Replace Your Anxious Thoughts

In order to find peace, we have to replace our fears, anxieties, defense mechanisms, and controlling behaviors with prayer, Scripture meditation, and thanksgiving. Our brains will not stop thinking about something just because we tell it to. Our minds are like computers, and they process what is downloaded into them. If we don’t replace our negative thinking and behaviors with something else, those anxious thoughts will just continue to play in our minds.

Replacing your negative thoughts with God’s Word may feel awkward at first, but don’t let that stop you. If you want to be free of worry, you can’t follow your feelings. Your feelings have a mind of their own because they get their cues from your flesh, which is guided by your five senses. You must let the truth override your feelings.

The more you speak the Word of God, the more natural it will become to you. As you use the Word of God to conquer worry, you will see it working in your life. This will cause you to gain an amazing and powerful obsession for more and more of the Word. Just as an addict craves more and more of a drug to get a result, the more you recognize the power of the Word of God, the more you will want to apply it to all areas of your life.

How do you start replacing your worries with the Word? Find verses in the Bible that address worry, anxiety, renewing your mind, casting your cares on Christ, and so on. Write those verses down in a journal and begin to memorize them. When an anxious thought comes to mind, cast it down to the foot of the cross (you may even want to visualize yourself putting the thought at Jesus’s feet). Then remind yourself of what God’s Word says about whatever issue you’re facing. Soon you will find yourself experiencing peace for no apparent reason. That’s the peace of God that passes all understanding.

Prayer focus: Spend time with God in prayer. Ask Him to give you an insatiable desire to read and study the Word of God.