My Mind is Playing Tricks on Me

Hey, this is Tim Pratt Jr. and I want to welcome you to the Student of Life podcast. Listen, we're going to get into so many transferable truths throughout the content of these episodes that I believe God is going to use to help you apply because he's going to reveal what's already been there the entire time. Enjoy. Yo, what's up? So this is episode 11 of season 4 and we're gonna call this one My Mind Is Playing Tricks on Me. And before we get into the content of this one, this is gonna be a short episode. It's gonna be a solo episode. I do have more interviews for you, uh, as long as everything stays the same, you know, one or two more for sure in this season 4. And like I say, season 5, we will build on that even more, uh, as we, as we transition into that phase. But like I say, this episode is My Mind Playing Tricks on Me. But if you haven't listened to last week's interview by Preston K, Family Ministry Accounts, please do. I'm telling you, man, he was dropping straight bars on it. And if you haven't bought the book, if you're saying, well, I'm not in leadership in ministry, buy it for someone and give it to them as a gift. It's $10 on Amazon, and it might even be on the giveaway that we will start eventually doing as we build traction, uh, with this podcast and just the people that's rocking with me and so on and so on. So I just want to keep encouraging, man, to share this, uh, if it's blessing in any kind of way, just send it to a friend. Hopefully that friend send it to a friend, and we just build organically. I'm in this because I believe God has called me to do this, and I want to steward over this faithfully as possible. That being said, this episode. Now, if you've been rocking with me, like I say, and you checked out the Good Christian Bad Habits series, one of the first ones was the Renewing of the Mind. And if you haven't listened to that, I strongly encourage you to do right now. Stop this one and go back and listen to it, or listen to this one and then go back and listen to it, because you might be even more more so inspired to go listen to the whole series. Uh, but that being said, let's jump right into this one. I don't have a foundational text necessarily for this one, but I do want you to kind of see this through the lens of something that Paul instructed us to do when he told us to take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ. And as I meditate on that scripture more and more and more, and I realize how powerful the mind is, and just certain books I've read and so on and so on. Um, I think that we all can agree that most of life battles are won or lost in the mind, because as a pastor said, the mind is the arena of faith. Uh, and he also— in the same pastor also said that it's very important because you might can't stop birds from flying over your head, but you can stop them from building a nest. And it's so true. And all he was saying is that you can stop thoughts from basically taking root, setting up shop and living there. I can't control the thoughts that come in and out like this, straight up. Like, people that say you can control, like, control the thoughts that you get, I don't believe that. Now, I do believe you can control what you continue to think about and what takes root. So I do believe there's some control there to a degree. But I don't think that you can control what type of thoughts come in or where they come from and so on and so on, because we're bombarded with so much stuff day in and day out. So it's very important for us to get this, that most of life battles are won or lost in the mind. And that's why it's important to think about what we're thinking about. It's very important for us to think about what we're thinking about because it's hard to defeat something that we don't have defined. Or we won't take the time to define. Because think about it, how can you win against something if you don't even know what you're facing? And that's not to say that you might have to go get coaching or counseling or therapy or whatever. But at the end of the day, you have to identify it. You have to define it and say, okay, I don't want to be in agreement with this, whether it's faith, whether it's leadership, your professional life, personal development, whatever you're in. Your mind is going to play a very important dynamic in the way you live out your life. Greg Corchelle often quotes that our life is usually moving in the, in the direction of our strongest thoughts. Think about that for a second, man. It's like when you— your life is often moving, or maybe you have to use the term often. Our lives is moving in the direction of our strongest thoughts. It's like that. When I heard him quote that, like I say, man, I'm, I'm a quote, I'm a quote guy. Yes, I am. And I try my best to live by because they just kind of help solidify things. But it's so true. It is true. And so we have to take time to think about what we're thinking about, because if we don't, man, our mind would just sit up here and play tricks on us. And just to do that, going back to what Paul said, is that are we taking thoughts captive? And making them obedient to Christ. And what does that mean? It's saying, I'm going to take this thought captive. I'm going to grab this thought and I'm going to spend some time with it for, for a second, only to see if it is basically in agreement with what the Lord is saying about me or what the Lord has spoke to me through his word, or he's spoken to me audibly. You have to, we have to, it's all inclusive. Because if we don't, our beliefs, they will end up playing a massive part in how we approach life. And I believe through just my studies and just through prayer and meditation with God is that our thoughts influence what we believe. Think about it. When you watch something and it starts to take root and you start meditating on it day in and day out, it becomes a belief. You will carry it out. Like I said, once again, all-inclusive. We will carry it out. And that's why we tend to experience what we expect. That's what leads to that. That's because we have an expectation. I know it's this new word out there, you know, that people like— it was not new, but in the context of faith, but manifest. And I get it in this proper context, but things will come to pass. These things will manifest in our life. It will. And you know, because I believe nothing cannot Nothing can happen unless God allows it. That's, that's what I— he, because he's in ultimate control and he can allow things to happen. For me personally, I want to do everything that's in God's will, and when I'm not, I just thank God for his grace and mercy. And like I say, but even if you're not a person of faith and you are just having these thoughts and you're like, man, okay, let's say for instance it's stealing, it's cheating, it's lying, it's gossiping, it's fornication is adultery. It's just whatever. It's a lack of confidence, negative self-talk, and so on and so on. I'm teaching my kids this now. Like, you don't have to be in agreement with that. You, you do not have to be in agreement with a thought that you have. And I'm teaching them at a very basic level, through the grace of God, on how to do— I still struggle with these things today. It's disturbing thoughts, weird thoughts, just things that pop, try to pop up in my mind, but it's like, it's a battle because it's the battleground. And I'm basically taking these thoughts captive. I'm basically like, no, no, no, like TSA, TSA on the brain. As Levi Lusko says, when you go through airport security, they are scanning things because if they allow the wrong thing through there, you can hold up a whole plane, man, or something and bring it down, or, you know, whatever. It could, it could be catastrophic, like 9/11. So what they're doing is like they're scanning things through and anything that's potential, that has a deadly potential consequence to be on that plane, they're not going to allow. They're throwing it out. And that's what we have to do with our mind, man. And it's easier said than done because like I say, we are bombarded with so much. And this is what makes us feel like our mind is playing tricks on us. But we have to understand that, no, I have some control. Because I'm telling you, man, like when I'm out doing things, I mean, it's thoughts that I'll be like, wow, it is no way I want to act this out. It's no way I want to go back and do those type of things. So I just start saying stuff like, I love God, I love my wife, I love my family. Uh, God, I see this, okay, I'm tempted to do this, but I love you more. I love you more, Jesus. I need you to help me. Be honest with God. He already knows. It's for us. So just be honest, man. And just like I say, take those thoughts captive. And another thing is that in order to do this, a lot of the times we have to draw a different frame. We have to reframe things. One time I remember, you know, my wife, we had ordered some glasses. I had ordered some just for kind of reading and like computer screen and stuff like that. And I ended up putting the wrong numbers in there and it was blurry. And so I was able to send them back and You know, they reframed them with the right number, very minimal. But the point is, is that it was distorted. The, the everything was truly the same. Everything was there, but I was seeing it through the wrong lens, so I couldn't see it clearly. I couldn't. It was too blurry. I was like, no, this is just, this is too much. So I sent it back and I put in the right numbers this time, gave them the right numbers. So sent it back to the warehouse and they, they sent me basically the same frames, but just different lens. I had to see things, so things had to be reframed, different lens, just a different way I had to see things. And then all of a sudden, like, okay, wow, this is it. The same thing was there, but I could see what was meant to be there the whole time. I could see the way it was supposed to be seen. And this is what God is saying with our minds. Like we have to learn how to reframe things sometimes because we have to draw that different frame around it. Why? Because if we draw a different frame around the same set of circumstances, everything I was seeing was the same. New pathways will come into view. New pathways will come into view. Draw a different frame around the same set of circumstances and new pathways will come into view. And I believe, if I'm not mistaken, I believe I read that about something or inspired by Michael Hyatt, to give credit where credit is due. But it's true. It is so true. And so assumptions, you know, like we have to basically stop. We have to check these assumptions that we have, check these assumptions that's consistently downloaded in us within this world, because it leads to beliefs about others and it believes— it leads to beliefs about ourselves. Things that might not even be true about them, and it might not even be true about us. And so we have to check things. This is what leads us to carry out things that we should have never carried out. In all truthfulness, we should have never carried out. And so therefore, in the context of this episode, man, I just want you to reframe your thoughts. Think about what you're thinking about. Don't let your mind play tricks on you. And especially, like I say, man, if you're out here just in this world living single or married or dating or whatever, man, you have to really take some time to not make sure that you're living an emotional life. An emotional life meaning that you're just being led by whichever thoughts come in, because if you don't, you'll be in the wrong place trying to do the right thing. And the way that saying goes is that being in the wrong place never helps you do the right thing. So take some time, man, to about what you're thinking about and don't let your mind continue to play tricks on you. Hey, what's up? I want to thank you for taking the time to listen to the Student Life Podcast today. If this content has impacted you in any kind of way, please take some time to share it on your social media feeds. And also, if you want to connect with me or just learn more about me, go over to www.timothypratt.org. Once again, thanks.