Building Lives of Faith

The basic building block of our life are our thoughts. Scripture says as a man thinks in his heart, so he is (Prov. 23:7a). What are you thinking about today? It’s with your thoughts that you compose your life every day; relationships, marriage, family, career, ministry….

God's thoughts towards you and your future are good (Jer. 29:11), but are your thoughts in agreement with His? God promises to keep us in perfect peace if our thoughts are kept on Him (Isaiah 26:3).  This means to walk in peace we need to ensure our thought about ourselves, others, our future etc. are congruent with His thoughts for a hope and a future toward us and our situations.

It’s great to take time out every day to consider what you are thinking about. A good way to do this is to take a minute and write down every thought that comes into your mind during that minute. This is especially good to do if you are feeling anxious or unsettled and you don’t know why.

It is particularly powerful when we turn our anxious thoughts into specific prayers. Paul exhorts us:  Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God (Phil 4:6). Paul is teaching us to overcome anxiety by praying specific prayers soaked in faith and thanksgiving. This type of prayer requires us to stop and think about what we’re anxious about and compose these thoughts into specific prayers.  This form of self-reflection can be challenging as we stop to listen our self-talk. To truly listen to ourselves requires humility and the understanding that through Christ we have been freed from condemnation.  We are not defined by our thoughts but by Christ’s thoughts toward us.

It’s when we identify these anxious thoughts in prayer that we expose them as lies. Transformation happens when we replace lies with truth according to God’s word.   This process is not easy but can be helped if we have a trusted friend, coach or counsellor to help us identify the lies and replace those lies with truth.   We can then stand on the truth in prayer rather than ruminating on the uncertainties of the situation.  It’s this replacement that brings our mind to peace as our minds recognise and gravitate towards truth.

It’s as we make a habit of turning anxious thoughts into powerful prayers our minds are powerfully and continually renewed and find rest in the peace that truth brings.