Around a year and a half ago during my time in bible school, there was a pivotal moment that changed the course of my life. I learned a simple truth that completely transformed my understanding of prayer.

Since that day my prayer life and relationship with God has never been the same. And since then, I began to enjoy God and prayer to such an extent that I became addicted to my time with Him. 

Halfway through my 2nd semester of bible school, I was reading a book titled Experiencing the depths of Jesus Christ, by Jeanne Guyon(I strongly recommend picking it up).

As I was reading, I filled it with highlights and underlines as the information and truth began to change my outlook on the subject of prayer. I was taking it all in, and as I put what the chapters described into actual practice, everything began to change. 

You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.

Psalms 16:11

I remember moments when I would be sitting in class and simply could not wait for the 10-minute break so that I could quickly run upstairs, lock the door, and spend time in prayer.

I knew that I would be with and experience God in that time.

There was simply nothing better that life had to offer. It is impossible to explain the experience and incredible satisfaction that comes from the presence of God.

It’s as if everything is perfect in that moment.

It is a time of complete satisfaction and freedom from the want of anything else. After such moments, all you will ever really want from then onwards will be God. To be with him is simply incredible. 

The greatest gift of God is himself. And his presence is designed to be the center of a true Christian lifestyle. I simply cannot put into words the incredible significance of this truth. But I can say this, you are not reading this for no reason. And If you are a born again Christian, what I write about here is yours.

Jesus Christ died so that you can enter into the presence of God anytime, anywhere. It is one of the key reasons we have received the Holy Spirit. Take this reality for yourself with faith, it is yours to live.

What I read about and put into practice is stillness and adoration.

Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name.

Psalm 100:4

When I started to pray in this new way, a prayer of stillness and adoration, it looked like this.

I would find a vacant room where I could be completely alone. I would lock the door, and many times even turn off any lights. This way I would not get distracted by anything in the room. 

This will actually be your chief challenge in prayer: overcoming distractions.

Very quickly I want to address the subject of distractions during prayer since the mind likes to naturally ‘wander around’.

You can be thinking about God in the first moment of prayer, and then suddenly find yourself thinking about your next week’s biology exams in the next. 

Practically, there is a correct and incorrect way to conquer distractions. When a distraction comes, don’t try to stop thinking about the distraction, but instead replace it by bringing your attention back to Jesus.

If you try to stop thinking about something it only irritates it and makes it grow in prominence. It’s simply how the human brain works.

Also, don’t lose heart when your mind keeps getting distracted and wandering off. With time your mind will be less and less susceptible to getting distracted, and staying focused will become gradually easier. 

I also believe this following analogy can help some people:

Picture a boy with a kite. When that boy starts to run, the kite will spiral and struggle to steadily fly. But after some time the kite will catch a good gust of wind and fly without a problem. Eventually, the boy does not even have to move or put forth any effort. He just needs to hold on to the string and enjoy the time. 

It is the same thing with prayer.

As you first start out it might be a little bumpy and you might get distracted a lot. However, as you consistently bring your mind back to Jesus you will eventually come to an awareness of His divine peace.

Soon you will be able to maintain that awareness for a bit longer. Until your brain finally settles down completely and succumbs to thinking only about one thing… Jesus.

At that point, you are just going along for the ride.

His peace and presence becomes everything to you and your entire world becomes centered around Him alone. I am telling you, there is absolutely nothing better than to be in that place.

So how does this work?

Here’s how I did it:

I would be in a room alone, sitting in complete silence without saying anything.

Why do I do this? Because I want to eventually say what is actually coming from my heart. And to do that I need to stay in absolute quiet, while completely stilling myself on Him. 

My soul, wait in silence for God only, For my hope is from Him.

Psalm 62:5

My entire purpose at that moment in time is to bring my mind completely onto the reality of Jesus.

It is a turning of your awareness inward. I say it in this way because the spirit of Jesus is always with us, and in us, through the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Taking some time to think, I would begin to gather all of my attention on Jesus. I would wait and allow myself to come into an awareness of Him and His fulfilling presence.

This could take a long time, or a very little amount of time. It all depends on how fast your mind laser focuses on the single subject of Jesus. 

Eric Gilmour said it brilliantly, “The reason the presence of God is so rare, is because scattered minds are so common”.

With this in mind it is important to realize that if you are not or cannot experience God’s presence, It is not because God is putting you through a “dry season,” or because you have a hidden sin.

Most of the time it’s because your mind is not single-eyed and focused on Jesus alone.

Once I have turned my attention to Jesus and have become aware of His goodness, I begin to worship, praise, and adore him.

After you are in the awareness of His presence, worship becomes natural. I find myself having to even hold back my words of worship at times.

I take in His presence until there is a tangible lessening of that awareness, then I would worship again and enjoy the flood of His presence overtake me again.

It becomes a divine moment of communion with God with a literal transfer of Spirit to my soul and body. It is quite incredible.  

We worship him for who he is, We praise him for what he has done, and we adore him because he is simply incredible.

From a place of stillness, my soul becomes aware of His spirit which had been present all along (Matthew 28:20). It is from this place that true worship comes in the Spirit.

And not just worship, but your spirit can be poured out before God while you are in His presence. If you are going through a hard time, it is God who should be the first person you tell everything to. 

I remember when I would weep before God completely vulnerable before him as different times and events took place in my life. God comforted me by his spirit every time.

My point is:

Say what is actually on your heart because God wants to hear about that too since He is a good father. 

To summarize everything:

1. Find a place where you are free from distractions.

2. Stilling and focusing our mind completely on God results in an awareness of His presence.

3. The exact opposite is also true if your mind is wandering around and thinking about what you planned tomorrow (You will not be able to come into the awareness of God’s presence).

4. From that place of awareness, as you are taken up into His presence by the spirit, you will naturally speak words of adoration and praise.

5. His presence is also exactly the place where you can come before God with all your problems and give them to Him as well.  

I want to also say this, it is completely ok to say things like, “God I honestly don’t feel like your with me right now.” Although that is not true at all, BE REAL WITH GOD.

He will take hold of your outstretched hand and help you out of whatever you are going through. It is His heart to do so.

God be with you! May your personal experience with God grow beyond what you thought possible. 

The post How To Adore God Through Stillness appeared first on Dude Disciple.

Romans 12:2 says “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect”

What exactly does that mean and how do you go about renewing your mind?

In this post, I’ll show you how to renew your mind with the word of God through 2 easy-to-apply methods that have helped me change the way I think.

Let’s dive in!

The Importance of Renewing Your Mind

The Bible calls us to renew our minds by changing the thought patterns and beliefs within our minds.

Why is this so important?

Simply put, it’s so that: “you may prove what the will of God is, which is good and acceptable and perfect”

This is only possible through a renewed mind.

Did you know that doubt is a result of an unrenewed mind?

Often times, God is hindered when the mind of a believer is full of doubt and fear, resulting in ‘double-mindedness’. 

Many plans that God wants to do through His church are placed on hold as He waits for us to renew our minds.

Until this happens, the gift within us (the Holy Spirit) will never come to full fruit and operational potential. 

With that in mind, we can see the importance and significance of this calling on every born-again believer’s life. This calling is of great significance because from its realization and application the spirit of God will be enabled to accomplish the will of God here on earth.

2 Practical Steps To Renewing Your Mind 

You might be thinking, that’s great, but how can I apply this in my life?

The answer is simple, but it’s going to be a challenge to maintain the application of it. 

You are renewed in mind and transformed into the image of Christ through meditation and application of the word.

Renewing your mind with the word of god 

First, let’s talk about how to meditate on God’s word to renew your mind and apply it to your life.

Step 1: Remove distractions

Practically, meditation on the scriptures requires a commitment in the form of dedicated time.

I myself sometimes just need to get away from everything so that there would be no distractions. I would either go somewhere quiet and without people, or close the door to my room and hang a “devotions in progress” sign on the handle. 

This way my family knows that right now is personal time between me and the lord. 

In short, it’s best if you can find somewhere private so that there will be no distractions. I will also mention that I either leave my phone outside of my room or turn on airplane mode to not be distracted by it as well 

Step 2: Meditate on Scripture

Now, once you are away from distractions and your mind is set on dedicating this time to God, start reading the word. 

The goal here isn’t to just read a number of chapters. You want to read slowly to take in the meaning of the words beyond the surface level.

If something grabs your attention as interesting, dwell on it and think about it. This is the practice of biblical meditation. 

Once the verse you were thinking about has been fully consumed, move on to the next verse.

Ponder, meditate, take in, pray it in, then move on to the next verse. 

If your reading a promise of God, such as one in Isaiah 53:5, the first thing you want to do is receive it. Then, Ask the Holy Spirit to help you believe it and show you how to apply it to your life.

Step 3: Apply the word to your life

James 1:22 says “But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.”

The next step is to begin to apply the word into your life. Do not merely take in the truth, but allow it to take hold of your life by acting on it. 

For example:

If you are worried about your future career, and you are anxious about how things will turn out in your life, Meditate on the verses that applies to that. 

Like Matthew 6:30: 

“But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will he not much more clothe you — you of little faith?”

As you bring this anxiety before God, Come to Him with this verse in mind and pray. If I was facing anxiety and fear for the future of how things will turn out, I would pray like this:

“Father, I thank you that you watch over me. I thank you that you will take care of me and provide for me and clothe me. As your word says. I thank you that I can trust you, and rely on you. I surrender this worry to you.

This is how I would apply that scripture in my own life.

Now whenever that fear or anxiety would try to surface in my mind, it would not consume me and bring about worry. 

Instead, the truth of God’s word (Matthew 6:30) would quickly come to mind and I would “defeat” that doubt with the word of God. And as time goes on, my mind will stop thinking along with the thought patterns of doubt and fear and instead, fully trust and believe what the word of God says, resulting in a life of peace through trust in God. 

How To Renew Your Mind By Declaring Scripture

Another important way that we are called to renew our minds is by declaring the word. 

This is a practice that is rooted in Philemon 1:6 which says, “that the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.”

Here’s what I mean:

Declaring the word is loudly speaking the word over yourself and speaking the truth of God’s word into your life. When you say it like you mean it, you will notice the spirit stirring up within you.

For example:

2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” 

You can transform this verse into a declaration like this:

Whenever I’m driving or outside, I begin to speak these declarations over myself with a good strong voice. I don’t shout them at the top of my lungs, (although you can) but I also don’t say it quietly with a mellow tone either.

Here’s how I apply these declarations practically throughout my day:

1. I Start by declaring the word for 5 to 10+ minutes. 
2. Then I pray in tongues to solidify the word and build myself up (1 Cor 14:4)
3. Next, I meditate and think about the words I spoke earlier.
4. Repeat it all over again

Your order can be different. This is not supposed to become a formula, but a guideline. 

I strongly recommend watching John G Lake ministries “new man” seminar series. The information goes in much more depth than I do here. 

The effect of declaring the word in this way for an extended period of time is extraordinary. 

It is exactly the same as when a preacher speaks the true word on stage until he or she comes “under the anointing” as some would say (this is not true by the way, that preacher is not any more anointed than you are). 

What is actually happening is that the spirit within that preacher is stirred up by the preaching of the word or the declaration of the word.

Great things happen when the spirit of God is given control in such a way! 

Each born again believer can with time and practice, do the same thing. From that place in the spirit the true prophetic flows, physical and internal healing is gifted to others, the kingdom of God comes, and the will of God is done. 

It all comes down to the renewal of the mind, Which results in single-mindedness, and faith.

If our minds were renewed to just these 17 declarations, The life we would live with Christ would look radically different. 

It is an exciting thing to realize that you can come into all the riches in christ simply by committing to renewing your mind. Because in truth, your unrenewed mind is all that is keeping the spirit of Christ from doing what He always wants to do. 

Remember what I said earlier, the application of this is much more difficult to maintain than it is to learn. But if you have the grit, you will accomplish God’s will for your life. 

You will see God’s kingdom come and His will be done here on earth as it is in heaven. 

By the reading, declaration, meditation, and application of the word of God, you can renew your mind like never before.

The post How To Renew Your Mind With The Word of God appeared first on Dude Disciple.