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Praying about new Thoughts

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    • July 9, 2023 at 7:55 pm #17647
      timcia
      Keymaster

        James 3:17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.
        If your thoughts often stray toward intoxication, it is vital to have a daily plan for what you will think about instead. First, daily Bible reading should be a habit. Second, we can sometimes form our plan from that study. In this example from James, we could choose to pray and focus on wisdom, being pure, peace, love, and kindness as well as 5 other Christian traits.
        Consider dedicating a page in your quitting notebook and titling it “Daily Plan.” Next, write out as many of the 9 things to think about that appeal to you. Then pick one for today. For today’s example I am picking peace. Consider praying:
        “Father, take away this spirit of intoxication and fill me with Your peace.”
        If you set an hourly alarm to remind you to pray and think about “todays” plan, you will learn a ton. #1 With your first alarm you may be reminded… I hate it that I am driven ruthlessly by drinking/drugs. Peace is way better. #2 With your 2nd alarm you may be reminded: People like me more when I stay calm. #3 With your 3rd alarm you may be reminded: Focusing on good things makes me think less about bad things. With your 4th alarm you may be reminded: With peace, I can enjoy a simple walk in the park, a clean TV show, a simple conversation with a friend.
        But I really can’t tell you the most important benefit to focusing on “todays” Christian plan, because the #1 thing it adds is that it allows the Holy Spirit to snap us out of our self-centered existence for a few minutes. Then, He can give us a little push in the exact direction where we need to go.
        If we do that every hour this year… we will be thinking in a new way.
        Today, consider becoming obsessed with forming “daily plans,” and then executing the plan in every hour that you can. It is a great way to renew the mind.

      • July 29, 2023 at 7:40 pm #17695
        timcia
        Keymaster

          The first step to taking thoughts captive is to make it a goal to do it “All the time.” There are two aspects of this. The first is to fight daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly for clean thoughts. The second is to have clean things to think about at our fingertips. Consider having a written “Top 7 things to think about.” Then add and subtract from it to keep it fresh. If we don’t have something good to replace the bad… the bad will win.

          James 4:17- Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.

          Second, always make one of your thoughts or prayers that you focus on… about purpose. Why does the verse above say that not doing good is sin? Because God knows that if we don’t do good we will “always” get into sin anyways. Consider praying twice daily:
          “Father, help me to turn from drinking/drugs, and help me to care about people and souls.”

          Third, pick one verse about intoxication to focus on often. If you focus on a great verse for the next few days it will be “in you.” Once it is “in you” it will add power to your prayers.

          If you consistently focus on scripture and prayer, at some point, satan will start to get frustrated with tempting you.

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