Listen and Pray through Romans 12:1-2 & Philippians 4:8-9
Click the button below to listen and pray through this passage. This practice will take about 12 minutes.
Prepare
Lord, I come before you today in humble expectation. There have been so many things this week that have pulled me away from you. Worries, to-do lists, frustrations, disappointments, and my own mind and flesh. So right now, I take a few moments to come back home to the place I truly belong: back to your heart and back to your presence, Lord.
Fill me up as I focus on you. Meet with me now, in this place.
Today we are going to spend some time curating our thoughts and renewing our minds using a few different passages of scripture to guide us.
Read
Romans 12:1-2 (NLT)
12 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
Romans 12:1-2 (the message)
12 1-2 So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out.
Philippians 4:8-9
8 And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. 9 Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.
Listen & Reflect
Because of all that he’s done for you…or as the NIV puts it, “in view of God’s mercy.” What has the Lord done for you? Spend a few moments gazing on God’s mercy in your life. What mercy are you most grateful for today?
According to Paul, the only logical response to God’s great mercy, is to offer ourselves wholly back to Him. And as we seek to renew our minds today, this is the best starting point. Before we move on, take a few moments to do just that…lay your ordinary life down before him. Your physical life, your emotional life, your spiritual life, all of it. Do this as an act of worship today.
Lord, I confess that I have been inundated with the patterns of this world this week. I’ve been prone to reach for my phone rather than reach out for you. I’ve been persuaded to hustle more and pray less. I’ve been encouraged to put my hope in things of this world and trust in my own resources. I’ve been told to fear the future, to scorn my fellow image-bearers, and to satisfy my flesh. Lord, help me to shed these destructive and dishonoring patterns from my life.
Spend a few moments expelling the behaviors of this world and fixing your attention on God. Breathe deeply and every time you exhale, let go of some aspect of the world’s ways you’ve been conforming to.
Scripture says that our thought life has the power to transform our very person…to change us from the inside out. Therefore, we should make an effort to curate our thoughts and to reshape the algorithm of our minds. Think for a moment. When you have a moment of stillness in your day, or perhaps those last moments before drifting off to sleep…where does your mind go? What is it that you dwell on in the solitude of your mind? Do those thoughts lead you to fear and anxiety or do they lead you to the peace of God? While we may not be able to choose every thought that pops up in our mind, we can control what we dwell on. But how?
Paul gives us a good guide in the book of Philippians. Right after he calls us to pray instead of worry and to let God’s peace protect our minds he gives us instructions on what to curate our thoughts with. Let’s take Paul’s list and meditate on it:
Fix your thoughts on what is true: God loves me. God is with me. God holds all things together. I am forgiven and redeemed. Keep meditating on God’s truths.
Fix your thoughts on what is honorable and right. The Character of Christ – His humility, love, sacrifice, and obedience to the Father. Acts of Kindness and Integrity – Stories of people who stand for truth, serve others selflessly, or demonstrate great moral character. My own spiritual growth – How has my integrity and character been shaped as I’ve followed Jesus more closely? Keep meditating on what is honorable and right.
Fix your thoughts on what is pure and lovely. The Beauty of Creation – The wonder of a sunset or a star-filled sky, The intricate design of a flower or a bird’s song, The majesty of the ocean or mountains Life-giving relationships – Friendships that encourage me, conversations that point me to Jesus, love that stands the test of time. Moments of joy and celebration – the sound of a child’s laughter, the sound of my own laughter, shared connection around a great meal. Keep meditating on what is pure and lovely.
Fix your thoughts on what is excellent, and worthy of praise. Stories of Redemption – Testimonies of God transforming lives. Heavenly Hope – The promise of eternal life with Christ, where there is no pain or sorrow. Continue to meditate on things that are excellent and worthy of praise.
Pray
Father,
I come to You today just as I am, laying my life before You. You’ve been so good to me, and the only right response is to give myself fully to You. I don’t want to hold anything back—I want my life to be a living sacrifice, completely surrendered to Your will.
But I know how easy it is to get caught up in the world’s way of thinking. Sometimes I chase after things that don’t really matter. I let fear, negativity, and distractions take up space in my mind. Lord, I don’t want to conform to the patterns of this world. I want to be transformed. Renew my mind. Change the way I think. Help me to see things the way You do.
Teach me to focus on what is true, what is honorable, what is right and pure. When my thoughts start to wander into fear or frustration, gently pull me back to what is lovely and praiseworthy. Let my heart be filled with things that bring You glory.
And as I walk through today, help me to put these things into practice—to not just think about them but to live them out. I trust that as I do, Your peace will surround me.
Thank You for always working in me, for never giving up on me, and for leading me into a life that is good, pleasing, and perfect in Your eyes.
Amen.