I Gave a Sermon!

Hello everyone! This past week, I had the opportunity to give a sermon to my squad. I have always struggled with controlling negative thoughts, thoughts of self-doubt, thoughts of comparison to others, etc. and I know many others do as well. So, I set out to write a sermon that would help people, including myself, to combat the negative thought patterns that exist in our minds. It was an awesome experience just to be able to prepare this sermon and research exactly what the Bible says about this topic. The Lord definitely had his hand in the preparation of the sermon, and so I cannot take credit for it. I had a blast preparing and preaching the sermon, but unfortunately I didn’t record it, so I hope you will enjoy the written, outlined version just as much! There are a lot of scripture references that I would really encourage you to read or else it won’t make a lot of sense.

-Controlling Our Thoughts and the Weapons We Have to Combat Satan’s Lies

A. Proverbs 4:23. I believe that the word ‘heart’ here is referring to our innermost thoughts and desires. Our innermost thoughts and desires control everything!

   1. I believe that the mind is the battle that Satan prefers to wage because if he is able to break        into our minds and affect our thoughts, he can then influence how we act, feel, and speak. If        he can hack our thoughts/brain, then he has access to everything. Protecting our mind is the        key! If we lock the door of our mind and place Jesus as the guardian, what can he do?

   2. I think we have all experienced the sinful/negative thoughts, leading to sinful/negative                  actions/words/feelings, leading to guilt/shame over what we have or haven’t                                done/thought/said. I know I have experienced this cycle where the guilt/shame just leads            right back into the sinful/negative thoughts. But aside from the effect it has on us, we                  potentially hurt other people with our words/actions and allow Satan into their lives as well.          It all started with the mind! If we protect our thoughts, we not only protect ourselves, but we        protect others.

B. I read something that said, “Every sin we commit, we commit twice. Once in our thoughts and again when we act upon those thoughts.” Nip it in the bud. Don’t wait for it to get to the action stage to try and combat it because by that point you’re trying to stop yourself halfway down the slide. 

1. The more the enemy sees the great things we are doing through Christ Jesus, the harder he is going to attack. 1 Peter 5:8. Satan doesn’t like us having a closer relationship with Jesus and the more we grow in that relationship, the harder he is going to try to derail it. Just be aware of that! Whether you like it or not, you are in a battle between good and evil. Look at the world around us and we can see signs of that everywhere. 

2. We have to know how to combat an attack on our mind before the attack. Satan isn’t going to wait for us to run back and get the words we need. He doesn’t fight fair. He attacks us at our weakest moments when we are least prepared and most vulnerable. We have to understand that and be ready for that. We must protect our minds with everything we have!

C. Practical ways to combat the Enemy’s Attacks of the Mind-2 Corinthians 10:3-5. We have been given divine weapons so that we may take every thought captive. I believe they are as follows…

1. Being in the Word EVERY DAY! The Bible speaks truth into our lives. 

   i. “The less time you spend with Truth, the easier it is to believe lies.” -Lecrae

   ii. Hebrews 4:12. The Word is such a powerful tool!

   2.  Memorization of verses that mean something to you!

       i. Don’t memorize something because it helps somebody else. Read it for yourself and decide           if that is something that resonates with you.

       ii. If you were actually going into battle, you wouldn’t just take any old weapon that someone           gave you, right? You would prepare and make sure you had the best tools possible to                   defend yourself. This is no different. What works for someone else may not work for you.

       iii. Jesus used scripture all the time to combat evil, and even to combat Satan himself.                      Example: Matthew 4: 1-11

       iv. John 15:7. The word gives you power and authority which can and should be used to                  take control over your mind. 

   3. Prayer (Speaking to God)/Meditation (Listening to God) for Holy Spirit’s strength

       i. Proverbs 28:26. We would be foolish to try and do it on our own.

       ii. When we can’t piece together the puzzle of our own lives, remember the best view of a                  puzzle is from above. Let him help put you together. Jeremiah 33:3. Satan is smarter                than us; we need God’s wisdom because our own will fail us!

    4. Principle of Replacement. Replace sinful thoughts with Godly thoughts.

        i. If you shut down the sinful thought but don’t replace it with a Godly thought, you leave an            opening for Satan to attack even harder. Matthew 12:43-45. While I was choosing the                verses I wanted to use for the sermon, I felt like the Lord wanted me to replace the word              ‘spirit’ with the word ‘thought’ for this verse which I had never considered before.

        ii. I also think gratefulness plays a huge role in this. If you can rewire your brain to thank                God for things big and little, all of the sudden you begin seeing his kingdom everywhere                around you. In the same way, if you are always talking about your problems, you will                    focus on the negative and see evil everywhere.

        iii. There have been studies done (Harvard Health) that have proven that consistent                          thoughts/actions of gratitude increase psychological health and mental strength among                other things. One of the researchers describes gratitude as a muscle that grows stronger              the more you practice it. God is so good to us all the time, and if we can train ourselves                to focus on that, then we have a lot less time to listen to the enemy.

        iv. Phillipians 4: 6-8. We forget the Thanksgiving piece of that verse. It says, among other             things, that thanksgiving is required in order to have the peace of God guard our minds.               It is easy to remember the prayer and petition part, but much more difficult to practice                 thankfulness. 

    5. Fellowship with other Christians

         i. We have such a unique situation to use to our advantage here on the World Race. We are             surrounded by fellow believers who are also seeking the Lord with all their heart. At                     home, it is incredibly important to be a part of a Bible study or some type of group of                   believers so that you can hold each other accountable and challenge one another to grow             your relationship with God. 1 Peter 5:9. If you are struggling, take heart because every               single person in this world struggles as well. We need God and also each other to make it             through the struggles. 

         ii. Satan wages the mental battle because it is oftentimes much more hidden from others                  and he relies on us being too scared/ashamed to admit what is going on. We need to be                vulnerable with each other so that Satan is called out into the open.

         iii. Sometimes we need fellow believers to speak life into us because, “We cannot solve our                 problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” -Albert Einstein

         iv. Proverbs 27:17

 D. Conclusion

     1. There is no magic potion that is going to instantly heal your thought process. It takes                    diligence and intentionality every single day to turn it around.

          i. In a given day, you either get better or you get worse. There is no staying the same. “We              can’t become what we want to be by remaining what we are.” -Max DePree

          ii. “You can’t get much done in life if you only work on the days you feel good.” -Jerry West

     2. The enemy wouldn’t be fighting you so hard if he didn’t know God had something amazing            in front of you. We here that all the time! But the important thing to take from that is the              closer we grow to God and the more amazing things God uses us to do, the more the                    enemy is going to increase his efforts, and so we must increase ours.

     3. Ephesians 6: 10-20. Put on the full armor of God!

     4. The battle between good and evil is all around us whether we want to admit it or not. How            are we preparing for it? We need to win the battle of our minds in order to serve God as                effectively as possible! He will use us even through our weaknesses, but the more time we            spend getting our mind right, the more we can focus on what God has in store for us! 

That’s the sermon. I hope you enjoyed it and I hope it will have an impact on your life! If you have any questions please let me know! God Bless!