Power Thoughts: 12 Strategies to Win the Battle of the Mind (21 page)

God is good even when our circumstances are not! He doesn’t always give us our hearts’ desires immediately after we ask, but He knows the right timing for everything and we can trust Him. He wants us to develop a deep, personal relationship with Him and an outrageous love for Him—so much so that we realize we can’t live without Him. This kind of relationship and love brings the worshipful attitude that God wants us to have. Knowing God intimately is more important than getting what we want immediately.

So stop worrying; give your concerns to God, and live in grace. Grace isn’t just divine favor; it’s power! Don’t waste another day of your life worrying. Determine what your responsibility is and what it is not. Don’t try to take on God’s responsibility. When we do what we can do, God steps in and does what we can’t. So give yourself and your worries to God, worship Him, and begin enjoying the abundant life He has for you. The minute you realize you are worrying, you can interrupt the wrong thought pattern by saying, “I will not worry. I worship You, Lord. You are good and I completely trust you.”

Think about It

Are you a worshipper or a worrier?

Worry or Faith?

In years past, soldiers often protected themselves with shields, and in Ephesians 6:16, the Bible speaks of “the shield of faith.” Since shields provide protection, faith must be a way to protect ourselves when the enemy attacks. However, a shield is only effective when it is raised; it won’t help a soldier while it is on the ground or at his side. He must lift it up and use it to cover himself from attack. When the devil attacks us with unpleasant circumstances or thoughts that cause us to worry and be afraid, we should immediately lift up the shield of faith. The way we do that is by deciding right away that we will trust God instead of trying to worry our way to victory. It is very helpful to say out loud, “I trust God in this situation!” Say it firmly with conviction. Jesus talked back to Satan by saying, “It is written,” and quoting Scripture (see Luke 4), and we can do the same. God’s Word is powerful, and it is effective against everything the enemy tries to do in our lives.

Throughout the Bible, we see wonderful accounts of men and women of faith who totally trusted God in situations that appeared impossible to solve, and they experienced God’s delivering power. Each of them had to release their faith and confidence in God and refuse to worry or be anxious.

If you’re a Christian who goes around burdened or weighed down all the time, something is wrong. You may have had faith in Christ for salvation, but that doesn’t mean you are living by faith. The most difficult burden we have to carry in life is self. Managing self, our daily living, feelings, temptations, temperament, and inward affairs all can become a heavy burden if we do not place ourselves entirely in God’s hands by faith.

Next, we must lay aside the burden of health, reputation, work, home, children, and everything else that concerns us. The Bible tells us that God is faithful (see 1 Thessalonians 5:24); that’s one of His major characteristics. We can count on Him to come through for us, so we should trust Him totally and completely. When we do, we’ll be ready for anything that comes our way.

There will always be situations that cause you concern, but with God’s help, you can live above all of them and enjoy life. Learn to say with your mouth and with sincerity in your heart, “God, I trust You completely; there is no need to worry!”

One woman had a heavy burden that kept her from sleeping, took her appetite, and endangered her health. One day she found a gospel tract telling the story of Hannah, a woman who also had very heavy burdens in life, but eventually learned to give them all to the Lord. Hannah said she was finally able to realize that she could not bear her burden, but had to let God bear it for her. She shared that we must take our burdens to Him, leave them, come away, and forget them. If the worry comes back, we should take it to him again; continuing to do this over and over until at last we have no worries and we have perfect peace. Persistence is the key to defeating Satan. You must show him that you mean business. Keep your shield of faith lifted at all times and you will have the victory.

I had to learn that God would not work as long as I worried, but the moment I trusted Him, He put His plan into action, and through faith and patience, I enjoyed the thrill of watching God work miraculously in my life.

Think about It

Are you going to worry or pray and release God to go to work?

How can you demonstrate your faith in God in a situation you might otherwise worry about today?

Worry or Obedience to the Word?

I firmly believe that when we have problems, we must not worry, but we also need to continue doing the things we know to do. For example, if you have commitments, be sure that you keep them. Quite often when people are encountering personal problems they withdraw from normal life and spend all their time trying to solve the problem. They talk about their problems to anyone who will listen and worry continually. All of this unproductive activity prevents them from doing what they should be doing, which is “doing good.”

Psalm 37:3 says that we should trust in the Lord and
do good
and we will feed on His faithfulness. I have discovered that if I continue my study of God’s Word, continue praying, keep my commitments, and help as many people as I can, I experience breakthrough much faster. Helping others while we are hurting is actually a very powerful thing to do. It keeps your mind off of you and your problem, and you are sowing seed that ultimately brings a harvest. Sinking into self-pity, worrying, being anxious, and speaking negatively prevent God from helping us, but trusting Him and continuing to do good releases Him to work mightily.

We may know it is wrong to worry and yet continue worrying. We must realize that none of God’s promises work for us until we actually obey His Word. Knowledge alone won’t solve your problems, you must take action to be obedient no matter how you feel. You might not feel like keeping a commitment or doing something to help someone else, but do it anyway.

God’s Word Teaches Us to Show Love at All Times

We must not use our personal problems as an excuse to be grouchy and unloving with other people. Always remember that we overcome evil with good (see Romans 12:21). So my advice is to trust God and do good, do good, and do good!

In the Bible Paul shares how even though he was suffering he was persuaded that God would take care of those things that he had entrusted to Him. Paul gave his problems to God and refused to worry. He encouraged the people to hold fast to what they had learned and to guard and keep the precious truth that had been entrusted to them by the Holy Spirit (see 2 Timothy 1:12–14). In other words, Paul said that we should trust God and keep doing what we know to do during hard times. The obedient person always experiences victory in the end. My simple formula for victory is trust God, don’t worry, do good, and keep meditating on and confessing God’s Word because it is the sword of the Spirit. With that sword, you will defeat Satan.

Many resources are available to help you find the Scriptures you need to meditate on and confess, including my book
The Secret Power of Speaking God’s
Word
, and the section titled “The Word for Your Everyday Life” in
The Everyday Life Bible
.

Think about It

What specific verses or passages from God’s Word will you meditate on to help you stop worrying?

What commitments will you keep even though you might not feel like doing so?

Who do you know that you can help so you are “doing good” during your challenging times?

God Is Trustworthy

By confessing and meditating on this power thought, “I trust God completely; there is no need to worry,” you will eventually form a new mind-set that will enable you to put your trust in God with ease. You will habitually look for what is good and magnify it. Life is very enjoyable when we learn to pray about everything and worry about nothing.

I want to encourage you not to get discouraged if forming new mind-sets seems difficult in the beginning. You may have to say that you will trust God and not worry one thousand times before you start to feel the effects of doing it. Just remember that each time you think and say the thing that agrees with God, you are making progress. Satan will relentlessly try to get you to give up, but if you will relentlessly keep doing what I am suggesting in this book, I guarantee that you will see the result in due time.

Most of us have practiced doing things the wrong way for years, and we must not expect everything to turn around in a few days or weeks. Renewing our minds is like reprogramming a computer. Two times in the past ten years we have had to install an entirely new computer system and I can tell you that it was not easy. It was vitally necessary in order for us to make progress as a ministry, but it was probably one of the most difficult times ever for our employees. They had to learn entirely new ways of processing information and it didn’t always seem to work right immediately. Eventually the old ways were gone and the new was comfortable and much, much better—but everyone had to be patient!

We inherit the promises of God by faith and patience (see Hebrews 10:36). No matter how long it takes for you to renew your mind with these power thoughts, just keep at it. You are training your mind to work for you instead of against you. Don’t forget that where the mind goes, the man follows.

Think about It

What specific situation(s) do you need to trust God with today?

Power Pack

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. [I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls.]”

Matthew 11:28

“But I say, walk and live [habitually] in the [Holy] Spirit [responsive to and controlled and guided by the Spirit]; then you will certainly not gratify the cravings and desires of the flesh (of human nature without God).”

Galatians 5:16

“Therefore humble yourselves [demote, lower yourselves in your own estimation] under the mighty hand of God, that in due time He may exalt you, casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully.”

1 Peter 5:6, 7

“And who of you by worrying and being anxious can add one unit of measure (cubit) to his stature or to the span of his life?”

Matthew 6:27

POWER THOUGHT

7

I am content and emotionally stable.

“Godliness accompanied with contentment (that contentment which is a sense of inward sufficiency) is great and abundant gain.”

1 Timothy 6:6

O
ne of the greatest things God has done in my life is help me become emotionally stable and consistently content. It was a long journey and I admit that it was not easy, but nothing is more tormenting than being controlled emotionally by outside forces. I look back and realize how much time and energy I wasted over the years being upset over things that I could not do anything about.

Dave and I spent many years with very limited finances and each time something happened that was unexpected, like an appliance repair, car repair, medical bill, or higher than usual utility bill, my first response was always to get upset and start saying all kinds of foolish things. I said things like, “We will never have any money, because something always happens to steal it,” or “Nothing ever works out for us so why even try?” Dave, who is Mr. Content and Stable, tried to encourage me, but I always let my emotions rule.

Dave said things like, “Thank God we had the money to take care of this unexpected bill,” or “Everything will be okay because God loves us and has a good plan for us.” Deep down inside I knew he was right and that my behavior was childish, but I had very bad habits that ruled me in this area.

I grew up in an unstable household with people who always let circumstances control their moods, but Dave grew up with a godly mom who remained positive in the midst of great trials. Dave’s mom gave me my first Bible and in the front cover she wrote Psalm 37:5, “Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him and He will bring it to pass.” She obviously knew the value of remaining calm and letting God work.

Interestingly, my family’s natural circumstances were much better than Dave’s were, but our attitudes were much worse.

My parents owned their home, both had good jobs, their health was good, and they saved a little money. In comparison, Dave’s circumstance was very needy. Most of their clothing was given to the family by people that Dave’s mom cleaned house for. His dad died when he was sixteen and left his mom with eight children to provide for. They lived in a three-room apartment that had a basement room, but they knew God’s love and their mom gave them a great example of contentment and stability. We don’t have to let our circumstances control our moods unless we choose to.

In every aspect of life, Jesus is our example—and Jesus was emotionally stable. The Bible actually refers to Him as “the Rock,” and we can depend on Him to be solid, steady, and stable—the same—all the time, always faithful, loyal, mature, and true to His Word. In fact, Hebrews 13:8 tells us that He is the same “yesterday, today, and forever.” In other words, He is not in one kind of mood one day and in another mood the next day. We can count on Him to be the same today as He was yesterday and the same tomorrow as He is today. Being able to depend on Jesus’ stability and consistency is part of what makes a relationship with Him seem attractive to us.