Wandering Thoughts

 Wandering thoughts...

This is a big part of the human challenge to spend five minutes of active listening to God each day.

I could say it is easy to hold our attention for that short length of time....but it's not.

Why? You may ask.

One reason is that our minds are normally so busy, that when we become still the thoughts that have been pending in the background, suddenly make their move and invade our conscious head space. 

This five minutes is not trying to empty our mind, and think about nothing as some meditation techniques would try to promote.

We are attempting to create an opportunity for God to be able to communicate to us in whatever form He would like to, and our clear concentration is on Him.

We need to be actively keeping our minds focused on listening, rather than allowing a mental form of the literary device 'stream of consciousness' to use up our precious time with God.

Our hard working and beneficial memory can jump into the free moment to remind us of something we were trying to recall, or to give an answer to something someone had questioned us about previously. Not helpful at this moment, but write it down if it is important that you don't forget it again!

They can be thoughts about what you need to do next during the day. Don't let them rob you of this moment. Whatever it is, it will still be there after you have had a few precious minutes with God.

The wandering thoughts can be of the flesh, the world, or the human spirit, but they are getting in the way. They can also be from other spirits who do not want the best for us.

Be resolute...and then be resolute a few seconds later when a fresh wave of thoughts wanting their moment in the sun of your mind make their attempt....and then again a few minutes later.

One Scripture passage I have found very helpful in my spiritual journey is 

2 Corinthians 10:3-5

"For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ."

You may say these five minutes are not associated with war, but they kind of are. 

The enemy of our souls would rather we never listen to God, the world would rather we never listen to God, and our flesh doesn't particularly like the idea either, because then it would lose its place of selfish supremacy.

So we can bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. As one of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:23)  self control is not limited to our physical actions. It involves what we say, and it involves what we think.

So let us choose to listen to God and keep choosing, and keep choosing, and keep choosing, until the other wandering thoughts of our minds realize they are not in charge of us. We are in charge of them.

So five minutes of disciplined thinking and listening will benefit us in yet another way. Encouraging our minds in the area of self discipline as the Holy Spirit enables us.

Have you tried to do it yet?