Our emotions play a huge part in who we are. They are not our enemy, but our plumbline for walking the straight and narrow road. They are either initiated by carnal desires, red flags to alert us to a need to pray about, or spiritual motivation to change our course and walk in God’s plans.
Emotions are not intrinsically good and evil, but helpful in their own way. They give us a clue as to our passion about what is happening to us at the moment – either negative or positive. We feel either angry, frustrated, discourage, sad, etc. or loving, cheerful, hopeful and encouraged, etc.
Our emotional temperature encourages us to reach out in hope or to withdrawal from danger. God gave us emotions to adequately express our thoughts and feelings. At times, our emotions erupt instantaneously, or sometimes they creep up on us without us even realizing that they are coming.
Embracing all of our emotions as valid helps us to decide if they are warning us of an area in our life that we are ignoring, or if they are to be enjoyed and encouraged. They are fueled by our thoughts and physical needs, and they influence our attitudes and decisions.
Our impressions, outlooks, and perceptions reveal our true feelings about all of our issues. If we gather all of the facts about our situation before making a judgment about it, our emotions will reflect the truth rather than our assumptions. Jumping to conclusions is an unwise leap.
When we attempt to forget our trauma that we experience in life, we simply bury it in the recesses of our mind. Hiding our crises points in our subconscious mind does not allow us to escape the effect and power that they have over us. These buried emotions are simply added to new emotions that we currently feel.
If we allow God to help us to follow our feeling to its source, and we acknowledge the words in our mind that are fueling those emotions, we can then take the issues to God for His clarity and truth. His truth always sets us free (John 8:36).
- https://www.transformationprayer.org/preparing-journey-introduction/
Prayer:
Father God, we often discover that our negative thoughts are initiated in lies that Satan planted in past experiences, or blocks that he intends to use to drive wedges between us and significant others in our life. He tries to convince us that we are victims of our circumstances, and that we will never overcome life’s challenges. Your Holy Spirit will sanctify the thoughts behind our emotions, and He will fill us with Your truth instead.
Teach us to be sensitive to buried negative emotions from our past. They will cause us to over-react in simple situations that do not really have any need for strong emotions. A simple depression can escalate into debilitating fears and physical symptoms. You gave us emotions to express our true feelings, not to ignore them. Remind us that discounting negative emotions allows them to cripple our soul.
Thought for the Day:
Most people allow our immediate emotions to dictate our thoughts and behavior; however, as we allow God’s Spirit to renew our mind from humanistic thinking to Biblical rationalization, the character and nature of Jesus is exemplified in our thoughts, emotions, words and deeds.
- Romans 12:2
