Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

One of the easiest things we can do to improve our walk with the Lord is to pray for and develop discernment as to where our thoughts originate.   To assume that they are all our thoughts is to be naive and an easy target.   The mind is the launching pad for the enemy and he places thoughts strategically.   The thoughts in our minds come from one of three places-   God, ourselves, or the enemy.   In order to walk in freedom, it’s crucial to develop discernment.   We must pray that the Lord will give us this discernment, cutting through these thoughts with His double edged sword, allowing us to rebuke and refuse those that are not of God. Weigh your thoughts against the Word of God and see how they measure up.  This discernment prayer is a prayer that you can be assured is God’s will so He will answer it.  If this isn’t something you are already doing, prepare to be amazed, and please come back and tell me about it.

We must be acutely aware that just because we have a thought doesn’t mean that it’s a true thought.  One of the easiest ways the enemy can cause a negative impact on a person is to repeat a thought to them throughout their whole life, over and over again, until they end up believing that it’s true.    This is a sad thing.

I have known people who believed the inner thought that they would not live a full life but instead would die young- and they did.  Why?  It’s not necessarily true that they would have, but because the thought was placed in their minds, they exercised faith in the thought and faith sets the spirit world in motion.    It changes things.    It brings things to pass- good or bad.   If you believe you will die young and you don’t take that thought captive, then you are cursing yourself for it to happen.  If this is you, then rebuke every one of the thoughts you have had to that end, forgive yourself and ask the Lord to forgive you.  Call every cell in your body to the obedience of God’s will for you and demand refusal of any negative effects that may have or would come upon you.  Be not afraid.  Be free.  Hallelujah.

I worked with an amazing man, a long time ago.  You would probably know of him.  Most people do I suspect.   Sadly, he was not a Christian so he knew nothing of holding his thoughts captive.  Recently, he died too young and his death is a tremendous tragedy because his brilliance transformed the world and could have continued to do so.  I still grieve. It hurts me deeply. He was amazing. Only the Lord knows whether or not he would be alive today but I believe there is a significant chance he might be had he known to hold his thoughts captive- for years and years.

Have you ever thought to yourself that you were not loved?  Hold that thought captive to the truth-  that you are loved with an everlasting love. (Jeremiah 31:3)  Believe scripture and not your own thoughts.  Choose to believe God because He’s not a man that He should lie.  (Numbers 23:19)

Have you ever thought that nothing will ever go right for you?   Scripture says that He has plans for you-  plans for good and not for evil. (Jeremiah 29:11)    What do you choose to believe- your thoughts, what you see before you, or will you choose to believe that God means what He says?

You see the point.   This is important, folks.  This can be life or death.  It’s not just some nice thing in scripture.  It’s truth- bold, stark truth.   Will we be obedient or will we indulge in these thoughts and invite them into reality?

If you have ever heard ungodly thoughts that you chose to believe, if you’ve ever spoken something destructive over you or someone else, please rebuke those thoughts and those words right now.  Bring them to death in the name of Jesus Christ.   Ask the Lord to forgive you for believing them and not HIm.  And surrender to His will and His alone.   Pray for healing in any damaged area and believe God for that healing. He is mighty to save.

Takeaway:  It’s crucial that we examine our own thoughts and words and hold them accountable to the Lord.   Pray for discernment over your thoughts, that you would capture them before you have a chance to believe them.   If the thought is for sure not God and for sure not what you want either, then that thought is more than likely from satan.  Rebuke him in the name of Jesus and refuse to listen to it anymore.    Find your freedom.  Hold those thoughts captive and command them to come into obedience to the Lord, Jesus Christ.   Rebuke them.  Rebuke negative thoughts, dreams, anything that may be thrown at you that is not of God.   If you have a sense of inner knowing, something that just goes unsaid, don’t naively accept it as truth.  Pull it up out of your sub-conscious and expose it to the light and to the Lord.   Perhaps the voice is God’s and perhaps it’s not.  Test it.   Receive it if it’s God.  Rebuke it, in the name of Jesus Christ, if it’s the enemy.

Prayer:  Lord, please help me to discern the origin of thoughts that are going through my mind.  I want to hold them captive before You and refuse to receive them if they are not You.    I realize that it’s critical that I listen to my thoughts and my words and respond to them according to Your word, not my emotions.  Mature me in this process so that it becomes a natural process for me.   I want to live all the days of my life in obedience to You and believing only the things You speak over me.