The Sum of our Thoughts

2 Timothy 1:7 For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

This week I'm seeking to spend more time focusing on my thoughts! As I awoke, still laying in bed and engaged in our morning ritual (a summary of the weekend, what's ahead this week etc), Ed and I , we began to pray for our week and celebrate all that passed in the last week; however as our conversations deepen I felt an uncontrollable need to focus on our thoughts. Realizing quickly that often the state of mind we operate under each minute of our day greatly impacts on the results of that day, week, month , year and ultimately our life's journey.

Sensing the spirit urging my heart in the direction of considering my own thoughts, I began to pray these words:

"Lord, I submit my thoughts to you, and ask that you would shine your light of deliverance and peace on the shadowy areas of my mind. The areas that spells out lies, and deceit against your truth. The fiery darts that seek to pierce my thoughts with "what if, remember when, You'll never overcome, you can't recover, God won't answer those prayers, You're not good enough, etc..." Lord, you have not given me a weak mind, but one of love and power. Lord renew my mind, and let it be as the mind of Christ.

Father, I confess that I have entertain thoughts that have come to beset me, to lead me to temptation, to have me lust after the things of the world and implant feelings of discontentment and strife. Father, I submit myself to your scrutiny now, and ask you to wash me with the blood of the Lamb and make my thoughts clean again. Free my mind, and let me cast my gaze on heavenly truths. Philippians 4:8 declares "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. In Jesus' name, Amen" .

Friends, we can deny and ignore the power of our thoughts, or refuse to count the sum of them only for so long! You may not be able to site this next statement as a fact, but certainly you know by experience that, " so a man thinketh, so is he". How many times have the thoughts you were harboring, "good, corrupt, deceptive, malicious" actually manifest themselves in your reality.  How often have you, due to the stress of your current physical state, created a mental/thought world to escape? How has the trials and challenges of life pushed you into an unhealthy, spiritually lacking thought life?.

I declare, the sum of your thoughts does impact who and how you are. There is a danger in lending ourselves to careless thoughts. The deceiver comes to intimidate us...yes, in our thoughts. When you experiences various stimuli from life, it is usually perceive, and process through how we interpret that stimulus...often referred to as" our thought process". If we are not applying the anti-thought-serum (God's truth) to all our thoughts, we can find ourselves a drift.

Don't get it twisted, even our "good thoughts" must be scanned. So many of our "good thoughts" can masked by shaky motives and intentions. So as we embark upon a new week, let's run to the throne of God, and seek mercy for our thought life. We need HIS mercy to interpret and live out the many thoughts we must process every minute of our day.

Lord, search our thoughts!