For this gal, mental shift needs time to sink in and process. Instead of rushing through or seeking a quick fix (which is not a fix at all), I wanted you to join me in taking this topic in two big bites. Giving us space to absorb it. If we chew on what God teaches us in His Word and allow it to digest well, our souls will end up nourished in a more transforming way.
Read part one here. Below is a quick reminder of the first three practices in slaying the self-talk…
Identify the Lie
Know the Truth
Replace the Lie with God’s Truth
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Romans 12:2 NIV
Now let’s add the last two tools to our toolbox for slaying the self-talk.
4. Pray for the Spirit of Truth
Prayer submits our hearts and minds to God. Connecting us to God in an intimate relational way. Then allowing the Holy Spirit to stir our affections towards Him.
The Lord is near to all who call on him,
to all who call on him in truth.
Psalm 145:18 ESV
God’s Spirit speaks truth where lies and wrong perspectives have led us away from life as sons and daughters of the King. Bringing all of our cares and concerns to God first gives us the supernatural power necessary to combat the lies that may be swirling around our minds.
6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6-7 NLT
God’s presence ushers us into His peace. It is a peace that comes from the understanding that He is God and I am Not. This is the result of daily walking closely with Him. Like Abraham, who established his faith through a fair amount of trials and testing. As he lived out his journey of trust in the Lord, Abraham called out, cried out, and sought out the face of God. And God answered. With truth, and love, and power. Which led him to believe this: God is who He says He is and will do what He says He will do.
I’m convinced that, if the enemy can keep us distracted, then he can keep us discouraged. At times we will need to let go of our tight grip on control. And instead leave things undone and offered up to our loving Father, who is always working for our best.
Connecting with God in prayer is not just critical in helping us to replace the lies we battle and the resulting spiraling self-talk. It becomes a shield of truth for the enemy’s mental attack on us.
Remember from last week… that little nugget I mentioned that I learned from a godly woman in the faith…
“We can’t change the way we feel BUT we can change the way we think which CAN change the way we feel.”
Beth Moore
5. Practice the Truth
Friends, when tempted to walk down that old familiar sidewalk of doubt and fear, we have hope! We have a choice. Not only that, we have power. All because we have a loving God who made His Holy Spirit and His Truth available to us. We can choose to trust God above our emotions. Choosing to act on what He says about us instead of what others or even our own voice says about us brings peace.
9 Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.
Philippians 4:9 NLT
This is what Jesus said to those who had believed him,
If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
John 8:31-32
As long as we are focusing on the truth, we cannot believe a lie. This is not mind control but purposefully meditating on the worthwhile things. Not only does this intentionally help us with our destructive thought life, but it also moves us into focusing on the person of God, through thinking on His character and love.
Knowing God’s Word plants pearls of wisdom into the depths of our heart. Giving the Holy Spirit pearls of wisdom and peace to bubble to the surface… which become “these things” mentioned in Philippians 4.
Find out what stirs your affections towards the Lord. Is it music, quiet time with Him, others’ accounts of God’s faithfulness, listening to a podcast, mentor, etc.?
Recognizing God’s truth allows us to grasp onto that TRUTH. Plant it firmly into the soil of our hearts and then cultivate it, by praying and practicing it. This reorients our minds to then follow God down the path of freedom.
“Your thought-life can either be a place of peace and life or a source of immense internal struggle and despair. It’s our thoughts that the enemy tries to affect with half-truths and outright lies. It’s our thoughts that are the gateway to our emotions and actions. And it’s our thoughts our loving heavenly Father longs to influence, redeem, and renew that we might experience everlasting peace.“ Isaiah 26:3 says, “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.”
First Fifteen Devotion
Sisters, once upon a time, toxic self-talk was a continuous battle between my head and my heart. A common invader into my emotional status, usually showing up in the form of some repetitious hurt, fear, or disappointment from myself or others. However, by the grace of God, His truth and the influence of other wise counsel, my mental battles are short lived. He has developed my ability to wrangle the consequential lies beyond what I thought was possible.
If this recovering over-thinker can conquer, then sister, there is hope for us all!
For the word of the Lord holds true, and we can trust everything he does.
Psalm 33:4
Your Fellow Over Thinker,
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