Breaking the strongholds over our thoughts

Experience the power in Prayer journaling

We all have a constant thought life and it can quite keep us busy. Sometimes worry and negative thinking can exhaust people physically and wear them down.

How does negative thinking affect our health?

Negative attitudes and feelings of helplessness and hopelessness can create chronic stress, which upsets the body’s hormone balance, depletes the brain chemicals required for happiness, and damages the immune system. Chronic stress can actually decrease our lifespan. (Universit of Minnesota)

 “Be careful what you think, because your thoughts run your life” 

Proverbs 4:23

The 8 characteristics of a thought

True

Noble

Right

Pure

Lovely

Admirable

Excellent

Praiseworthy

Thoughts are like fuel on our emotions and can cause exaggerate actions. Behavior is the action generated from our thoughts and feelings. Our thoughts can persuade us what the best behavior is in certain situations. It does not always link up to proper actions.

⁸ Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

Phillipians 4:8

Let’s do some thought maintenance

I have always struggled with negativity and feelings of inferiority due to social imbalances, poverty, cultural -and religious values. Through my upbringing and environment, I believed that it defined me and this made me feel excluded. I missed out on so much because I was religious but did not have a personal relationship with God. My sphere was filled with religious rituals and people that could not fill the void. What I’m trying to explain is that I was searching for identity and a stronghold.

When I had my first encounter meeting Jesus Christ, I found the first piece of the puzzle! Since then it is the way ahead of us exploring and searching for the rest of the puzzles, watching out for the different clues given through prayer, dreams, books, conversations, other media, and scripture.

How to do thought maintenance through journaling.

Most of the puzzles on my spiritual journey I find through prayer journaling. Prayer journaling is all about writing your prayers and presenting them to God.

 …we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

2 Corinthians 10:5

Impure and unacceptable thoughts are standing in direct opposition to the word of God and we are obliged to act immediately, taking these thoughts captive.

Through prayer journaling, we are putting our prayer words under Holy Spirit surveillance to show us any strongholds, uncertainty, fear, anxiety, unbelief, and negativity.

Wrongful thoughts want to derail us from our godly purpose and lead us into temptation, but when being watchful over our words, guarding over them keeps us on track. Prayer journaling is like setting a guard over my mouth.

Set a guard over my mouth, LORD; keep watch over the door of my lips.

Psalm 141:3

Recording our prayers hold us accountable before the Lord and our Helper, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us when we pray.

“Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities; for we know not what we should pray for as we ought.

Romans 8:26

Through prayer journaling, we transform and replace old patterns with faith and the word of God, and our thoughts become saturated with more of God’s word.

Summary

Our thoughts can influence our whole life and even those around us. Our thought life must come in line with the word of God and thus in agreement with the plans and purposes of God for our lives. The word of God sets eight characteristics of thought for us to help us with discernment.