HAVE YOU EVER sat quietly, thinking and meditating on the Word of God? Did you realize that as you were meditating, you were using your creative imagination?
God gave humans the ability to imagine. We are to use our imaginations properly, according to God’s Word, so we can envision our lives the way they are supposed to be—the way God intends our lives to be.
But without renewing our minds with the Word, we will use our imaginations improperly. We will see our circumstances only the way they appear, and we’ll live powerless to change them. On the other hand, if we meditate in line with God’s Word, we’ll see things as they really are according to the Word, not as they appear in the natural.
Train Your Thoughts to Work for You
Worry begins when we use our thoughts or imagination to dwell on the wrong thing. When we think on wrong things, negative feelings arise and worry starts to set in. Often that happens because we try to analyze a certain situation instead of taking it to God and going to His Word for answers.
Have you ever heard the expression “paralysis by analysis”? When you overanalyze a situation instead of going to God with it and trusting Him, you can become paralyzed, feeling hopeless and confused. When situations confront you, don’t forget the Word and use your own reasoning to analyze them. God’s Word is where you can find your answer!
In the midst of a test or trial, some people become so involved in trying to figure out why something happened that they forget to pray and trust God for the answer! They worry instead of praying and believing God.
The Bible says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding” (Prov. 3:5 NKJV). Victory comes through trust and faith, not through worry and anxiety.
Worry never accomplishes anything productive. It never produces victory, because worry is fear triumphing over faith. Worry is the misuse of the creative imagination God has given you. It’s nothing but a thief and a robber, and it will rob you of God’s promises. Worry is the highway that leads from somewhere to nowhere! So stay off that road.
After you have decided to trust God and not worry, the devil will still put thoughts in your mind to try to make you fret. But resist those thoughts and go back to thinking and seeing in line with the Word.
Worry is the enemy’s tool to steal the Word of God from us and make God’s promises ineffective in our lives.
Cast Down Vain Imaginations
Someone may say, “Wait a minute! The Bible says, ‘Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ’ (2 Cor. 10:5). And you’re telling me to imagine something?”
Yes. The Bible never said, “Don’t imagine.” It simply said, “Cast down imaginations that exalt themselves against the knowledge of God.” According to this scripture, you’re to cast down imaginations that tell you God’s Word isn’t true.
For example, you’re to reject thoughts that say you can’t be healed and made whole. Those thoughts are contrary to the knowledge of God, because God said, “You are healed”
(Isa. 53:5). Therefore, based on the authority of His Word, you have every right to imagine and see yourself healed.
It’s the imaginations that go against the knowledge of God that we are not to give place to or think about. Thoughts that bring worry and fear need to be cast down and made subject to Christ—they must be brought under obedience to Him.
You have the ability and authority to cast down worry and resist anxious thoughts. You can take the energy you’ve spent worrying and put it to better use by casting down vain imaginations and throwing your cares on the Lord.
Refuse to Be Robbed of the Word!
Some people spend all their time and energy worrying about a particular situation instead of giving their care to the Lord and trusting Him to work it out. They lose sleep at night worrying about the problem. But that problem is still there in the morning.
When the devil tries to work on me with similar thoughts, I say, “Devil, you want somebody to worry? Then you worry about it. But my Bible tells me I can cast all my cares on the Lord, so I’m going to sleep in the Holy Spirit.” Then I quote the scriptures that cover whatever it is I need. I lay my head down, pray in tongues, and always fall fast asleep. Then I’m fresh the next day. I’m not worn out physically, mentally, and emotionally from worry and anxiety.
When the devil comes to me with his “what ifs,” I always have an answer from the Word. Satan has no defense against God’s Word. He wants to get us thinking apart from the Word and dwelling on his negative thoughts so he can defeat us.
The devil will try to keep us in an anxious state of mind, and he will eventually try to destroy our sanity. He will come to us with questions to get us off track so we will begin to think things that aren’t in line with God’s Word. But the Bible says we are not to be ignorant of Satan’s devices (2 Cor. 2:11). We can defeat the enemy at every turn if we know how he operates and we stand fast against him with the truth of God’s Word.
Set Your Heart & Mind on the Word
Worry is the enemy’s tool to steal the Word of God from us and make God’s promises ineffective in our lives. The devil uses worry to distract us and get us to dwell on anxious, negative thoughts instead of on what God said. Then gradually, we stop thinking on the Word or trusting God to see us through to victory.
You see, we cannot worry and think on the Word at the same time. Likewise, we cannot think on the Word and worry at the same time! Therefore, we know what we are to think on.
The Apostle Paul said, “Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things” (Phil 4:8).
You can break the worry habit in your life simply by conquering your thoughts and keeping your heart and mind set on God’s Word!
Author
Kenneth W. Hagin
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