Day 75: Ember Faith Prayer Countdown

As young children, our minds are very pliable, and very early on, we begin to think according to certain patterns. We become optimists or pessimists, dreamers or realists, and I believe that our environment has a lot to do with how we think. The shaping and forming of young minds is very important, not just for the development of reason and intellect, but also for emotional and spiritual development and well-being. I (Lauren) will be the first to tell you that as followers of Christ, there is a big spiritual target on our heads, and our mind is the bulls-eye. Satan knows that infecting our minds is the best way to destroy us. He has so many ways of sneaking in and planting poisonous thoughts of all kinds: unholy thoughts, doubts about God, lies about who we are, unnecessary fears and concerns. He creates chaos and confusion within us. Knowing what how Satan uses our minds against us makes me extremely passionate about praying for my daughter's mind and providing her with an environment that will help to form her mind in a positive, Christ-centered way. So today, I want to look at some verses of scripture that talk about our minds and pray for Ember's mind.

What joy for those whose strength comes from the Lord,
who have set their minds on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
When they walk through the Valley of Weeping,
it will become a place of refreshing springs.
The autumn rains will clothe it with blessings.

                                                        Psalm 84:5-6 NLT

• A mind set on a spiritual journey with God will be blessed with strength even in times of bitter trouble and sorrow.

I cried out, “I am slipping!”
but your unfailing love, O Lord, supported me.
When doubts filled my mind,
your comfort gave me renewed hope and cheer.

                                                       Psalm 94:18-19 NLT

• A doubt-filled mind can find comfort in crying out to the Lord.

O Lord, listen to my cry;
    give me the discerning mind you promised.

                                                         Psalm 119:169 NLT

• The Lord will give us a mind that can discern between right and wrong, His will and the will of man. We must ask for and desire this kind of mind.

But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.
“I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.

                                                           John 14:26-27 NLT

• Through the gift of His Holy Spirit inside of us, God gives peace to our minds. Our minds don't have to be in a state of confusion and chaos. They can be untroubled because of the Spirit reminding us of God's goodness and the truth of His promises.

Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.

                                                               Romans 8:5-6 NLT

• We will only experience peace in our minds when we give the Holy Spirit control over our minds.

Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.

                                                                 2 Corinthians 4:4 NLT

• Satan blinds minds to the truth. 

  Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.  And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

                                                                   Philippians 4:6-8 NLT

• We can rest our burdened minds by giving them to God in prayer, and in response He will give us peace to guard our minds from Satan.  Our minds do not naturally think positive and good thoughts all the time, so we need to train our minds to think about good and positive things and not negative things.

Do not be conformed to this world (this age), [fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs], but be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals and its new attitude], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His sight for you].

                                                                       Romans 12:2 AMP

• We can know what God's will is for us, what direction He wants us to go, if we let our minds be transformed and made new by His truth...His Word. We must let our minds be shaped and formed by Him!

Dear Father, thank You for the gift of Your Spirit to keep our minds straight! Lord, we pray that You would help us to surrender control of our thoughts to You. We ask You to continue forming and shaping our minds according to Your Word and to form and shape our daughter's mind as well! Help us as parents to do our part to provide an environment that trains Ember's mind to think on all that is "true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable." Lord, we ask that You would guard our daughter's mind. Help her to see past Satan's lies and not entertain thoughts that come from him. Lord, reveal to us thoughts that we believe that are only lies from Satan. Help us to root them out and to teach our daughter to see them for what they really are, deceptions crafted to keep our minds and our lives in bondage. Give us and our daughter discerning minds according to Your promise! May our minds be filled with Your peace and not chaos and confusion as we are faced with the task of raising our daughter according to Your Word. Fill Ember's mind with Your peace as she faces transitions in her life and hears voices from every side telling her things that do not line up with Your Word. May you give her clarity of mind that dispels all doubts and confusion, so that she may know what Your perfect will is for her life. This we pray and wait faithfully for You to perform as we anticipate the arrival of our precious daughter.