Spiritual warfare teaching usually starts with II Corinthians 10:5 which states,
“We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.”
This verse centers around “arguments” and “lofty opinions” the enemy throws at our minds through thoughts like arrows. Anything that does not line up with the Bible or heart of God should be immediately rejected (not ruminated on).
Personally, I started to notice early on, that have a set of rather routine thoughts as I go about my day and every now and then I have a thought that is not my usual and very dark. Something like, “let’s go rob a bank” or “punch that person” are the obvious thoughts that I reject. (We are told to take every thought captive not just these obviously evil thoughts but more on that in another post)
Taking thoughts captive is one part, but there may be other overlooked pieces as well. Philippians 4:6-7 says,
“do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Here we see that both the heart and mind needs to be guarded. The issue here is anxiety which is not a thought but more of an emotional state. We are told here to be aware of a feeling of anxiety and immediately deal with it through prayer, supplication, and thanksgiving and not stop until we have peace. We should be aware of our thoughts and feelings to ensure they obey Christ. He declares in Matthew 11:28-30, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
When we are feeling anything other than an easy yoke or light burden then we know it is outside His stated will for us.
