spiritual warfare ensued. I eventually discovered that my attempts to take thoughts captive for Christ was more than just a battle between my ego-controlled mind and my desire to deepen my spiritual life and increase my level of happiness. My small mind had a powerful ally and when I tried to defeat their combined forces, I failed miserably.

 

The truth of the matter is this: the moment I began to pray to the Holy Spirit for assistance in this battle things began to improve. Slowly at first, I became better able to recognize my patterns of negativity before the built up speed and momentum. It was as if I had more time between the stimuli that brought about my habituated responses and my typical reactions. With these extra few seconds I was eventually able to halt the negative thoughts sooner and focus on their positive, polar opposites. Once that happened, my battle lessened as my victories increased. I still have a long way to go but I am sure better off than I used to be. I have the Holy Spirit to thank for my progress. Also, I never rest on my laurels. The Spirit revealed to me the chronic nature of habitual pessimism, showing me clearly that it never goes away completely. I have to remain alert and vigilant in order to stay a step or two ahead of the enemy.

 

The foregoing paragraphs describe the first and most salient principle in our battle for our minds. We cannot succeed by ourselves. We need help. And by the grace of God, we have that help in the person of the Holy Spirit, the Comforter. Know from the outset that you are going to need an ally stronger than the one employed by your ego. Maintain a regular pattern of prayer over your endeavors to clean up your mind. Speak positive words over your battlefield and allow the Holy Spirit to do what he knows how to do.

 

Another effective strategy is to pay attention to what triggers the negative thought patterns. What happened just before you saw the train pull into the station and climbed aboard the Pessimism Express. Also notice what happened as a result of your negative thinking. Sometimes, just shining the light of awareness on to a mechanical process like habitual negativity has the impact of lessening the frequency and intensity of pessimistic thinking.

 

Begin addressing your thought-life with prayer and a positive commitment to make changes in your mental make up. After that, just get down to it and get to work. Above all, maintain a positive outlook, even when you repeatedly fail in the early days of your program. Optimism is highly recommended and is also highly justified. With God, all things are possible and, lest you forget, the Holy Spirit is God. Allow yourself to grow – allow your mind to be renewed.

 

© L.D. Turner 2008/All Rights Reserved