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.
