3 Guided Prayers to Renew Your Mind Today

The Bible has a lot to say about our thoughts. Often, we think that just because something pops in our minds, we need to entertain it. But that is not true. In fact, the Bible instructs us to capture our thoughts to make them obedient to Christ. The Bible also tells us to renew our minds. Today, I want to share with you what prayers you can be praying over your mind to renew your mind along with guided prayers for each prayer point.

So, how do we pray about our minds and our thoughts? We know that our thoughts direct our feelings, our actions, and our behaviors. It makes sense then that if there is one area that the Enemy is going to attack, you better believe it's going to be your mind.

That’s why we need the power of prayer; so we can combat the enemy's attacks on your mind. So you can renew your mind to be in alignment with God's will for your life. If your mind is aligned with God's will, then your life is sure to be also. When we talk about renewing our minds, this is a three-step process.

The First Step to Renew Your Mind: Recognize and Take Inventory on What You’re Thinking.

We must recognize if the thoughts that we're thinking align with the truth of God or if they don't. If we just go about life, thinking thoughts and don't really process what we're allowing into our minds, then our thoughts will begin to dictate our behaviors, our choices, and our decisions. We don’t want to leave it up to chance as to whether our thoughts align with God's will. It's important for us to actually take inventory, to sit down and process our thoughts. Here’s how.

First, we ask: why am I feeling the way that I'm feeling? What thoughts led me to that feeling? What thoughts led me to this particular action? We live in a rushed society where we go from one thing to the next thing. We're worried about tomorrow and next week and five years from now, and we're not taking time to really process what's happening currently in our present lives.

How to Take Inventory of Your Thoughts

To take inventory, then, means stopping long enough to pay attention to our feelings and thoughts. One tool that has really helped me do this is journaling. Every morning, journaling what's going on in my heart, in my mind, and submitting those things to God. He can do so much more with our thoughts and our emotions than we can, but here's the thing: He can't do anything with it if we're not submitting our thoughts to Him (2 Corinthians 10:5).

So, the first step that we need to take when it comes to renewing our minds is to recognize the thoughts that we're thinking, is to specifically recognize any negative thinking that we're thinking. Colossians 3:1-2 says: if then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.

We see there are two types of thoughts here, right? The things of God and the things of earth. We need to sit down and process our thoughts into these two categories: is this thought a thought from above, or is this thought a thought from the earth - a worldly thought that doesn't align with God's will or purpose for my life?

2 Corinthians chapter 10:5 says: “We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God and take every thought captive to obey Christ.” Okay, so once we have divided our thoughts and know, okay, these are thoughts that are of God and these are thoughts that are not of God, we have to take the thoughts that are not of God, and we have to take them captive.

How to Take Your Thoughts Captive

Now, what you'll find interesting here is that we don't ignore the thoughts. We don't act like we didn't think them. We don't act like they're not there, but we face them. We take them captive so that we can then make them obedient to Christ. This is what we're going to be praying for in our first prayer to renew our mind: that we would recognize what thoughts are in alignment with God and what thoughts are not, and then that we would take thoughts that are not in alignment with God and his will for our lives and make them obedient to Christ and that they would then align with his truth for us. Let us pray.

The First Prayer to Renew Your Mind

Dear Heavenly Father,

I just thank you that you are all-powerful. I thank you that even though sometimes our thoughts can be overwhelming, they can come in so fast, God, that it can seem like we can't control them. God, we know that you are in control of everything. Father God, we submit our thoughts to you today, God. We pray that you would give us wisdom and discernment to know which thoughts are in alignment with your truth and which thoughts are not, and that then the thoughts that are not in alignment with your will for our lives, that you would not only reveal them to us, Father God, but that you would turn them around to be in alignment with your truth.

Any seeds of deception, God, that the Enemy is trying to plant in our minds through thoughts that are not true, I pray that you would uproot them and not let them take any fruit in our lives. I pray you would plant thoughts of truth in our minds, God, and that your truth would flourish through our lives and our relationships with others and most importantly with you. 

In Jesus Christ's Name we pray, Amen.

The Second Step to Renew Your Mind: You Must Recall God’s Truth

The next step we need to take when it comes to renewing our minds is to recall God's truth. So we've already divided our thoughts up. We know that there are two categories for our thoughts: those that align with God's will and those that don't. And so when we are taking those thoughts captive that don't align with God's truth, we don't need to just recognize that they don't align with God's truth. We need to replace them with God's truth. That means you must know God's truth to begin with.

I love Psalm 119:11: “I have stored up your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” We must know God’s Word but then we must also remember and recall God's Word to our minds. This is where the Holy Spirit comes in.

The Role of the Holy Spirit in Taking Thoughts Captive

The Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit helps us to remember God's truth when we need it. And I can attest to you so many times where this has happened to me. In fact, just a few weeks ago, I was praying to God about some anxiety I was having about a few situations. As I went to bed, I prayed about it. When I woke up in the morning, the Lord had placed Proverbs 3:5-6 on my heart: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make straight your paths.”

That lesson from Proverbs was exactly what I needed to hear. Now, I didn't have my actual physical Bible with me, but through the discipline of scripture memorization, through the help of the Spirit, that verse was written on my heart long before I needed it, so that the Holy Spirit could bring it up to my remembrance when I needed it most.

Replacing my anxious thoughts with Scripture helped calm my nerves and combat the anxiety I was dealing with in that season. I continued to think about Proverbs 3:5-6 repeatedly. As I did so, it encouraged me and gave me the wisdom to know what to do next. It encouraged me to cast out the anxious thoughts I was having and to bring my thoughts back to trusting in the Lord.

When we are casting out any kind of negative thoughts, we got to replace it with what's good. But to do that, what’s good- God's Word - needs to already be in our hearts. Philippians 4:8 tells us: “Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”

Be thinking about good memories, answered prayers, and most importantly, be thinking about God's Word. This is what we're going to be praying for next: that His Spirit would work with us to write His Word on our hearts.

The Second Prayer to Renew Your Mind:

Dear Heavenly Father,

Would you bring to remembrance your truth when we need it most? Would remind us how you've already answered prayers, God? Remind us how you've blessed us. Give us a grateful heart, so that we could recall all the good things that you've done for us so that our minds can be thinking about what is pure and lovely and commendable and excellent, as we are instructed to do in Philippians 4:8. 

In Jesus Christ's name, Amen.

The Third Step to Renew Your Mind: You Must Recall God’s Truth about Himself

The next thing that we want to pray for when it comes to asking God to renew our minds is to remember his goodness. As I shared at the beginning, one of the main ways the Enemy will attack us is through our thoughts.

He does this by trying to get us to think things about God that are just not true: That God is not good, that he doesn't have our best interest in mind or heart. We see this motivation and action of the Enemy in the first sin that ever took place in all history: with Adam and Eve. The Enemy convinced Eve that God was holding something back from her. And essentially, he was calling into question the character of God.

If we truly want to renew our minds, we therefore must know, believe and think the truth about God himself. Because if we don't believe the truth about God, then we're not going to believe the truth about His word. Without that, we won’t have the discernment and wisdom to know which thoughts are of God and which thoughts are not.

So it's crucial for us to remember God, remember his character, and remember the truth about who He is in our lives. That’s where our third prayer comes in.

The Third Prayer to Renew Your Mind:

Dear Heavenly Father, 

Thank you for being who you are, Lord. Let my thoughts be in alignment with the truth of your character. Help me to believe, God, that you are the good God whom I read about in the Bible. Help me have the wisdom to know what is true and what is not true, God. Thank you for your faithfulness, God, and your consistency in character. I know I can go back and recall your goodness, not just in my life, but in the lives of those whom I read about in the Bible, and in the lives of those whom I do life with every single day.

Help me never to forget your goodness and your faithfulness as long as I live. In Jesus Christ's name, I pray. Amen.

Want to hear more from Christina on prayer? Good news – she has a FREE prayer podcast - Teach Us to Pray! Listen to her episode below and if you like what you hear, subscribe so you never miss an episode!

Christina Patterson is a wife and stay-at-home mom with a passion to encourage women in the love of Jesus Christ and the truth of God’s Word. When she is not folding laundry or playing blocks you will find her with her head deep in her Bible or a commentary. She holds her masters in Theology from Liberty University and is the founder of Beloved Women, a non-profit providing resources and community for women to truly know who they are in Christ: His Beloved. She blogs at belovedwomen.org.

This article is part of our Prayer resource meant to inspire and encourage your prayer life when you face uncertain times. Visit our most popular prayers if you are wondering how to pray or what to pray. Remember, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us, and God knows your heart even if you can't find the words to pray.

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