How to Take Control of Your Thoughts

God has given us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through them, we may be partakers of His divine nature! That’s what 2 Peter 1:4 says. All of God’s promises are available to us NOW. However, we will only partake of His divine nature by receiving those promises. To receive them, we must be in peace and be single-minded.

One of God’s precious promises is His peace.  I think of all the things Jesus has given, peace is my most precious possession. There was a time when I was plagued with anxiety. I know what it’s like to be bound by anxiety. However, I also know what it’s like to be completely free from it. Glory to God, my days of anxiety are over!

One of the most important skills you must learn in order to effectively live free from anxiety, depression, or anything else of the devil, is how to take control of your thoughts. This practice starts with reading and meditating on God’s Word daily. We must know the truth in order to silence the lies of the enemy!

One of the meanings of the Greek word for “peace” is oneness or single-mindedness. Our goal should always be to have one line of thinking that agrees with God. The book of James tells us that a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.

Satan knows that if we are double-minded, we will lack God’s peace and fail to see His promises come to pass for us. That’s why he’s always working to gain access to our mind and take charge of our thinking. He actually loves to do your thinking for you.

This is exactly what happened in the Garden of Eden. Satan’s first recorded activity in the Bible was to deceive Eve into being double-minded about the Word of God.

Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”

And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’”

Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Gen 3:1-5 NKJV

Notice that Eve started out single-minded, believing and quoting the Word of God. But the serpent interjected an opposite thought, causing Eve to question the integrity of what God said. She was enticed to believe another thought about her circumstance. At face value, it seemed harmless. However, that thought moved her and Adam to rebel against God, and their disobedience caused all of mankind to fall into sin.

If you think about it, every sinful act begins with a subtle, seemingly harmless thought. “Is this fruit really bad? Are we really going to die if we eat it? Is God trying to keep something from us?” These thoughts from Satan are lies. Anything that contradicts the Word of God is a lie!

Thoughts that you will never make it, or that your life is not worth living, are lies from the devil. Thoughts that you will never be healed or well again are lies from the devil! Lies always come to cause us to doubt God’s Word. Lies steal from us.

When we doubt what God says instead of believing it, we will not be able to receive His promises.

If you give yourself the liberty of indulging your mind with a negative thought once, the thought will come back stronger the second time. Every time you accept rather than reject the devil’s doubts and lies, each successive thought will become stronger and stronger. Before you know it, you find yourself in bondage to wrong thinking, which will ultimately lead to wrong speaking and then wrong actions.

If you find yourself battling with anxiety or depression, doubt and unbelief are at the root of it. Doubt opens the door to the devil’s trap of double-mindedness. The way to avoid this trap is by learning to control your thought life.

So how do you start taking control of your thoughts? By giving attention to God’s Word!

Proverbs 4:20-23 says, “My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes; Keep them in the midst of your heart.”

This scripture teaches that you must read the Word, meditate upon it, and hear it preached every opportunity you have throughout the day. Meditating upon God’s Word includes saying it out loud. As you spend time daily in God’s Word, you will begin to trust Him. If you don’t know what God’s Word says, though, you won’t recognize when the thoughts are lies.

When it comes to things that trouble your mind, trust is an antidote.

When you begin to know and believe God’s Word, you can recognize wrong thoughts immediately. As soon as a wrong thought emerges, take it captive by declaring that it is a lie and you refuse to believe it. Then speak scriptures out loud that specifically address that lie. It may take a short period of time to silence the enemy, but he will eventually bow his knee to the Word of God.

Many decades ago, I was troubled by a financial attack my husband and I were under. I was really worrying about where the money was going to come from to pay our bills. I had been in full-time ministry, but since we had a financial need and I am a nurse, I decided to look for a job.

One day while praying and reading the Bible, I had an unusual spiritual encounter with the Lord. He led me to John chapter 21 and asked me, just like He asked Peter, “Do you love Me?” I said, “Yes, Lord, you know I love you.” He said, “Feed My sheep.” I had become double-minded and anxious concerning that situation, but He let me know that I should stay in the full-time ministry and He would take care of everything. By giving attention to His Word, and by taking time to seek the Lord, I became single-minded again and my trust in Him was re-established. Once I realized I had been entertaining wrong thoughts, I spoke God’s Word about my situation out loud in praise. Within a short period of time, the money began to increase again.

God does not favor one person over another. What worked for me will work for you. When you have faith in God’s Word about the positive outcome of a negative situation, you will be single-minded and at peace again.

(I’ve been teaching out of my new book, UNTROUBLED: Conquering Anxiety, Fear and Depression. This book will truly help you to live a life that is untroubled. Click here to purchase on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3DDse08)

If you're in the Aurora/Naperville area and are looking for a church that teaches the uncompromising Word of God, we invite you to visit Abundant Life Family Church. As a Word and Spirit church, we are committed to helping believers grow in faith, experience the power of God, and walk in His promises. Our services are filled with dynamic worship, Bible-based teaching, and an atmosphere where the Holy Spirit moves. Whether you’re searching for a church home or seeking a deeper relationship with God, we welcome you to join us and be part of a thriving community of faith!