How To Overcome Intrusive Thoughts Today.

Table of Contents

• But first, let’s look at the reason these intrusive thoughts keep popping up.
• Let’s look at the life of Jesus.
• So this begs the question: how can you distinguish between God’s voice and the devil’s voice?
• How can you apply the keys above to overcome intrusive thoughts?
  • The belt of truth and God’s righteousness.
  • Peace and Faith.
• 1 Peter 1:18-19
  • The Word of God
  • Pray in the Spirit.
  • Persistence in prayer and alertness.
  • Fasting.
• Conclusion.

Did you know you can overcome intrusive thoughts? Are you battling intrusive thoughts? Do you have days where the enemy is constantly bombarding you with his lies concerning your promises or your life in general? Does he keep telling you they will not come to pass or that you do not deserve them? Maybe he has been bringing up your past mistakes and convincing you that God has not forgiven you and will still punish you. Or maybe he is telling you that this is all you ever be and that you can never amount to much. From the beginning, the enemy has always spewed lies on us because He does not want us to get the authority given to us by God. Often we tend to think negative things and this causes frustrations in our lives.

I am curious to know what other lies is the enemy spewing at you?

Are you tired of those thoughts constantly popping up in your mind and are wondering how to silence them? Then this word will give you tips on how to do that.

But first, let’s look at the reason these intrusive thoughts keep popping up.

The toughest battle comes just before the brink of victory. So when these thoughts become consistent, that should be proof enough that your promise is here. Especially if the same thoughts had died down for a while and they are only now arising. So let this encourage you that your promise is here and so the enemy is using all he can to get you to forfeit your promise or to get you so overwhelmed that you will not even get to enjoy your promise.

There are times when the lies of the enemy become so much that we lack the morale to enjoy our promised land. It starts with just one lie and before you know it, the lie sins so deep that you start believing it. And before you know it you find it has become a part of who you are.

God always has a destined plan and path for you. And when He releases you to the said plan, the enemy will fight you to get you to give up or go down the wrong path. Or simply get you so exhausted that you will not walk in the fullness of who God created you to be.

Let’s look at the life of Jesus.

After John the Baptist had baptized Jesus, God validated Him by calling Him His beloved son.

The moment Jesus came up out of the baptismal waters, the skies opened up and He and John saw God’s Spirit—it looked like a dove—descending and landing on him. And along with the Spirit, a voice spoke and said: “This is my Son, chosen and marked by my love, delight of my life.” Matthew 3:16-17 MSG https://bible.com/bible/97/mat.3.16-17.MSG

After this validation, the Holy Spirit took Jesus to the wilderness, where he fasted for 40 days and 40 nights. When the fast was over, Jesus became hungry and this was when the enemy tempted Him. One thing to note about this temptation is that the devil tried to discredit the same validation that God had spoken over Jesus. The aim was to make Jesus forfeit His assignment, which was to save humanity from the jaws of sin and death. Notice that in 2 of the 3 instances, the devil started his question with if.

• In the first instance, the devil came and said to Him, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.” Matthew 4:3 NLT https://bible.com/bible/116/mat.4.3.NLT

• Then the devil took him to the holy city, Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say, ‘He will order his angels to protect you. And they will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’” Matthew 4:5-6 NLT https://bible.com/bible/116/mat.4.5-6.NLT
• Next, the devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. “I will give it all to you,” he said, “if you will kneel and worship me.” Matthew 4:8-9NLThttps://bible.com/bible/116/mat.4.8-9.NLT

So this begs the question: how can you distinguish between God’s voice and the devil’s voice?

The devil knows that when you question the promise that God gives you, you will easily forfeit your promise because you lack the confidence to walk in the fullness of what God called you to do. Whenever you see any word that contradicts what God spoke over your life, you can be sure that it is from the enemy. The enemy can only contradict God’s word because his work is to discredit God. This is the same thing he did at the garden of Eden. The enemy planted a seed of doubt on Eve which caused her to doubt God’s goodness. This then led to Eve disobeying God and sin entering the world.

The key here is to know that God will never contradict His word or His nature. And the only way to know this is by actively reading your Bible. How much time do you spend reading your word? The only way Jesus could silence the enemy was by quoting the word. He had studied the word so He could counter the devil’s words with the word of God. Kindly note that you can never defeat the enemy using your own words, you can only do so by speaking and declaring the word of God.

So spend time in the word of God. The beauty about you and having the Holy Spirit is that He will remind us of the word when we need it. But He can only remind us of the word if we have read it in the first place. Don’t put so much pressure on yourself about knowing everything. The Holy Spirit will help you as that is His role in your life.To be your helper.

Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will resist the enemy in a time of evil. Then, after the battle, you will still stand firm. Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. Besides all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere. Ephesians 6:13-18 NLT https://bible.com/bible/116/eph.6.13-18.NLT

The scripture above gives you the keys to standing firm when the enemy keeps bombarding you with his lies. Let’s now dissect this scripture and find the keys that will help you overcome intrusive thoughts.

How can you apply the keys above to overcome intrusive thoughts?

The belt of truth and God’s righteousness.

The truth simply put, is Jesus. He says that He is the way, the truth, and the light. God’s righteousness can only be experienced in Jesus. Jesus gave you His garment of righteousness for your sins. So the minute you became a believer God made you to be in right standing with God through Jesus. So instead of looking at it as an impossible thing, recognize that as long as you abide in Jesus who is the truth, and study the word to gain deeper insights into who He is thus drawing you closer to Him, then you have nothing to worry about.

In order for you to even know what and who the Truth is you need to spend time in the word of God. And it s as we read the Bible that we recognize that Jesus is the truth.

14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14

Peace and Faith.

Peace and faith will keep you calm when the darts of the devil come in like a flood. God’s peace will help you hold on to the promises when everything around you screams not to. While faith is the currency that connects you with your promise. God says that without faith, it is impossible to please Him and the more you seek Him, the more you will find Him. So why would God promise you something and then change His mind? Remember, in Numbers 23:19 He says that He is not a man that He should lie. God is not a man, so he does not lie. He is not human, so he does not change his mind. Has he ever spoken and failed to act? Has he ever promised and not carried it through? Numbers 23:19 NLT https://bible.com/bible/116/num.23.19.NLT

The peace of God is available to you. But for you to experience His peace, surrender your thoughts to Him. God promises that when you surrender your thoughts and worries through prayer and supplication, then His peace will overwhelm you (Philippians 4:;4-6). He also promises that He will keep you in perfect peace when your mind is stayed on Him. So when the intrusive thoughts come, focus on Jesus. You can even meditate on who Jesus is. Focus on the one scripture that talks about Jesus. The more you do that, the less the intrusive thoughts get. It is the truth that silences the lies. Try that today.

Find a scripture that counteracts the most prevalent intrusive thought. So if the enemy keeps telling you that you are not good enough, a scripture like 1 Peter 1:18-19 will help.

1 Peter 1:18-19

“Knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

You have been redeemed and what Christ has done for you can never be taken away. Why would God send Jesus to die for you if you were not good enough? And again, God created you n His image and Likeness. This is just proof that you are good enough. Do not allow the enemy to torment you. Silence Him with the word of God.

The Word of God

The word of God is the key that will help you overcome intrusive thoughts. The word of God is where you find all there is to know about Jesus, God, the Holy Spirit, and their characters. Again, the Bible will give you the keys to counter when the thoughts come in. You can only replace a lie with the truth, and the only way to know the truth is by being exposed to it. And in this case, the Bible will expose you to the truth you need to know. The more truth you feed your spirit, the easier it gets to discern the lie from the enemy.

Pray in the Spirit.

When you pray in the Spirit, you pray perfect prayers because it is the Holy Spirit that is inspiring them. And because the focus is on heavenly things, the voice of the enemy becomes dimmed. Because your spiritual antenna becomes more in tune with that of the Holy Spirit.

So if you want to silence the voice of the enemy, just pray in the Spirit. Praying in the spirit could speak in tongues, or simply pray as the Holy Spirit leads. As long as you do that, the devil will have no room. After all, God promises that when we resist the devil, he will flee. So if you want to get those voices out of your head, resist him as much as possible. For you to overcome intrusive thoughts, allow the Holy Spirit to lead you. He will always lead you down the right path.

Persistence in prayer and alertness.

For you to overcome intrusive thoughts, you need to remain in prayer at all times. Before the devil can flee, you will have to resist him first. And the only way you can do so is by being persistent. Prayer silences the devil and gives room to the leading of the Holy Spirit. What your faith grows. So if you want to hear the Holy Spirit more, spend time with Him through prayer, reading the Bible, and every other key mentioned above, too.

Prayer will also cause you to be alert and therefore be able to discern the voices and thoughts sent by the enemy when they come. Remember, the devil is persistent. He never gives up. So you too need to stay on course and be persistent. Through persistence, you will stay alert and thus he will not catch you by surprise and you will not then struggle with doubt and questioning what God has spoken over you.

Fasting.

When you fast, you weaken the flesh and strengthen the spirit. And in such cases, it can be difficult for the devil to use deception on you. This is because you are spiritually alert to see his schemes from miles away. Fasting also breaks the yoke of the enemy over your life. It is important to understand though that fasting should bring you closer to God because the aim of fasting is to spend time with God.

Conclusion.

God does not want you to have your identity and promises questioned. That is why He has spelled out the keys in His word. And the other thing to note is that God will never give you a promise, then backtrack. His gifts are without repentance. So when the enemy comes to contradict what God has already told you, remind Him that God always watches over His word to fulfill it.

Last, God means it when He says that when you repent, He forgives and remembers your sins no more and if you were sick, He will restore you to health. His mercies are new every morning, so stop focusing on your past and move forward. There is nothing good in your past.

Don’t be like Lot’s wife, who focused on what she had left, that she became a Pilar of salt. God wants you to press on and look ahead. He is not done with you yet and His words never go back to Him void until they accomplish what He has spoken. Also, His plans for you are always good and your future will always be greater than your past. It s time for you to overcome intrusive thoughts. Remain blessed.