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Friday, September 4, 2015

Staying "Sober-Minded"



"The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers."
1 Peter 4:7


I was sitting in a meeting for the prayer ministry, at my church, and the leader shared the Scripture above with us. I spent a few days meditating on what it truly meant and how I could apply it to my life. I had never come across that verse before and the part that really stuck out to me was be "sober-minded for the sake of your prayers." Some versions say "clear minded" or "sober in all things," but as I studied it I really began to recognize how important it is to keep our minds free from intoxication, in order to pray. Most of the time we hear the word sober and we immediately think about alcohol and not getting drunk, but I believe that our minds can be intoxicated with distractions as well.

Have you ever found yourself sitting down to pray, but your mind was thinking about 50 million other things? You wake up early/stay up late, grab your Bible, put on your worship music, and maybe even light a candle or two. I mean you are determined that today will be the day that you cast down every demon that will ever try to come against you. Everything starts out great but after about 5 minutes or so your mind might begin to wander and you lose focus. If this has ever happened to you, trust me when I say that you are not the only one. In fact I would say that this probably happens to the majority of us. Our generation is so used to having our minds constantly stimulated with smartphones, TV, radio, social media, computers, etc., that sometimes are greatest challenge is to keep our minds clear and quiet. Some of us have schedules that are so busy that when we do sit down to pray all we can do is think about our to-do lists and what we haven't accomplished yet. Our brains are so used to multi-tasking that we bring that same practice into our time with God. We can easily find ourselves focused on ourselves and the world around us, instead of focusing in on God and who He is. Our minds are filled with so much activity and clutter that it becomes hard for us to maintain a great, focused prayer life. Yet prayer is the greatest weapon we have against the enemy.

"Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour."
1 Peter 5:8 

The enemy knows just how powerful prayer is and will do all that he can to throw distractions at you. There have been times when I went to pray and all of a sudden I can't stop yawning and I get super tired or my phone rings or my head starts to hurt or a problem arises that needs my attention. He will throw all types of temptations your way to keep you busy and unable to truly sit before the feet of The Lord and battle in the spiritual realm, through prayer. A preacher named Leonard Ravenhill once said that "No man is greater than his prayer life." The enemy knows that a time of heartfelt prayer can destroy his plans of destruction in a second. If he can get us to limit our praying, he knows that we will become a powerless people who is ill-equipped to handle his fiery darts. He literally studies us and knows our weaknesses and the only way for us to discern and avoid his traps is to stay prayed up and on guard. You can't remain watchful if your mind is filled and intoxicated with all of the cares and concerns of this world.

So how do we stay "sober-minded"? Thankfully we do not have to accomplish this on our own; we have both God's Word & The Holy Spirit to help us. 

We have to fight for our minds to be free of clutter.

According to 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 we do not war according to the flesh and have to bring every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ.  


"For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh.  For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds,  casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ."

I have literally been walking around this past week casting down anything ungodly that has tried to consume my mind and have seen such a dramatic difference in my life. Whether it was fear, procrastination, doubt, denial, worry, stress, anxiety, distractions, comparison, laziness, ungratefulness, etc., if it wasn't birthed by The Holy Spirit I refused to let it dwell in my mind.
 
We have to develop self-control .  
As we continue to live by and walk in the Spirit and not our flesh, self-control is a fruit that we will naturally acquire, but we must also crucify our flesh's passions and desires. The Holy Spirit will prompt us to deny ourselves of certain activities, in order for us to develop in this area, and we have the choice to obey or not. 

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires."
Galatians 5:22-24


We have to detox from everything else and FOCUS.
In order for us to be focused, we must ask The Lord to help us set our eyes on the things of heaven; to stamp eternity on our mind and hearts. 

"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 minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God."
Colossians 3:1-3


We have to continually practice giving our worries and cares over to The Lord.

 
"Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you."
 1 Peter 5:7


Something that helps me is to literally write down anything that may be bothering me before I go into prayer and give it to God. He truly does care about every little detail of our lives and we often carry around burdens that we weren't even meant to carry. We think about a billion different scenarios that could happen, instead of just resting in the fact that God is Sovereign. We cannot wholeheartedly worship God if our minds are so busy thinking about so many different things. So once I've gotten what's on my mind onto paper, I'm better able to focus in The Lord.



We have to fight for our time of prayer.
We have to set aside time and be intentional about our prayer time with God. We can no longer just carve out 15 minutes in the morning to spend with Him. Let's be honest you will spend most of that time checking the time to make sure that you will not be late for whatever you have planned. We have to get back to the fear of God and remember how holy He truly is. Our time with Him cannot be taken for granted or another thing to check off on our to-do list. God deserves our full attention and devotion, not just a part of it. I love the story of Daniel because of his dedication to The Lord. He was so disciplined in prayer that even when it was illegal to pray for 30 days (Daniel 6:10) he still prayed 3 times a day; morning, noon, and night. He wouldn't let anything, not even the law, to keep him from communing with The Holy God. How many of us have that same hunger and desire for prayer? How many of us truly long for God the way a deer longs for streams of water (Psalms 42:1)?

We cannot become more like Jesus if we don't learn how to be intentional about our time with The Lord. We cannot fully accomplish all that God has called for us to do, in our lifetime, if we don't learn to be disciplined in prayer and keep our minds clear. It's impossible to even hear God's instructions to us, when our thoughts are all over the place.  I don't know about you but this is an area where I definitely need to continue to grow in. Even as I was writing this blog, I had to put my phone aside and truly ask The Holy Spirit to help me focus in on Him. You better believe that I was tempted to check emails, go to sleep, watch YouTube videos, text friends, etc., but I chose to sit here and die to those desires, in order to accomplish the work of the ministry. I'm not saying that to get praise from man because I definitely fail plenty of the tests that come my way. What I am saying is that you & I have a choice to either to continue to make excuses for our lack of discipline or to die to our selves and develop the type of self-control that is needed to finish this Christian race (1 Corinthians 9:24-27). What will you do? What changes do you need to make in order to keep your mind sober and your prayer time sacred? Will you be still and quiet before God long enough to hear His instructions on how to fulfill the ministry that He has placed on the inside of you? The end of days is drawing near and we must stay Christ focused and rapture ready.


"As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry."
2 Timothy 4:5 

"For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age,  waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works."
Titus 2:11-14 



I heard this song last weekend, at a friend's house, and have had it on replay all week. It's called "Running in Circles" by United Pursuit ft. Will Reagan. It's just a sweet reminder to keep our eyes on Jesus and not on our circumstances; that we find peace in Him alone. 




Until next time,

Cierra
xoxo

Instagram & Periscope: @mylifeascierra
Email: cierracotton@gmail.com

 

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