Faith Unfolding: Setting the Mind and Mouth

Life is crazy and at any point each of us will be in some sort of struggle. More likely, we’ll have a great number of struggles in varying degrees throughout our lifetime. In each, when it becomes our turn, there’s often another underlying free and annoying companion that invites a whole separate not-so-fun party of its own. The struggle of the mind.

I’d like to share with you a little glimpse from Jehoshaphat’s life that I’ve been meditating on lately. Jehoshaphat is a King of Judah that you can read about in 2 Chronicles. For the most part he was a good King. He was usually quick to seek the Lord and he has been marked as a powerful prayer warrior. So grab your Bible and follow along.

In 2 Chronicles 20 we see that the Moabites and Ammonites came to wage war on Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat goes straight to the Lord full of praise and faith that the Lord will save him and his people. (v6)

In (v10) He reminds God of what the Lord asked of him and his people and how they obeyed.

And I have to stop here for a second because there’s another nugget that I’ve gleaned recently from Philippians 4:6 that says “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Petition as in defending why and why not something should happen. And here we see one of the most powerful pray-ers of the Bible doing this very thing.

Read (v10) again.

Okay moving along.

(v11) He explains what he can’t handle and doesn’t understand. Then he tells God, “we don’t know that to do but our eyes are on you!” They have an encounter with the Lord (v13) and he tells them not to be afraid and this is where the popular verse “the battle is not yours, it’s the Lord” comes from.

(v18) Jehoshaphat bows down and then goes into praise. Then watch what happens the next day when they go into war against the Moabites. (v20)

Early in the morning they left for the Desert of Tekoa. As they set out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Listen to me Judah and people of Jerusalem! Have faith in the Lord your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets and you will be successful.”

Then in (v21) as they go into battle, “Jehoshaphat appoints his men to sing to the Lord and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army saying Give thanks to the Lord, for his love endures forever.”

(v22) As they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seri who were invading Judah and they were defeated.

I don’t know how those verses strike you but who sings going into battle? In all seriousness, aren't we usually trying to get everything to quiet down just so we can concentrate, ahem think! hmmm. Could dying to the mind and singing instead be our very best weapon; a song of worship in praise, in any battle that we face of our own?

If that’s not thought provoking enough, check out this link to 7 Reasons Why Singing Matters.

And let me switch to another popular scene in the Bible. Do you remember when Jesus tells the Samaritan Woman “that true believers worship in Spirit and in Truth”? I don’t know about you but I believe that every single one of us has “that worship song” even if you haven’t found it yet.

I'm talking about the song that you connect with in an intensely personal way and when it gets your eyes on our Father and all that he’s done for you, SUDDENLY you feel his presence all over! The sensation is so strong and so moving, it is easy to walk in love and be patient and “believe” in the power of God or his plan for you. It’s easy to just act in all the ways that you know that you’re supposed to. And heck that's another struggle in itself, walking in love, in all situations. Am I right?

Talk about power!

Anyway, so hold that thought and let me switch gears again.

I am currently leading an online group and we're studying the book, “The Power of a Praying Wife”. This week’s chapter is about the mind. Each week we also pick a verse to meditate on. By the end of the week, I make a few notes and I am trying to practice tying the topic and verse together, in the way that each speak to me.

Our verse this week is on Romans 8:12-13 “Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.”

As I sit down to study the mind and how we can live "by the spirit", I can see in the passage just above it that it says we must first set our mind. But how? I can barely walk into one room to get something without forgetting why I walked in there.

Certainly spending time in the Word will be the best way to do this. Knowing what the Word says and getting it in your mind should be first and foremost.

Hebrews 4:12 tells us that the Word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double edged sword. It penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow, it judges thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

If you’re a fairly new believer that verse might be a hard one to follow. A glimpse of how it breaks down in my life, is that when I am thinking something that I shouldn’t be thinking, if I can find the right scripture, the conviction from it comes along like a sword and completely cuts off the things that don’t line up with the Lord. It helps me divide right and wrong, separating my soul (flesh) from my spirit.

That’s where the power of memorization comes in. Making sure that even when you are not with your Bible, the Words of God are still inside of you. Scripture that you didn’t even realize you knew can surface at just the right time!

I know, I know…. Your mind is fried already. How can you force in one.more.thing? You’re exhausted. I get it. Me too. –But check this out.

I attended a prayer class last winter and the speaker brought her guitar and before every session she sang a few songs. Several of which were scripture songs. Some of them seemed kind of corny but there was still something about them. Especially the little one that she did on “Greater than He that is in me.” It was just so catchy and I found myself singing it even by accident.

AH-HA YES! Singing!

But not just any singing. Singing worship, praise and scripture! Genius! And isn't memorization easier when there is a rhythm to it, like a song?!

So I googled it.

I must first confess that I am more into folk and blue grass than pop or anything else. I’d also prefer traditional hymns to a full flavor worship song. So, if you don’t like these links please search for yourself scripture and the genre that you prefer. Also know that my search is just getting started!

I’ve been listening to them this week and I believe that they’re already making a difference. I’m not really in any sort of struggle right now but they are SO relaxing. My personal favorite (so far) is found on Spotify by Sherri Youngward. Just search scripture songs. Heck get your Bible and read along.

Anyway, If you’re new to Spotify, just sign up for the free Basic trial (not premium) and it will stay a free account. Then you can simply search for Scripture Songs.

But if singing and worship is your best weapon in battle and if scripture is the best weapon of your mind…. I’d say that once you marry the two and put them into practice, you might just have a life changing “cocktail”.

Finally, if you just can’t get into Christian music, know that there is hope. I was very much like you. In fact I couldn't listen to the local station in big doses. I cringed. I prayed that God would show me something that I could listen to and he answered. Again, googling different genres helped and so did Spotify. There are even a couple of Christian Coffeehouse stations on there, if you're into the same mellow sounds as I am. Eventually, after a little practice of listening to the songs and even the same local station, I grew to love it. -But I also realized that there was a heart problem. My taste for the music had to be driven by my desire to grow closer to the Lord, not the musicians. -And before I knew it, I was acclimating nicely. **Praise**

If you can only find one song that really moves you for the Lord, I encourage you to wear it out while you are searching for more. When all else fails, make up your own. I am sure Jehoshaphat didn’t have a station, he just “tuned in” from his heart and his mind.

May this be a blessing to you.