Oh, the Mischief of Thoughts!

"Oh, the mischief of thoughts! A man may deny God in his thoughts: 'The fool hath said in his heart there is no God' (Psalm 14:1). He may commit adultery in his thoughts: 'Whosoever looks on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her in his heart' (Matthew 5:28). A man may murder another in his thoughts: 'Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer' (1 John 3:15). O Tremble at sinful thoughts. We startle at gross sin, but we are not troubled so much for sinful thoughts. Know firstly, that sin may be committed in the thoughts, though it never blossom into outward act: 'The thought of foolishness is sin' (Proverbs 24:9)" (Thomas Watson, The Great Gain of Godliness, p. 81).

O Lord, how complicated, beautiful, and dangerous a computer it is. If the heart is deceitful above all else, what of the mind? The mind: the place of wrestling for the conscience, where I make excuses for and justify my sin, where I suppress the truth with my unrighteousness, where I can be so very double-minded. The mind: where any and all evil within me swirls and becomes a cauldron of sinful contemplation and planning. Lord, so often I find myself shaking off sinful thoughts as a boxer shakes off a blow to the temple, or a football player shakes of the ringing of his ears after a violent, helmet-to-helmet collision.

And how easy it is for me, Father, to brush off the sinfulness of my thoughts when I shake off the thoughts themselves. O Lord, that I would be as startled by my sinful thoughts as I am by an angry word uttered or by an inappropriate second glance, or by even a prideful posture.

Please come, Holy Spirit; renew my mind as you create in me a clean heart. Help me, Holy Spirit, to take every thought captive, for the glory of God. Help me to dwell on the things above and not the sinful musing of my yet-to-be fully sanctified mind. Fill my mind with Your Word, O God. Sanctify me in truth; Your Word is truth!

In Jesus' name, I pray that I would never again have a wayward, mischievous thought. Oh, how much sin would I avoid committing if my mind swam continuously in refreshing waters of righteousness, godliness, and holiness. Please Lord, for your own glory, hear and answer my prayers, and let not my prayers be hindered by the very thing through my prayers I ask You to expel in my life. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.