Think About

Yesterday was bad. To fight back I prayed the following prayers back to back repeatedly:

“Lord, help me to love.”

“Father, help me to be tough.”

“Father, help me to turn from sin.”

“Father, show me Your will.”

Every time I started to think about bad stuff, I started to pray these prayers again. When we fight back, problems that would normally sink us start to be manageable. Why? Partly because now we are focused on other things, and partly because prayer activates God’s help in our lives.

The Bible says to think about good things. This year is the first year for me to be doing that.

Don’t let the bad eat up the good. Planning and prayer lead to stopping.

The Bible says to think about things that are noble. Noble thoughts are majestic, awesome thoughts. Today we can think: God has a plan for me, or, God has a great plan for me, if I sit around thinking about problems, triggers, money… I may miss the majestic plan He has for me.
Paul said to “Set your mind on things above not on earthly things.” Noble thoughts are things like doing God’s will, thinking about helping others, as well as storing up treasures in heaven.
Second, thinking about things that are noble means thinking about honorable things. DeeperChristian.com noted:
“Jesus is our standard for honor and character. He displayed the decorum and honor of heaven and proved it is possible to live upon this earth with such a life. And now that same Jesus, through His Spirit, lives in you! It is imperative that our minds stay focused upon Him! The boundary for our minds is not just what is true but what is honorable, respectable, reverent, and dignified.
How has your mind been recently? Are the thoughts you dwell upon filled with honor? Are they reverent? Are they dignified—a thought process that is worthy of respect?”
Third, to increase in noble thoughts consider writing prayers that fight bad habits and increase in noble thoughts. Consider praying:
“Father, help me to turn from triggers and help me to care about souls.”
“Father, show me how wrong thoughts poison my life. Help me to live with honor and reverence.”
“Father, help me to love and help people more than I love pleasure.”
If we think right, we will live right. Try to make it a habit to think right.

To think right means to think the opposite of wrong. If we are not happy with someone close to us, thinking bad about them is wrong. Thinking right is to think about contentment and love, then to pray about contentment and love.

Second, to allow anxiety or anger to rule us is wrong. To think right consider having a couple of Bible verses in your phone to fight the negative emotion. Then think about those verses, then write a couple of short prayers about the specific emotion.

Third, some days do stink. But there will be another tomorrow. Praise the Lord, get tough, and give thanks that a better day is coming.

Fourth, work stinks, school stinks, and _______ stinks. Don’t keep thinking about those things. Give thanks for good things, then think about helping others. Then pray about helping others.

Finally, we all take time to think about what is bad about our lives. To think right, think about what is good about your life. Consider making it a habit to focus on what is good about your life.

Pure thoughts are clean thoughts. Pure thinking involves thinking in a pure way about what we will read, watch, listen to, or think about. Consider praying David’s prayer:

“Create in me a pure heart Oh God, and renew a right Spirit within me.”

Step one in thinking pure thoughts is to plan to think pure thoughts. Plan pure thoughts if you are out and about where temptation may pop up. Plan pure thoughts before you turn on the TV.

Second, pure thoughts are: What is God’s will right now, not Wow, how can I have (wrongful) fun. Pure thoughts only happen when we avoid evil.

Finally, pure thoughts are writing prayers that say what Job said about keeping his eyes pure.

“Father, I will keep my mind pure, help me to run from sin.”

Purity and positivity lead to a clean mind, and a clean mind keeps us free. Consider a focus on purity.

Why is thinking right so important? Example, life knocks us down again. We want to think about our (bad) options. If we don’t think about the Philippians command to “Think about these things, we will think in ways that start the big slide. Instead, consider often asking yourself this question:

“How can I think toward love?” If you are angry, forgive. If sad, praise the Lord. If frustrated with life, decide to make life better for people around you. How can I help others? If Christians would focus more on thinking “Toward love,” what would the church look like?

The Bible says to think about lovely things. Think about being a peacemaker. Think about valuing what is important to others so that you can show them a bit of God’s love. Think about forgiving others. We are obeying what Philippians says to think about when we practice “Rapid forgiveness.” Consider praying:

“Father, help me to turn from lust and teach me the habit of rapid forgiveness.”

Here is an example of a lovely thought. “How can I promote love today?

Second, we all like a person who is “pleasant.” They are always nice and kind to others. They notice the good in the day and the beauty in the world. Consider praying:

“Father, help me to think about better things. Please change my thoughts.”

Consider picking two new thought patterns to think about from this list, then see how many times this week you can refocus your mind to thinking about things the Bible says to think about.

#1 How can I change my situation toward love?

#2 Rapid forgiveness is real love

#3 Can I be the person who is pleasant, positive, and nice?

#4 Can I act in a way that someone might see Jesus in me?

Great thoughts replace bad thoughts. How will you plan to think Bible thoughts?