This is the second of two blog posts on unwanted thoughts. The first post looked at the stages a thought goes through, and when we need to stop it. This post looks at specific strategies for dealing with unwanted thoughts.
- First: stay calm. Unwanted thoughts gain influence when we fear them, or stir up a lot of emotion. Instead, “be anxious about nothing” (Philippians 4:6) but rather, as the verse states, “give thanks” for what God will do, and “make your request known” to God to overcome this thought.
- Offer your thought to God. Pray something like: “I don’t know where this thought comes from but I offer it to you. I depend on You. You take it. And help me to know how I should respond.” Also, “I can’t stop thinking about this, I can’t do it, You need to.” In this way the unwanted thought turns you to God, which helps transform the thought into an opportunity for growth. Also, you will learn how to help others with unwanted thoughts.
- Decide whether the thought is about something you actually need to deal with. For example, is this anger you feel possibly related to something that happened awhile ago and you haven’t forgiven or talked out? Unwanted thoughts can be helpful clues to issues you need to deal with. We know from scripture that evil thoughts can come from our heart and then influence us to sin. In Matthew 15:18-19 Jesus explains: “the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what defile a person”
- If there is a possibility of an issue then take time to consider whether it is really an issue. Once you have done that then deal with it as best you can. Once you have dealt with it then just let it float by next time. If you can’t find anything but you are still not sure that there is no issue, then you pray: “God, I have examined this the best I know how. I don’t see any issues. If there is an issue then please let me know somehow.” Then just leave it to God to bring any issue to mind.
- Apathy. If you have already dealt with this thought before and you’re fairly sure you don’t need to process anything then you don’t need to give this thought any attention. Just let it float by like it was in a stream. If you are a visual person you can picture yourself throwing the thought in a stream and letting it float away. In other words, be apathetic about the thought!
- Distract yourself. Often one can overcome unwanted thoughts simply by forcing yourself to think or do something else. Do something that will hold your attention, or simply go back to your tasks. This is another form of apathy because we are saying to ourself “I’m not going to concern myself with this thought, I’m just going to do my task.”
- Don’t let the thought break your focus on God. Whether or not you decide you need to deal with it don’t become obsessed with defeating it, or making sure it doesn’t come back. Stay in Christ, realize you will be okay, and you are not going to embrace it.
- If the thought is somehow trying to mess up your thinking or get you to embrace sin then you can just quote scripture at it like Jesus did in the desert. This is not complicated; just recall or find a scripture that contradicts the thought and speak it out loud. Then let that be the end of it.
- If this is a thought related to a bad habit or addiction then you will need to apply a lot of willpower because you need to break an ingrained soul pattern and start new one. If this is not a habit or addiction, then use only moderate willpower because the biggest challenge is usually to let go of it and let the thought fade away. Save your willpower for staying calm and keeping yourself from doing everything by your strength.
- Remember that you are not your unwanted thoughts. Don’t think of your unembraced thoughts as part of your true self. This helps to reduce anxiety over them. Think of your unembraced thoughts as something foreign, another force that is not the real you. Say “I’m not choosing this, it is just there.”
- Relax your body and mind. Unwanted thoughts can make us tense which makes it harder to think and act calmly. Therefore, give attention to the part of your body that is feeling the tension and relax it down by just telling it that it is okay to be calm.
- Use the spiritual armor and weapons in Ephesians 6:10-18:
- The belt of truth. We focus on what is true which keeps our spiritual “clothes” together. This usually involves using scripture against it as mentioned above.
- Breastplate of righteousness. Say something like “My righteousness comes from Christ, not from my own perfection.” This defeats attacks on your standing with God based on your sins.
- Shoes of gospel peace. We have shoes of peace with God which make us ready to deal with whatever comes; we have our shoes on and we are ready to go and overcome.
- Shield of faith. With faith, reliance on God, we block the mental darts that the enemy throws at us. “I will trust God.”
- Helmet of salvation. This is similar to the breastplate of righteousness in that we protect our mind by standing on our salvation in Christ.”
- Sword of the Spirit. The sword is the word of God, which is similar to the belt of truth. Here it is more vividly used as a sharp powerful weapon that we swing at the Enemy to cut his works into pieces.
- Experiment with different strategies. Find what works best for you; create your own variations and use your own favorite verses. Also, try a variety of strategies. Often different strategies work better at different times. For example, in one situation I might say “I let go of that” but at another time I might say “I’m not going to fear that” to the very same thought. Other responses include “I’m not going to worry about the feelings,” “I’m not going to keep checking to make sure everything is okay,” or “I’m just going to rely on God and be okay with the feelings of uncertainty or insecurity.”
- If the thought persists then find a counselor or someone you can talk to. Exposing your thoughts to someone else helps reduce their power. James 5:16 says to “confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.” If we can confess sins then we can confess unwanted thoughts. Another person can help you talk through your thoughts and give you more discernment and direction. They should be able to help you find some ways to apply the above ideas.
With practice you can learn to minimize the impact of unwanted thoughts in your life!
