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RECURRING AND DIRECTED THOUGHTS

For “who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

—1 CORINTHIANS 2:16 MEV

God wants to speak to us in the plainest way for which we were created. Our minds were created by God to function and to hear Him. The Creator knows how our minds work and how we process things. There is a saying out there that a mind is a terrible thing to waste. We can’t waste time and we can’t waste our minds on things that are not purpose-driven or not of God. The Lord created our minds to align and to be synchronized with His mind, will, and purpose.

God desires to speak to us through our thoughts. In other words, our thoughts are not just mere thoughts but they become a gateway into the mind and heart chamber of the Lord. We have to renew our minds and align our thoughts daily to God’s will and thoughts through His Word.

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect (Romans 12:1-2 ESV).

We can a have a transformed mind through a daily renewal. The power of discernment is important so that we are able to know the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. God doesn’t want us to be double minded, which will bring about instability. God will speak to those who are spiritually stable and have a sure foundation upon the Word of God.

He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways (James 1:8 ESV).

Often, people who use to be able to hear God’s voice clearly will ask me why they are not hearing God. They fell into sin, and it clogged their ability to hear God. My answer to them is to repent and make it right with the Father and they will be able to hear again. Sin will mute the voice of the Father. It’s not that you cannot hear God because you fell—that is not the case. You have ignored and tuned out the voice of the Father.

We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5 ESV).

In Amos 4:13, the Lord makes known His ways to us through our thoughts. Hearing the voice of God is really easier than most people think. God will speak to us in our own language, dialect, and speech, and He understands every culture. God created our thoughts to align and adjust to His will and purpose. Furthermore, in Matthew 1:19-21, while Joseph thought about things, God spoke to him.

We need to be careful here because not every thought that comes to our minds comes from the Lord. Thoughts can also be placed in our minds from the enemy, and we can simply think up things in our own imagination. When it comes to our thoughts, we must always go back to the point of reference and the basis of the Word of God. The Word of God and the Holy Spirit will become the filter system to separate God’s voice from our own mind and the enemy. So every time we get a thought, we need to judge if it is from God’s Word, will, ways, and purpose. I believe we have to do a self-assessment and evaluation when it comes to our thoughts and screen them through the Word by asking, “Does it align with Scripture? Does it in any way contradict the character of God?”

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord (Isaiah 55:8 KJV).

God will speak to us giving us what’s on His mind. He will superimpose His will and divine plan on our thoughts. We are to have the mind of Christ. I love what First Corinthians 2:10-12 says:

These are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us.

One of the prophetic ways the Lord speaks to us is through directing our thoughts. Directing our thoughts is subjective and we have an active role in it. God lets us be a part of the process when He uses our thoughts but at the same time He gently steers us in the right direction.

The king’s heart is like a stream of water directed by the Lord; he guides it wherever he pleases (Proverbs 21:1 NLT).

Commit your works to the Lord, and your thoughts will be established (Proverbs 16:3 NKJV).

The more you feed your mind with filth and toxic spoken words, written words, gossip, and visual sights, the more impure your thoughts will be. We must take a good look at the word feed, which should be emphasized. It’s not necessarily what a person is exposed to that creates impurity or toxic thoughts; it’s what the person feeds on. In other words, what is feeding your thoughts and what do you expose your mind to? If you have a hard time speaking and hearing the Word of God, your thoughts may be tainted, toxic, and unhealthy.

God desires to use those who know how to have the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16). Changing your carnal mind into the mind of Christ is not an overnight process but a step-by-step process of renewal and transformation. The more we feed our thoughts on things of God, the quicker our minds will be transformed. I love what these Scriptures say about the counsel of the Lord:

But which of them has stood in the council of the Lord to see or to hear his word? Who has listened and heard his word? (Jeremiah 23:18)

I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you (John 15:15).

Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? (Romans 11:34)

As children of God, we have access to hear and see the Word of the Lord. We should commit our thoughts unto God and ask Him to direct them. In addition, ask Him to bring an individual, maybe a family member or friend, to mind and direct your thoughts to what that person needs prayer for. Look up a Scripture that is about a specific topic or subject concerning them. Pray for the individual, then pray the Scripture over them, using the Word of God to bring breakthrough to them. This will help you to hear the voice of God as He directs your thoughts and trains your mind. Finally, I would suggest that you contact the person you were praying for and inform them what you have done. You may be surprised to find you have done a prophetic act that brings them confirmation.

God speaks through recurring thoughts. We can hear the voice of the Lord through thoughts, images, or memories that come back to our mind. This is another prophetic and common way that God speaks to His people. When this occurs, God is trying to address something specific. God often will bring things back up so that we can address and confront something that He is concerned about.

It is powerful when the Lord speaks over and over through recurring thoughts. He can turn our thoughts in His direction or bring something up repeatedly in our minds. I remember when God wanted to confront me about forgiving someone in my family who hurt and offended me deeply. I wanted God to bless me in a specific area of ministry, but the Lord in prayer would bring up this particular name to my mind every single time. I was ignoring the recurring images of my family member—I thought it was me, continuing to think about it.

Actually, it was the Lord speaking to me to reach out to them and ask for forgiveness. Honestly, I was so hurt that I was not at the place of asking that person to forgive me. In my opinion they should call and ask me to forgive them! But God wouldn’t let me off the hook to avoid this family issue. God was not going to bless me while I was holding on to offense or unforgiveness. Everywhere I would go I would hear messages about forgiveness and have this recurring thought of my family member.

Ultimately, I gave in and obeyed the Lord and reached out to my loved one to ask for their forgiveness. To my surprise, before I could even ask they said they were waiting for my call because I’d been on their mind frequently. They asked me to forgive them first, and I began to weep because it only took a phone call to resolve something. I made things hard, but to the Lord it was an easy process. I needed to humble myself and not find fault but operate in the love of Christ.

Recurring thoughts can be the Lord speaking to you and getting your attention. Pay attention to things that come often and suddenly to your mind.