Clearing our minds has always been a tenet of many famous religions. Other religions say that we are to empty our minds as we meditate. While the Bible says in Joshua 1:8 that we are to meditate on God’s Word day and night, that does not mean emptying or clearing our minds. It means focusing on God. While other religions would say that we must empty our minds, the Bible says that we are to fill our minds with Who God is, what He is like, and what He has revealed to us through the Scriptures. That is why we are to meditate on His Word day and night as written in Joshua 1:8.
Heavenly Father, help me always to fill my mind with the things of You. I pray that day and night, I shall always meditate and bank on what You have said in Your Word. I also pray that I shall never forget Who You are and that You are holy. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
How To Clear Your Mind For Prayer
How do we clear our minds when praying?
As mentioned above, when it comes to Christianity, there is no such thing as emptying our minds when it comes to prayer or doing our devotion or meditation. When you pray to God, you don’t have to be in a state where you are not thinking anything, devoid of thought. If you are consumed with fear, worry, anxiety, and other negative thoughts and emotions that bother you, you must pray before God and lift those concerns to Him.
In Psalm 59:1-2, David was in distress, yet he called upon the LORD. His mind wasn’t empty or cleared out whenever he came before God in prayer. He experienced distress and a whole range of emotions. But he prayed to God to pour his heart out and lift his concerns to Him, Who is faithful. By the end of Psalm 59, David speaks of God being his fortress and refuge in times of trouble—One Who is faithful and Whose love is steadfast. Despite his mind being filled with trouble and distress, he fixes his eyes on the LORD. That is how Christians clear their minds as well.
The same can be said of King Jehoshaphat and the Kingdom of Judah when a multitude of the enemy’s army was about to come to their doorstep. Indeed, their minds weren’t empty or cleared out at all. However, despite their worries, fear, and distress, they came before God in humility, acknowledging it is only God on Whom they can lean in such desperate times. In 2 Chronicles 20:12, King Jehoshaphat prayed to God that they didn’t know what to do, but their eyes were on Him.
The same applies if one celebrates. When a person’s mind is not filled with anxieties, worries, and other negative emotions and something good happens, indeed happiness, excitement, and other positive emotions are what a person feels. The thoughts that fill his or her mind are positive ones. Psalm 100 is an example of this, where the psalmist dedicated a whole Psalm entirely to praising and thanking God. The focus is not on something good that happened but on God, Who deserves all the glory.
In other words, as Christians, we don’t empty or clear out our minds when we pray. It is okay to approach God in prayer while having different thoughts and emotions. That is one of the purposes of prayer, where we can cast our cares and burdens on God, Who cares for and loves us as written in 1 Peter 5:6-7. We pray to God primarily because of our relationship with Him. We pray because we want to spend time with our heavenly Father.
Perhaps the closest thing we have as Christians to “clearing our mind” is when we pray and shift our eyes to God. In times of distress, we have peace and assurance as we fix our eyes on God, our rock and strong tower, just as King Jehoshaphat and the Kingdom of Judah fixed their eyes on God, Who put their distress in its proper place. At the same time, whatever joy or celebration we feel because of a particularly good happening turns into humility and thanksgiving as the spotlight is pointed to God, Who is faithful, gracious, and merciful.
We clear our minds when praying as we put God at the center of our prayer.
Heavenly Father, whenever I am in distress, help me to put my eyes on You. Thank You because I have peace in Christ no matter what storms I may go through. As I come before You with many things in my mind, I pray that, in the end, I will lay them all at Your feet and instead focus on You, behold You, and worship You no matter the circumstances I may find myself in. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
How To Clear Your Mind For Prayer
It is also important to note that the privilege of coming before God’s throne of grace to pray is only available to those in Christ. Being adopted as God’s children are only for those who believed the Gospel and repented. That is because we are all sinners who are separated from God. We can only find reconciliation, forgiveness, and eternal life in Christ. Through Christ, we can present our prayer requests to God for which we receive a peace that transcends all understanding as written in. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7.
How To Clear Your Mind For Prayer
As Christians, Christ also becomes the center of our life. Just as Peter should have fixed his eyes on Christ while walking on water amidst the storm, we also ought to fix our eyes on Christ, the Word of God, and God Himself. Like Peter, we can have a clear mind amid the storms only when we fix our eyes on Christ.