Recently, I heard this phrase from a devotional.* It captured my attention because I related to the idea. Much of my blog content addresses issues related to the mind. It is true; often, we allow a default script to churn. The devotional described it this way: ”the voice has taken up residence in your thinking—controlling your emotional responses.”

I’m not going to summarize my devotional here, but it reminded me of a time when my thinking ran on default and grew bigger than the truth of God’s saving love for me. I had to learn how to quiet that “internal chatterbox.”

As I read the devotional, I was reminded of 2 Corinthians 10:5: “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

In posing this as spiritual war for the mind, Paul reveals an essential truth. Wrong teaching leads to wrong thinking, which leads to disobedience to Christ. Understanding the true knowledge of God leads to right thinking, which leads to obedience to Christ.

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You see, our thoughts are powerful and keep us from obeying Christ. We believe ideas taught to us as children and as adults that are not based on the truth found in our relationship with Jesus. If you are aware of the war in your mind and want to gain control, try these:

2 Ways to Gain Control of Your Mind:

1. Prayer – Every time your mind is triggered and begins racing, take every thought captive in prayer. Take every fear, concern, worry, prediction, past reminders, everything to the Lord in prayer. He is a friend to every Christian. He is pure, holy, and the perfect Healer and Comforter. Turn those triggers into Truth.
2. Worship – Our feelings have nothing to do with worship when it comes to choosing to worship. But as we worship, the dark emotions drift away, and a sense of rightness and pleasantness appears from the clouds of our soul. It doesn’t matter whether we raise our hands or not. God’s eyes are on our hearts. Worship is our response to our holy God and His unfathomable love for us. As we respond, our minds are healed and absorb His truth. But don’t wait until Sunday to worship. Private worship is a choice. As we offer our lives to Him, worship in ordinary days is natural, and Sunday worship with the Body of Christ is genuine.

So today, as you go about your day, talk to Him, listen to worshipful music, beautiful sermons, take in God’s creation, and thank Him for every blade of grass or every flower petal. As the hymn says, “Turn your eyes upon Jesus.” There are many ways to live a life of prayer and worship in ordinary activities. The Spirit of God living in every Christian guides us as we move about our day.

What will you choose today to quiet the internal chatterbox? I’d love to hear from you~

©Valerie Rumfelt

*YouVersion – Called to Influence