No thought is ever benign. When one’s mind begins to wilt with infectious thinking, giving thoughts of worry, fear, and guilt too much space, the Bible provides a much-needed way to combat the decline those feelings often bring. Pastor Craig Groeschel walks readers through the biblical way to fend off fretful thoughts. Inspired by his personal experience, Groeschel’s work employs the insights of neuroscience, the apostle Paul, and Jesus Christ to compel us to actively offer our thinking to God and encounter his endless tranquility.

In what sounds like a fittingly contemporary proverb, the wisest man in history, King Solomon wrote of humankind, “as he thinks in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7). Just as Solomon recognized, thinking is not a passive pursuit. Thoughts don’t simply buzz in and out like tiny, insignificant flies with no bearing on reality. Rather, those swarming thoughts maintain a significant impact on a person, whether she even sees them circling. These thought flies can be especially deadly when some of them turn out to be thought mosquitoes, biting and infecting one’s reality with a persistent, sneaky little sting—thoughts that are unkind, false, or just plain annoying.

Thankfully, an even wiser man modeled a way for people to evade and combat those degrading thoughts. As Jesus journeyed through the wilderness in Matthew 4, alone and without food, Satan dangled falsehoods in his face. In the midst of disruptive deceptions, Jesus recognized Satan’s schemes for what they were and spoke words of Scripture to reposition his thinking. Through this experience, Jesus embodied the advice given later by the apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 10:5 which encourages people to “take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” This verse uses a variant of “take captive” that, in the Greek, posits a “continuous action.” Just as Jesus deconstructed Satan’s words and reasserted the reality of God’s dominion more than once, every person must do the same in the oftentimes terrifying terrain of her own mind.

Though the territory is doubtlessly frightening, oftentimes cratered and ill-defined, when a thinker continually turns to Jesus with her mind, rejuvenation grows into a lived reality. This might sound like wishful or even delusional thinking, but again, Paul says otherwise. In Romans 12:2, the apostle declares, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Despite how often you may have heard this verse before, pay close attention to what's said about God’s action in Paul’s declared mental renewal.

Though it seems that the process of fixing one’s thoughts depends entirely upon the individual, this simply isn’t the case. If it were, nobody would even get close to the peace Paul speaks of so longingly. Rather, the latter portion of the verse, that “renewing of your mind” bit everyone wants so badly, is phrased in what the author notes as “passive voice,” not active. So, “renewing” isn’t a process anyone can initiate on her own. Thankfully, someone else gets the ball rolling for her. And that initiator happens to be the same one who weathered the devil in the wilderness—a more-than capable tour guide into the dark places of the human mind. 

As people turn to Jesus with their thoughts, he directs them in a process that looks much like his 40-day plight. In order to get started on this God-fueled mental reboot, it’s essential that people keep a close watch on the thoughts flying into their days. While doing this, the author recommends that thinkers ask themselves some questions to determine the kinds of thoughts they normally entertain. For instance, does their thinking stir up anxiety over situations that don’t even exist? Or leap to harsh conclusions about oneself or others? Just as a shining apple is gradually overtaken by a rotten core, oftentimes, a person’s mind is slowly corroded by a singular falsehood or a jilted way of thinking. 

This mental downslide into thoughts fueled by deception and living marred by depletion begins with what Paul in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 calls “strongholds.” As the most secure structure of an ancient city, strongholds represent those harmful, seemingly permanent thoughts that infiltrate a person’s mind and manipulate her into living a particular way. According to the author, a stronghold is a deception that has grown so central to one’s personhood she hardly knows it exists. Consider his own stronghold, for instance—a scourge that an unfortunate number of people recognize as the oft-spoken and internalized words of: “you’ll never be good enough.” With these words circulating in his mental background, the author often agreed to far too many responsibilities, worked long after he should have been home, and essentially wore himself thin trying to flee from that harsh, untrue label. From this one seemingly harmless stronghold, every day in the author’s life was marked by suffering.

Fortunately for him and for everyone else in need of a little mental maintenance, a stronghold needn’t rule forever. In fact, when it begins to rise into view, however tall and frightening it may appear, a person begins to see the stone-laden lie she must pelt with the truth. Matching these long-held deceptions with relevant Bible verses, just as Jesus did in his earthly encounter with the devil, enables people to topple their terrorizing thoughts. When a person recalls God’s divine view of a situation within the context of her own circumstances, the “renewing” process that Paul mentioned at last arrives. Going back time and time again to the Bible, in search of words that rain light into the falsity of one’s mental reality, is like tapping on God’s shoulder, anticipating that he will set things right.

Whether your stronghold is a persistent feeling of unworthiness, self-loathing, or anger toward others, the Bible offers some words that sound far better than those your mind often clings to. If you don’t want your thoughts to take you for a ride, shake the dust off your Bible and simply take a look.

As your mind wiles away, fraught by familiar anxieties and annoyances, what’s really taking place behind the scenes? And as you begin to fire Bible verses at the common, corrupting lies woven throughout your thoughts, what happens on the inside? Paul might not have received his doctorate studying the brain, but his words are prophetically similar to developments in neuroscience. For this reason, the author calls him an early “thought warrior.” Despite this, in Romans 7:15-24, Paul admits that, “For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me.” And he isn’t wrong, either. The oftentimes paradoxical human brain makes it simple for people to latch onto deceptive thoughts, sweeping many into ways of thinking, feeling, or living that seem perilously unending.

According to the findings of neuroscience on the concept of neuroplasticity, the brain is never static; it’s always shifting, trying things on and trying things out. As a result, a person’s thinking, lifestyle, and actions inevitably alter the brain’s neural landscape, even when the thinker isn’t aware of it. When one engages in a particular way of thinking more than once, perhaps even several times, a “neural pathway” is marked by the brain’s neurons. Over time, these oft-walked pathways grow more solidified, making it more efficient for a thinker to travel that route like some kind of mental secret shortcut.

Another component of the brain that helps to create these pathways is the reticular activating system (RAS). This mechanism takes note of anything important a person encounters or experiences throughout her day. Moreover, when a person engages in a particular thought or activity consistently over time, she receives a rush of dopamine—a neurochemical the brain definitely doesn’t forget. With that quite literally in mind, the thinker is drawn back to whatever produced the nice response in the first place. The mechanisms that help create these pathways and the routes themselves aren’t bad; oftentimes, the brain’s composure actually facilitates beneficial routines. But when these mental trails begin to veer off course, they grow less like paths and more like what the author calls “ruts in your brain.” This is what makes escaping particular ways of thinking so tricky—the brain builds itself to accommodate a person’s past thoughts.

But, that’s also what makes the habitual act of facing falsehoods with God’s Word so potent. As thinkers do this, they stumble to the edge of one neural pathway and refuse to walk. Rather, with God’s truth and his guidance, they pour cement into their ditch and tread a new route. The author recommends crafting a “declaration” for moments like these by searching for specific Bible verses and infusing them with a personal touch. By persistently recalling these personalized biblical truths to stand against equally persistent lies, thinkers can construct what the author calls a “truth trench” and re-pave their thoughts with God’s peace.

Often it seems that reality behaves like a kaleidoscope, morphing into new shapes and trying out various colors every day. In many cases, though, the only one moving is you—your thoughts and the way you read reality evolves into what you take it to be. Unfortunately, these assessments aren’t always correct, and often become what the field of social psychology calls cognitive biases. These biases consist of false default modes of experiencing, and just like troublesome thoughts, they’re hard to recognize. So, like fish in contaminated water, many people swim along the stream of their interpretations as if the flow is always consistent with reality. People shouldn’t simply drift among the current, though. Instead, they should seek out the places where their perceptions are wrongheaded and purify their situations with what social psychology calls “cognitive reframing.”

The apostle Paul, for instance, definitely had a situation he needed to “reframe.” After all, house arrest probably isn’t any preacher’s dream pulpit. The apostle’s situation appeared depressingly bleak, especially considering that his imprisonment took place in Rome, the city to which he’d been wanting to witness. Though no one would have blamed him for being just a bit down, Paul didn’t let himself get sucked into this expected, defeated point of view. Instead, he “reframed” his reality, making his chains glow with light. In his letter to the Philippians, Paul is resolute, stating that “because of my imprisonment, most of the believers here have gained confidence and boldly speak God’s message without fear” (Philippians 1:14). The apostle was not diminished by what he could have viewed as his limiting situation—instead, he recognized the power of God to infiltrate and rework the events in life that seem empty of all purpose.

One way the author recommends for thinkers to follow Paul’s example is through gratitude—not only for the things God blesses them with, but for those he chooses not to bestow, as well. In Paul’s case, he had every logical reason to moan and groan over the fact that God didn’t grant him the opportunity to minister throughout Rome in a conventional manner (or at least, not from prison). But, as Paul recognized during his ministry from house arrest, his influence was much more powerful from what looked like his apparent confinement. He may not have known that at first, but God surely did. Growing attuned to what the author calls God’s “collateral goodness” in the middle of situations that seem irreparable and prayers placed on hold, helps to reform one’s perception of the things that happen to them. This transformation eventually gives birth to a life as full and impactful as the apostle Paul’s, even as he sat imprisoned, tethered to a Roman guard.

In the harmless situations many people catastrophize in their heads and in those events that really are of catastrophic proportions, reframing is revolutionary. Just like people must hand over their thoughts to God, believing in his ability to repair them, they must also place their perception of every situation under the recognition of his complete knowledge.

Every person has that small, daily dilemma that simply sets her mind reeling—or her amygdala, more precisely. As the commander of the brain’s “fight-or-flight response,” the amygdala executes the orders that pump the body with adrenaline and get it ready to move (theoretically, at least). Unfortunately for people in the 21st century, the amygdala often goes haywire in the face of situations that aren’t huge deals at all, transforming experiences as small as receiving the wrong order at a restaurant into seemingly cataclysmic events. Sometimes, the wrong meal can feel like the end of the world, if you’re hungry at least. On the other end of the spectrum, the good cop of the brain’s good cop/bad cop duo is the prefrontal cortex, the officer that interrogates the situation with some much-needed cool logic. Even despite this mental monitor, the amygdala crafts horrific illusions out of otherwise ordinary scenarios. And once again, the Bible offers thinkers a lifeline—some time in God’s presence.

Paul’s encouragement in Philippians 4:6 is clear: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Yet again, Paul is ahead of the curve where neuroscience is concerned. The study of neurotheology (yes, that really is a thing), reveals that the inner workings of the brain thrive with even just a smidge of prayer time. Dr. Caroline Leaf, an acclaimed expert and author of Switch On Your Brain, discovered that a habit of prayer even makes waves on a brain scan, strengthening the parts that are concerned with the wellbeing of other people and the region of the frontal lobe, as well. Dr. Leaf’s study analyzed the brain following an eight-week long routine of 12 minutes of prayer a day, which means that it’s not that difficult to incorporate into one’s time. Simply find a spot, sit with God, and see how it influences the rest of your week.

Worship maintains a similar impact on the human brain as well. The neuroscientist Dr. Andrew Newberg, head of research at Thomas Jefferson Hospital and Medical College in Pennsylvania, found that both prayer and worship squelch the clamor of the brain’s amygdala. He found that acts of praise expand the brain’s “cingulate cortex,” too, fostering more kindness and understanding in worshippers toward others. But a prayer or a song, mumbled or hummed to God are much more than simple ways to improve the brain; rather, they’re gifts to and from an always caring, constantly providing God, regardless of the hourly storms threatening to tear your mind to bits.

Paul completes his encouragement in Philippians 4:6 with the following: “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7). By looking to God even despite mental turmoil, intent on honoring him and recognizing his ability to steer your mind anew, you welcome him into a fragile, impactful space of your life. As you drop every question, problem, or unruly thought into God’s hands, you will find that he’s been wanting to release you from them all along.