Do you ever have conversations with yourself? I do. Every day, this self-talk can involve how I look, what I believe people are thinking about me, what my value is based on how I performed, and even my mood for the day. Self-talk is almost always informed by feelings rather than truth, and can swing from “You can do it!” to “You can’t do it, and you will fail!” From “Those people like me.” to “Those people think I am stupid!” From “Today is going to be a great day.” to “Today is not going to go well.” It is a powerful thing when I allow my brain to tell my emotions how to interpret, perceive and understand things. Although I know this center of information is not all knowing and all seeing, I still find that I trust this database way too often.
I have learned through the years to use something I call God-talk to combat the habit of being led by my emotions. In order to use this, you have to read the Bible, and implant his truth in you. My God-talk varies, but could go something like this: “Kyle, I have a plan for you. I live in you and I have always taken care of you. You are made in my image. You can accomplish whatever my will is today because, through Christ, I have given you the strength to do it. Your honor depends on me and not on any human.”
God talk is based on truth. The truth found in the Bible, which is alive and powerful. God-talk is always loving, always helpful, and can always be trusted. We are not God, but we can certainly learn how he thinks about us and speak it over ourselves.
A great place to start is Psalm 139. There is a lot of God-talk in that one chapter.
Put your name in the blank and speak these truths:
“[Insert name here], I know you. As a matter of fact, I know everything about you. I understand you because I created you. I am in front of you and behind you, and you will never be alone, even on your darkest day. I created you. I knew about this day in your life before it came to be. I think about you all the time.”
Now that is some talking I like!
Decide today to change the conversation. As Randy said in his sermon on Sunday, let’s replace the old worn out recording of the enemy and start listening to and speaking out what the Spirit of God says.