I remember the day that I realized the enemy was using my thoughts to discourage and demoralize me. I was a young wife and a stay-at-home mom with a toddler and an infant. I was doing all the right things, like reading my bible, praying, and listening to praise and worship music. However, I kept falling into the continual trap of thinking that my life was not good enough. One day, I was in my closet looking for a pair of jeans. I put them on, and they did not fit. The thought came immediately, “you are fat. You will never get into those jeans.” Then within seconds, a second thought came, “face it, you will gain a few pounds each year and end up big.” Then the third thought, “give up hope, don’t even try to get healthy.” Notice that the thoughts came one right after the other, and with each one, less hope. I sat down on the floor and cried. Suddenly, I got up and felt compelled to reach out to a friend to explain that I was giving up on my weight loss journey. This precious friend listened, and then she offered to pray for me. During the prayer, she asked the Lord to shed light on the darkness and restore hope in me (John 1:5 says, “The light shines in the darkness and the darkness can never extinguish it”).
In that instant, I had an “a-ha” moment. I realized that the enemy wanted me discouraged, without joy, and hopeless. John 10:10 reminds us that the thief comes to steal, kill and destroy. The enemy takes life, but Jesus gives life. The moment I realized Satan’s scheme, I took my thoughts captive and praised God for opening my eyes to see His Truth. I also renounced the lies of the enemy and asked forgiveness because I believed the lies. Then I received His forgiveness.
Now when different discouraging thoughts come to my head like a fiery arrow, I extinguish the lies by taking the thoughts captive and speaking words of Life and Truth over me. You will find them in the Word, and they are powerful and victorious because you are praying Jesus over you, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1)