Detoxing Your Mind
(This Weekly Prayer Summary was written by Irene Sentosa, from the CBC English Prayer Ministry Core Team, and edited by Brigitta Tedja)
#hearingear
Watch full sermon here
As we enter the month of December, we begin a new series entitled, “Hearing Ear” and this first message is called, “Detoxing Your Mind”. Hearing and seeing are related to each other and are connected to our brains. There are times when our eyes see something, our brains can be enlightened, and we can see what we could not see before. Or some times because of certain things that happened in our past, our brains would shut down because we did not like to hear or see it.
Hearing and seeing are also connected to our hearts and mouths. They are interrelated and are so close to each other, affecting our whole being. Luke 6:45 NKJV: “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.”
Pastor Paul showed a video of how people got distracted when they were texting while walking:
All of us live in conversations. We live in conversations internally and externally and those conversations are fueled by our language patterns, not just our words, but our language patterns. Because of the nature of the day in which we live, many of us struggle with internal voices that get in the way of external conversations.
And not only that, we live in conversations to the point that half of a conversation is not our language. It could be a language from the enemy. The enemy begins to put us into a situation where we hear so many negative things, many words that are not of faith, then we begin to believe in them and we begin to look around. We use our natural eyes instead of our spiritual eyes.
When we are texting while walking, we think that we can multitask, but actually we cannot multitask and give 100% on everything that we are doing because while we are talking to others, we have conversations going in our heads based on the things that are working for us, so we cannot truly listen.
This applies to our relationship with God. He has a great plan for each and every one of us. He wants to talk to us, guide us, and gives us direction in whatever we do, but we need to learn to detox our minds.
Revelations 2–3
NKJV: “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches”.
AMP: “He who is able to hear, let him listen to and give heed to what the Spirit says to the churches.”
MSG: “Are your ears awake? Listen. Listen to the Wind Words, the Spirit blowing through the churches.
If we want to hear what the Holy Spirit is saying, we have to be in the Spirit. God is Spirit and those who worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and truth. Every one of us can hear the voice of Holy Spirit, but we need to learn to detox our minds, be committed to follow through the progress, and obey what the Spirit is saying. It is not going to be an easy progress. It takes discipline, training, and obedience to submit to the Spirit of God.
If we allow our mouths to be the expression of our hearts, then we will become a person who is led by the Holy Spirit and if we need to know what direction our lives are going to, listen to what we say because our hearts can see what our mouths can speak. God wants to talk to you and He actually has been talking to you.
Jesus Himself said in John 10:27 NKJV, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” You cannot say that you hear His voice but you do not follow Him.
The phrase, “Then the word of the Lord came“ was mentioned 4 times in the story of Elijah when God spoke to him. This phrase was also used when God spoke to:
• Abraham
• Samuel
• Jehu
• Isaiah
• Jeremiah
• Ezekiel
• Haggai
• Zachariah
• and this is the way God also talks to YOU
~ In the book of Acts, the Holy Spirit spoke and gave direction to Paul, Barnabas, Silas and other disciples. So, God did not only speak in the Old Testament or New Testament, but He speaks also in the NOW.
If you allow the Holy Spirit to change your language by spending time in the Word, meditating on the Word, then you will feed your brain with His language and that becomes your language.
1 Kings 18:41-46, NKJV: “Then Elijah said to Ahab, "Go up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of abundance of rain." So, Ahab went up to eat and drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; then he bowed down on the ground, and put his face between his knees, and said to his servant, "Go up now, look toward the sea." So, he went up and looked, and said, "There is nothing." And seven times he said, "Go again."”
Elijah was not afraid to speak about what he sees and hears. He just obeyed God. However, even after he obeyed, nothing happened when he prayed the first time or the second time. The same thing applies to us believers. Even when you get a word from the Lord, you need to pray, you need to BELIEVE it, you need to SAY it, you need to DO it because Heaven is waiting for earth, for you to be in agreement with Heaven. When you agree with Heaven, Heaven will do what you say according to His word—you cannot just claim the word that is contrary to the Word of God; it must be in line with the Word of God.
There was a drought in the land for 3 ½ years and suddenly Elijah declared, “I heard the sound of an abundance of rain.”
From nothing (drought/complete dryness) to an abundance of rain
NOTHING IN BETWEEN
It was NOT a gradual progression of rain, but it was a SUDDEN TRANSITION
One minute—DRAUGHT and then another minute—ABUNDANCE
The place between the draught and abundance is THE PLACE WHERE VISIONARIES LIVE
You can only see when you allow the Holy Spirit to see. Visionaries live between the two extremes.
Elijah asked his servant to see the abundance of rain
See – Heb = râ'âh = to walk in the vision
Elijah said, “I won’t be satisfied until I’m walking in what I’ve been seeing in my spirit.”
When Elijah sent his servant out, he put his face in between his knees. This is the position of birthing; it is the position when women are about to give birth.
When your face is between your knees, you block your ears and you can hear your inner voice better than your outer voice.
Elijah did that because he was determined and wanted to close out all the external voices or noises until he could hear what was in his spirit. Let us place ourselves in a birthing position so that we can receive God’s promises in our lives.
When Elijah told his servant to go and look toward the sea, his servant said, "There is nothing." This is the place where MOST PEOPLE’S FAITH DIES:
When the people closest to you come back and tell you, “I don’t see it. There’s nothing.” Discourage the vision. Many people give up so easily.
But Elijah was so radical in his faith when he said, “GO BACK AGAIN” because he knew what he heard was true. He knew how to discern God’s voice and he had confidence in God that He will do what He promised.
1 Kings 18:44, NKJV: “Then it came to pass the seventh time, that he said, "There is a cloud, as small as a man's hand, rising out of the sea!" So, he said, "Go up, say to Ahab, 'Prepare your chariot, and go down before the rain stops you.’ Now it happened in the meantime that the sky became black with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy rain. So, Ahab rode away and went to Jezreel. Then the hand of the Lord came upon Elijah; and he girded up his loins and ran ahead of Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.”
After all that happened in Mount Carmel when Elijah called fire to come down from Heaven, there were many layers of experiences that Elijah went through and sometimes the answers were discouraging.
Elijah was praying for abundance and when it came, it was a cloud the size of a man’s hand. Yet he did not get disappointed when things did not happen as he expected, but instead of being discouraged, he asked his servant to go up to tell Ahab to prepare his chariot.
There are layers of experiences in our walk with the Lord and sometimes when we pray, the answers are discouraging, they are not like what we have been praying for:
Have you ever been disappointed with His answer? After all you have done, all you have given, served, prayed, helped? Sometimes God’s answer or response or results are so embryonic, so small, so minute; sometimes it does not make sense and they were not what you have been praying for.
Keep tuning in to the Holy Spirit and faith will arise and you will be able to detox your mind.
Do You Want to Hear the Holy Spirit?
Have a hunger, a desire.
Be alert: distraction can lead to deception because we only hear partial truth—and deception can lead to death.
Focus — focus — focus! If we focus, we can hear God’s voice.
Spend time meditating the Bible. God wants to talk to you, to counsel you.
Job 33:14-18, NKJV: “For God may speak in one way, or in another, yet man does not perceive it.”Wait on the Lord, worship, wait again, linger in His presence.
Isaiah 40:39-31 NIV: “Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary;they will walk and not be faint.”Obey. When you obey, your spiritual hearing and seeing will be sharpened; we will have insight that others cannot see or hear.
James 5:17-18 AMP: “Elijah was a human being with a nature such as we have [with feelings, affections, and a constitution like ours]; and he prayed earnestly for it not to rain, and no rain fell on the earth for three years and six months”
Elijah was just like us. At one point, he got tired, exhausted, discouraged, depressed, and ran away until God asked Elijah, “What are you doing here?” And [then] Elijah prayed again and the heavens supplied rain and the land produced its crops [as usual].
Let faith arise and reach out to Him. Ask God to detox your mind and be filled with the Spirit of God. He wants to talk to you, to guide you, to instruct you, and to counsel you.
Prayer Points:
Pray to detox of our minds from any voices, noise, thoughts, or belief system that are not from God and for our minds to be filled with the Spirit of God.
Pray for a renewed mind, that God will cause us to have a new way of thinking.
Pray that we will learn to wait on the Lord, worship, linger in His presence, hear what the Spirit is saying, know His voice, and obey. "My own sheep will hear my voice and I know each one, and they will follow me." (John 10:27)
Pray for a burning passion to seek His face and to be in His presence, for a new hunger, a desire and thirst for the Lord.
Pray for the Church to be alert, pray against any deception and distraction that can hinder us from seeing where God is taking us to and hearing what He wants to say to us.
Pray for us to be able to focus so that we can hear God’s voice clearly.
Pray for a reset of our prayer lives so that we can develop consistent Bible reading time and to meditate on His Word.