A Prayer for Taking Thoughts Captive

“Thinking about what you’re thinking about is very valuable because Satan usually deceives people into thinkingthe source of their misery or trouble is something other than what it really is. He wants them to think they are unhappy due to what is going on around them (their circumstances), but the misery is actually due to what is going on inside them (their thoughts).” Joyce Meyer
 
Dear intercessor,

Everyday we are bombarded by lies and false beliefs. It starts when we get up in the morning. Our mind is a battleground. We can think that the problems we face are external and because of the things that are happening around us, but often the battles are internal–-in our thoughts and attitudes. Satan knows that if he can control our thoughts, then he can control our actions. We cannot have a positive life with a negative mind. Taking negative thoughts captive is not easy. The lies of the enemy are vicious. Destructive strongholds try to invade our minds every day, and it takes commitment and discipline to control them. 

Think about your own thought life. What are you thinking inside, especially when you feel negative, discouraged, or emotionally down? Watch for patterns. Over time you will begin to see patterns, and you will start to identify false beliefs in your thinking that are contrary to God’s Word. You will begin to understand the enemy’s strongholds in your life. 

Let’s learn to listen to God rather than the enemy. Let us realize that we don’t have to let Satan outwit us because we are not unaware of his schemes (2 Corinthians 2:11). God’s truth is there to set us free. This prayer and the 6-minute video afterwards can help you take thoughts captive.

My Prayer for Taking Thoughts Captive

Lord, I pray that You would help me take every thought captive and think about whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy (Philippians 4:8). I want to have a positive mind and life, honoring You in my thoughts. Help me to discipline my thought life with all my heart. Help me to believe Your truth on a daily basis. I want Your truth to be my final authority. I give You permission to show me the strongholds in my life. I need Your Spirit’s help and ask You to break these destructive strongholds by Your divine power (2 Corinthians 10:4-5). I cannot do it myself, and I acknowledge my dependence on You. I need You to show me the lies I believe. You can break the power of the lies in my life.

Your Word is truth (John 17:17). It has power, and it judges my thoughts and attitudes (Hebrews 4:12). Expose the lies and show me where my thinking is not lining up with Your divine truth. [If there is a specific lie you have believed that you are aware of, confess it by name to the Lord: i.e. “Lord, forgive me for believing that I am a failure. Forgive me for believing You don’t love me or care about me.”] I repent of ways of seeing my life that are contrary to Your Word. Help me to be disciplined like the Apostle Paul who lived in such a way as not to be disqualified (1 Corinthians 9:24-27). He went into strict training for You because he wanted to win. Help me to learn to say, “No” to the attacks and fiery darts of the enemy and say, “Yes” to Your way of victory, peace, and joy.

“I love you, LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold… Praise be to the LORD, my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle. He is my loving God and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me… Part your heavens, LORD, and come down; touch the mountains, so that they smoke. Send forth lightning and scatter the enemies; shoot your arrows and rout them. Reach down your hand from on high; deliver me and rescue me 
from the mighty waters, from the hands of foreigners whose mouths are full of lies, whose right hands are deceitful. I will sing a new song to you, O God; on the ten-stringed lyre I will make music to you, to the One who gives victory to kings… Blessed are the people of whom this is true; blessed are the people whose God is the LORD” (Psalm 18:1-2, 144:1-2, 5-10, 15). In Jesus’ name, amen.

Here is a short motivational teaching and this prayer that can help you to take negative, defeating thoughts captive. This is part of a course I am developing called: Facing Life's Difficulties Victoriously. It's called: A Prayer for Taking Thoughts Captive.

"For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:3-5).

Together in the Harvest,

Debbie Przybylski
Intercessors Arise International
International House of Prayer Kansas City (IHOPKC)
www.intercessorsarise.org