Week of Prayer, Day 5: Think on These Things
In the final lines of Paul’s letter to the Philippians, he offers instruction on how to cultivate a peace-filled mind.
As you read the passage below, do so as slowly and intentionally as you can. Do not be afraid to pause on certain words and phrases.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
Philippians 4v6-9 (NIV)
— Devotional —
Two friends came from similar backgrounds.
Both were from broken homes in which their fathers had abandoned their families. Both were raised by hard-working, stretched-thin single mothers. Both were intelligent yet struggled academically. Both came to believe in Jesus around the same time, in the same high school youth group. Both entered ministry around the same season of life.
Yet while they began in similar places, the way they conducted their lives gradually moved in different directions.
One increasingly leaned into trust: trust in God’s goodness, trust in others, and a steady desire to honor Christ. The other found herself more often rehearsing insecurities, replaying wounds and nursing resentment, and dwelling on fears about the future.
The divergences between these two friends were complex, and it would be simplistic to explain them by any single factor. Still, over time, it became clear that one quiet influence consistently shaped the direction of their lives:
The thoughts that occupied their minds.
“The mind is its own place and in itself can make a heaven of hell or a hell of heaven.”
— Milton,
Paradise Lost
What we think about matters.
We all know this to be true. Our imaginations, dreams, and aspirations, along with our worries, anxieties, and misunderstandings—shape our actions. And our actions, repeated over time, shape our lives.
In our culture, many seem resigned to opening the door to whatever thought comes knocking. So when doubt, worry, fear, lust, and anxiety flood our consciousness, we feel powerless to stop them from taking over.
To be sure, we cannot always prevent a thought from appearing. The question is not whether thoughts will come, but which ones we will dwell on.
In his letter to the Philippians, Paul connects our inner life directly to the peace of God. After urging believers to release anxiety through prayer, he names the kinds of thoughts that should take root and remain:
True.
Lovely.
Pure and noble and right.
Admirable.
Excellent and praiseworthy.
“Think about such things,” he writes. Let these thoughts settle and abide with you. Like seeds, let them take root in the soil of your mind, growing into action and blossoming into living.
How?
Paul suggests this is something he himself learned through repetition: “Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice” (v9). The Greek verb implies an ongoing pattern or rhythm, something attempted again and again.
He’s saying, “Let this way of thinking become a habit.”
“Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God re-make you so that your whole attitude of mind is changed.”
— Romans 12v2
J. B. Phillips translation
Anyone who has cultivated a garden knows there are two primary tasks.
The first is weeding. Removing invasive growth to make room for what we want to flourish. The second is planting. Intentionally placing and tending the seeds of what we hope will grow.
The mind is a kind of garden. And like any garden, it requires both weeding and planting. Simply trying hard not to think bad thoughts doesn’t work very well. (Don’t think of an elephant. What immediately comes to mind?) It’s also crucial to dwell on new ones.
That’s why Paul’s “practice” involves both: releasing old patterns of thought and cultivating new ones. We surrender the thoughts that choke peace (“Do not be anxious…”), and we nurture the thoughts that nourish it (“think about such things”).
Over time, what we repeatedly tend begins to grow. Those seeds of thoughts grow into action and blossom into real living as God intends. As Paul promises,
“And the God of peace will be with you“ (v9).
— Prayer —
Use this guide as a prompt for surrendering your thoughts to God, and filling your mind with ideas, topics, and truths that flow from his word.
[Pray these lines from Psalm 61 out loud]
Hear my cry, O God;
listen to my prayer.
From the ends of the earth I call to you,
I call as my heart grows faint;
lead me to the rock that is higher than I.1. Weeding.
Think about the areas where you are anxious or acting out of fear or mistrust. Name those thoughts honestly before the Lord. Where have they shaped your reactions, your speech, your imagination Gently surrender them into God’s care.
2. Planting.
Now turn your attention to the kinds of thoughts Paul invites us to dwell on.
Move slowly through the list. As you do, allow examples to come to mind—moments, memories, Scriptures, people, glimpses of beauty.
Let gratitude rise and let the thoughts take root.
True — real, reliable, grounded in Scripture
Noble — honorable and worthy of respect
Right — just and in harmony with God’s ways
Pure — clean motives and morally good
Lovely — stirring the soul with beauty
Admirable — worthy of imitation
Excellent — marked by quality and virtue
Praiseworthy — worthy of applause
3. Free, unstructured prayer.
