Sacred Mental Space

Sacred Mental Space

Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. Romans 12:2

YOUR MIND IS SACRED SPACE. You may see it as a processor of neutral thoughts, the place where you weigh pros and cons and make decisions, where your dreams and desires reside next to all your insecurities and anxieties. But as part of the temple of your body, your mind is meant to be a dwelling place for God. The endless stream of thoughts passing through your brain does not belong to you alone. It should not go off in directions that do not fit the nature, character, and wisdom of God. He wants to occupy the throne of your thinking.

That’s why it’s so important to rid your mind of unworthy fears, ambitions, judgments, and other attitudes that don’t align with the Spirit. Entertaining such contradictions is like hosting guests in your home who have nothing in common and clash awkwardly in every conversation. Thoughts born from fear, bitterness, and pride are inhospitable to the Spirit. If we want to enjoy his company, we need to uninvite his opponents.

Perhaps you haven’t realized how connected your thought life is to your prayers, but both are part of the same spiritual package—your life as God sees it. When you pray, you aren’t just offering up words or putting in a request; you are presenting yourself in your new identity, your whole being—with all your dreams, desires, and purposes. You are conversing in the context of loving the Lord with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind. Your prayer life flows directly out of your mental universe.

That means your mental universe—and therefore your prayer life—needs to align with God’s nature. We’re told that we have access to the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16). Why would we fill the hard drive in our heads with anything else? Treat your mind as a holy and sacred space, invite God alone to write his thoughts into it, and then pray your heart out. Watch to see what God does with the invitation. Those who make room for him find him eager to enter in and move in partnership with them.

Think through me, thoughts of God.