The Dwelling Mind

With an exhortation to wait, I imagine you may have spent some time sitting one-on-one with Jesus. Now, if you’re like me, it’s easy to get distracted during a time of prayer and let my thoughts wander. The beautiful thing is that these moments where thoughts veer seemingly astray could actually give us insight into what we’re ruminating on. It’s a trained habit, and takes intentionality to listen for the prompting of the Holy Spirit, but jot down what you were meditating on in that moment of ‘distraction’. See these daydreams as an invitation from God into the ponderings of your soul.

It’s no secret that the compiled hymnal book in the Old Testament, the book of Psalms, reveals to us the meditations of a man after God’s own heart: David. Night after night, David pictured God sheltering him under His wings, lifting him up, and filling him with hope.

Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place—

the Most High, who is my refuge—

no evil shall be allowed to befall you,

no plague come near your tent.

Psalm 91:9-10

His holy imagination was drawn to scenes of the favor he has received in God. The Lord truly was his dwelling place. Even when he was being chased by his enemies, there was a resolve in his heart to meditate on the peace God promised for His anointed. Now what else was he meditating on? Time and time again, you’ll see throughout the Psalms that David loved to meditate on the law of the Lord alongside the works of His hands.

For us, it could look like reading, writing, saying, singing, and praying the scriptures. It could look like writing down how God has moved in our lives, and how we imagine His favor and faithfulness towards us in the days to come. Whatever it looks like, it all starts with inviting Him into the running dialogue of our mind. May the default meditation of our heart be set on Him; our first love.

Reflection

It’ll take practice, but aim to walk in awareness today of where your thoughts are wandering towards hopelessness. One piece of advice I heard from a licensed counselor was to set an alarm at different times of the day for ‘check-ins’. When the alarm goes off, take a quick note of how you’re feeling in that moment and what you were meditating on at the time. Did a conversation or event just occur that incited those feelings?

Taking our thoughts captive is just one way we can eliminate the voice of the enemy in our lives. Despair is redundant, but God is rewiring our minds by the Holy Spirit and our intentional obedience to be set on things above where hope and joy reside.