Meyer’s idea that our thoughts have the power to shape our reality is well established in the field of psychology and our culture. Henry Ford’s famous quote, “whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right,” or versions of it, are commonly cited to remind us that thinking positively is the first step to success. Thank you for those who have read and engaged this chapter. I pray that you would raise up a new generation of godly intellectuals who know your Word, understand your mind, feel your heart, live out your character, and do your will with skill. I pray a blessing on every man and woman reading these words. Bless their families. Bless their churches. Bless their ministries. Protect them from the Evil One. And as the battle for sin is fought in their minds, may they not merely resist but refocus. May they fill their minds with the washing of the water of the Word. May they be transformed by the renewing of their minds so that they may know your will — which is good and pleasing and perfect. Satan frequently steals the will of God from us due to reasoning. The Lord may direct us to do a certain thing, but if it does not make sense - if it is not logical - we may be tempted to disregard it. What God leads a person to do does not always make logical sense to his mind. His spirit may affirm it and His mind reject it, especially if it would be out of the ordinary or unpleasant or if it would require personal sacrifice or discomfort.”

Philippians 4:6–8 gives us two ways to guard our minds from garbage: conversational prayer and concentrated focusing: Let me ask you quite frankly: What’s your dream for your next ten years? Have you even written it down? Thoughts get disentangled when they go through the lips and the fingertips. If you haven’t written it down, you haven’t really thought about it. Writing makes a man more precise. What is your dream for your family? What is your dream for you personally? How are you going to be different ten years from now? When these thoughts get rooted in our minds, then they become strongholds that give the enemy control.I have seen the face of mental illness. I have seen what it is like when people are unable to hear God because their minds are broken and cannot seem to connect to God even when they want to connect to God. And I know whatever gets your mind gets you. So one of the most important things we need to learn and teach others is how to guard, strengthen, and renew our minds, because the battle for sin always starts in the mind.

Our church recently entered into what we’re calling the “Decade of Destiny.” We have written out our dreams for the character changes we want to see in our lives over the next ten years. What would you attempt for God if you knew you couldn’t fail? What we need today are great imaginers. Paul talks about this in Romans 7, and he says, “I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. . . . Wretched man that I am!” (Romans 7:19, 24). The fact is, the reason we have so many ineffective Christians today is that they do not know how to fight the battle of the mind. And I blame pastors like me for that. We must spend more time teaching our people how to fight the battle of the mind. Four Principles for Winning the Battle for Your Mind

The helmet of hope

Just because you get a thought doesn’t mean it’s correct. This is the reason why we have so many fallen Christian leaders, because all sin begins with a lie. The Bible says Satan is “the father of lies” (John 8:44). And if he can get you to believe a lie, he can get you to sin. Anytime you sin, you are thinking that you know better than God. God has said this, but what about that? And so you have to question what you think. First John 1:8 says, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” We deceive ourselves all the time. Until we are saved, we don’t have any protection against the fiery darts that the Devil unleashes on our minds. Repentance means changing your mind — not just changing what you do. It’s first and at its heart mind change. Repentance is changing the way you think. It is a mental shift. Put on the helmet of salvation. Paul talks in 1 Corinthians 7 about being settled in our own minds, which means having godly convictions. And in Hebrews 11:1, faith is said to be “the conviction of things not seen.” Let me give you some examples. The text of this Bible is easy to read and use. Scattered throughout the book are book introductions, “winning the battles of the mind” articles, “keys to a victorious life” articles, PowerPoints (brief powerful comments for a specific Bible verse), “speak God’s Word” entries, “a prayer to renew your mind” entries, highlighted Scriptures on thoughts and words, and finally how to have a real relationship with Jesus. Maybe I am the only person in the world who doesn't like this style of transcribing the Scripture. She does have a huge following, which is merited. She has a lot of good things to say and counsel others with. I do love her works and can usually ignore the punctuation in question when she's just quoting one or two verses. But to do that with the whole Bible is more than I can tolerate.