How to Capture Runaway Thoughts in a Battle…And Win Every Time! by Tracy Ward

We can demolish every deceptive fantasy that opposes God and break through every arrogant attitude that is raised up in
defiance of the true knowledge of God. We capture, like prisoners of war, every thought and insist that it bow in obedience to
the Anointed One. Since we are armed with such dynamic weaponry, we stand ready to punish any trace of rebellion, as soon
as YOU CHOOSE complete obedience.
2 Corinthians 10:5-6

We are now several weeks into the COVID-19 pandemic, and at some point, I bet there is not a single person reading this
who hasn’t faced a full-fledged attack on your mind and your thoughts.

For me, this time has been an amazing time, and there have been numerous opportunities to see God in action. Holy Spirit is
bringing fresh revelation, and He’s also using me to encourage, equip, and empower so many in the body of Christ. I’m
watching them step into and walk in greater understanding of their identities in Christ Jesus. Freedom is ringing loudly!

But how many of you know that just when you think everything is going so nice and smoothly, BAM, and then comes the test!

Allow me to set up the scenario. From August of last year until February, I had a significant hormone deficiency. This
deficiency caused numerous tormenting issues, like horrendous hot flashes and night sweats every two hours. I also
experienced a significantly reduced sex drive. Not cool for a married woman. But Thanks to Pastor Julie and her
recommendation to have my hormone levels checked, I finally received the help I needed.

Fast forward to April when the hormones finally kicked in and things normalized. I felt like a brand-new woman, and the internal
furnace was no more. Hallelujah! But something else happened that I didn’t expect. My sex drive woke up with a vengeance,
and suddenly, all I could think about was sex. While that might sound like great news, it was the intensity of it all that created
the problem. I felt like an 18-year-old teenage boy.

So, one might ask, as a married woman, what’s the problem with that? Well, when those thoughts bombard your mind such
that it consumes and overwhelms your thoughts, THAT, my friends, is a huge problem. Although my husband was a happy
camper, I still had a problem, because I wanted more, way more.

The other challenge I had was that I was delivered from a two-decade long pornography addiction nearly twenty years ago,
and the enemy was looking for an entrance to try to resurrect that old sin. But because that thing is deader than dead, that was
not even an option for me, nor was there a desire to do that. Thank You, Jesus!

So, the question is, how was I able to capture my thoughts, when they had already begun to run wild?

The Battle: 10 Rounds

My Opponent: My flesh/the enemy

The Winner: The first one to score ten points
Weeks one and two (rounds 1-2), I got my butt kicked and I felt as though I had no control whatsoever. I found myself
entertaining those unhealthy thoughts and feelings. It was as though I couldn’t even spell the name Jesus, let alone use the
authority He’s given me. I was afraid that this was going to end badly and that I could go back into some old thinking patterns,
and worse, behaviors that do not honor God. I was in trouble.
Score: Me 0 My flesh/the enemy 2

Revealed Truth: It would’ve been easy for me to justify myself, and to continue entertaining those thoughts because I wanted
more than I could have. This is where many believers get tripped up. Here’s a helpful truth. Even if you can easily blame the
situation for how you feel, and ten out of ten people would understand you entertaining your feelings, you’re still 100%
responsible for your response! God operates by a completely different standard than the world, and there is never a reason to
justify bad behavior.

But God! He had a plan.

THE PROCESS OF TAKING MY THOUGHTS CAPTIVE:

1. I called out to Jesus and I earnestly prayed for Him to help me.
   He answered early the next morning. I was still asleep, but in my spirit, I heard the words to this battle song that I had recently
   begun listening to again that said “🎵 Your Blood is my shield, Your Blood is my shield…I press on toward the goal to win”🎶. I
   saw a picture of Jesus’s Blood running down the walls of my mind. Immediately, hope sprang forth! That truth was enough to
   remind me of Who was with me, and Who was in me.
   When I fully awoke, additional parts of that song played in my spirit. “🎵 No compromise, I see the prize, yes I will win. No
   flaming arrows come to steal, Your Blood is my shield, I press on toward the goal to win!’ 🎶
   Revealed Truth: When you receive encouragement from the Lord, grab hold of that and don’t let go. This is a stewardship
   issue. If I thought that what the Lord gave me was some small thing, and I didn’t apply it to my circumstance, then I might have
   lost it. Unfortunately, this is a hard truth. You will lose what you fail to steward. ‘To those who use well what they are given,
   even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be
   taken away. ‘ Matthew 25:29
   Score: Me 1 My flesh/the enemy 2
2. I actively began taking those thoughts captive.
   I needed to submit to God, resist the devil, and wait for His Ugliness to flee.
   As challenging as it was to round up those thoughts and take them captive, I knew I wasn’t alone. Holy Spirit is my Helper, and
   He was right there to help me through this battle. I allowed the truth of God’s word to strengthen me and to remind me that
   greater is He Who is in me, than he who is in the world. I needed to believe that God’s grace was sufficient to enable and
   empower me to overcome what was before me. My confidence that I could win this battle immediately sprang into action!
   Revealed truth: You must strongly resist thoughts that oppose the knowledge of God. Although you may have hope and
   encouragement, the battle is real, and your attitude should be that this is a fight to the death!
   Score: Me 2 My flesh/the enemy 2
3. I rejected any form of guilt and shame.
   The truth is that MY WHO IS NOT MY DO. What does that mean? It means that who I am (my true identity) is not defined by
   what I do or do not do (my behavior). Therefore, as a blood-bought daughter of Christ, my identity never changes; even if my
   thoughts or feelings are not in right alignment to The Father. I’ve been made righteous in Christ by what He did on the
   cross. Because Jesus already dealt with sin, this was not the problem, here. My thoughts were sinful, yes, but that doesn’t
   mean that I had to go into shame-mode for having those thoughts.
   When I walk in this truth, there is no opening for the enemy to bring shame upon me.
   Revealed Truth: You are loved by God and NOTHING you do could ever separate you from His love. It’s time to start
   believing and walking in that truth, because we do what we believe and we will not do what we do not believe!
   Score: Me 3 My flesh/the enemy 2
4. I believed and received what Holy Spirit spoke to me, and I MADE A DECISION to exercise MY WILL, combined with
   HIS POWER to take those thoughts captive.
   God then began encouraging me with His Word. When I opened the bible app the following day, this was the verse of the day.
   Remember this: sin will not conquer you, for God already has! You are not governed by law but governed by the reign of the
   grace of God. Romans 6:14 TPT
   Hallelujah, I received that and I knew in my spirit this was a battle that I was not going to lose. Immediately, I was reminded of
   this scripture: If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and
   its desire is for you, but you must master it.” Genesis 4:7 NASB
   Revealed Truth: You have authority over sin! But authority, like a muscle, must be exercised. That is the only way you can
   bring Your thoughts into submission. You have the power through Holy Spirit to rule over your flesh and the sin it loves to
   produce!
   Score: Me 4 My flesh/the enemy 2
5. Fear of the Lord kicked in and sounded an alarm within me.
   Holy Spirit reminded me that my body is a temple of the Lord, and that I am to be Holy as He is Holy. I was so horrified of
   entertaining those thoughts in God’s presence that it literally brought a mega-shift in my thinking. As a blood-bought daughter
   of The Most High God, how could I possibly entertain vile thoughts when I carry God’s presence within me? What I realized is
   that my heart’s desire was to be pleasing to Him, not so much about the sin itself. Stated another way, I chose to operate in a God-conscious manner rather than in sin-consciousness. Thinking in this way brought me to my knees. It was right then that I
   determined that I would not defile the temple of the Lord any longer!
   Revealed Truth: The Fear of The Lord is a vital key to repentance. When the thought of hurting God becomes greater than
   your desire to experience temporary pleasure, that, my friends, is The Fear of the Lord. That fear is what causes you to turn
   around and sprint toward the Father!
   Score: Me 5 My flesh/the enemy 2
6. I shifted my thoughts and focus onto Jesus, and where I was seated in the heavenly places, with Christ.
   He raised us up with Christ the exalted One, and we ascended with him into the glorious perfection and authority of the
   heavenly realm, for we are now co-seated as one with Christ!
   Ephesians 2:6 TPT
   The truth is that wherever my focus is directed, that thing I behold will always become magnified. The problem occurs when the
   circumstances cause my focus to shift away from where I was seated, and to focus on what I was “thinking and feeling,” all of
   which was temporal and transient. Think about it, that is the goal of the enemy; he wants to draw you out of your spiritual
   residence in the heavenly places. He wants you to fix your eyes on the things of this world, and worse, what you think or how
   you feel about it. After all, this is where he has his authority! Not today, Satan…I see you, Sucka!
   Revealed Truth: The enemy has no access to the heavenly places. Remember, the heavenly places are far above all
   principalities and powers. God’s voice should always be the prevailing and loudest voice. If you hear the voice of the enemy
   chirping in your ear, that’s a clue that you’re not positioned in your spiritual residence. Where you position yourself determines
   what you see, and what you see determines your access. Get back in right alignment to The Father, so that you can access
   every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places! It’s not complicated. Ask Holy Spirit to help you.
   Score: Me 6 My flesh/the enemy 2
7. I exercised my God-given authority over my flesh.
   This is where the spiritual rubber meets the Christian Road. It was time to apply the truth of God’s word to this situation. For
   many Christians, it’s easy to read and quote the word, talk about God, and to participate in every “Christian Activity” under the
   sun. But the following scripture makes it quite clear that activities are not synonymous with application.
   Don’t just listen to the Word of Truth and not respond to it, for that is the essence of self-deception. So always let his Word
   become like poetry written and fulfilled by your life! If you listen to the Word and don’t live out the message you hear, you
   become like the person who looks in the mirror of the Word to discover the reflection of his face in the beginning. You perceive
   how God sees you in the mirror of the Word, but then you go out and forget your divine origin. But those who set their gaze
   deeply into the perfecting law of liberty are fascinated by and respond to the truth they hear and are strengthened by it—they
   experience God’s blessing IN ALL THAT THEY DO! James 1:22-25 TPT
   So, how exactly did I apply the word of God to my situation?
   It looked like this: After I received encouragement from the Lord, I earnestly focused on who I was and whose I was. When
   sinful or lustful thoughts would come, I spoke to them. I began saying things like “no, I will not rent you space in my mind, you
   can’t stay here, I’M THE BOSS of my thoughts, flesh, not you, and these thoughts WILL come into the obedience of the Word
   of God!” Then, I meditated on and spoke God’s word over myself, and I worshipped! Lastly, I engaged my spiritual prayer
   language. Now you tell me… do you think that those negative or sinful thoughts can hold up in that environment? Not a
   chance! The word says that if you SUBMIT to God, RESIST the devil (by applying the word of God) then The Loser Devil
   MUST FLEE (James 4:7 TLW)!
   Revealed Truth: Your spirit is always willing, but your flesh is weak. When you apply (by speaking) the word of God to your
   flesh, then you must act on (apply) what the word says. It’s not enough to quote the scripture, you must do it. Otherwise,
   James says that this is the essence of self-deception. He promises that when you apply the word of God, you’ll be
   strengthened by it, and you’ll be blessed in everything you do!
   Score: Me 7 My flesh/the enemy 2
8. I watched my flesh bow in total submission!
   As I walked in the above steps, I began seeing a significant reduction of those ridiculous thoughts! The more that happened,
   the more amped up I became in declaring the word over myself and worshipping My Deliverer! With each day, my thoughts reflected more godly thoughts than sinful thoughts. I was experiencing victory right before my very eyes, which encouraged me
   to keep going, and not to stop. It’s important to note that it would have been easy to reduce the hormone medication doses to
   stop the feelings they produced. Instead, I took captive the thoughts that the feelings produced, and lo and behold, both the
   thoughts and the feelings bowed in the Name of Jesus! Remember, the word says to take the thoughts captive, not your
   feelings. God’s word is true, and when applied to your circumstances, you will see the harvest every time!
   Revealed truth: Don’t give up! Your flesh won’t be able to hold up in an atmosphere of worship, feasting on God’s word and
   praying in the spirit. You must trust that victory is your portion. This can happen quickly, too. Remember, Galatians 5:16 says
   But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.
   Score: Me 8 My flesh/the enemy 2
9. God began to show off, and now, I’m having fun!
   Grace, hope, encouragement, self-control, love, patience, victory, and every other godly fruit of the spirit began to spring forth
   in multiple proportions. It was like God was saying, I’ll see your faith and obedience, and I’ll raise you everything in My arsenal
   to ensure your victory (a little poker terminology)! Now I’m having so much fun that I can’t stand it! I can smell the victory, and
   it’s a sweet aroma! The stench of sin is gone!
   Praise Report: The thoughts and the physical desires that went along with those thoughts have been gone for three weeks
   now, hallelujah! There has not been one vile thought cross my mind or one inappropriate feeling in my flesh!
   Revealed Truth: You don’t fight toward victory; you fight from victory! You have access to victory 24/7. Jesus secured the
   victory for us over 2000 years ago. Our job as His daughters is to ENFORCE HIS VICTORY! You must first believe that truth.
   Then, when you endeavor to take your flesh and its thoughts captive, and you apply the word of God, you can be assured of
   the victory every single time! That my friends, you can take to the bank!
   Score: Me 9 My flesh/the enemy 2
10. I never stopped ministering to others through the battle.
    One of the challenges with guilt and shame is that they leave you believing that you’re such a loser that you’re unfit to minister
    to an ant! Lies. All lies. If you know who you are in Christ, then you never stop doing what He’s put you on the earth to do. He
    is Who justifies you, not what you are or are not doing. In fact, through all of this, I helped numerous others break through their
    issues, and I saw such great growth in them. That was a product of Holy Spirit, not anything that I did! But had I sat on the
    sidelines, waiting to become “good enough” or “righteous enough” to play in the game, then sadly, that time would probably not
    ever come.
    Revealed Truth: It’s God who qualifies the called. It’s not how much you’re doing for Him, how good you are, or, how badly
    you think you’re doing. If you’re waiting until you have it all together, you’ll be waiting until eternity. Go and do what God has
    called you to do!

The Final Score: Me 10
My flesh/the enemy 2
The Winner: Me, by TKO in the 10th round!
(technical knockout for those who don’t know boxing terminology)

The Method:
I applied 2 Corinthians 10:5-6
I used the Dynamic Weaponry in my arsenal. The Blood, and my faith in God were My Shield, and The Spirit, God’s Word, was
My Sword! I engaged in worship and praying in the spirit. My flesh and the enemy never stood a chance.

The Prize:
EVERY deceptive fantasy that opposed God was DEMOLISHED. EVERY arrogant attitude raised up in defiance of the true
knowledge of God was BROKEN. EVERY trace of rebellion was PUNISHED, and EVERY thought was taken CAPTIVE and
those thoughts BOWED in obedience to the Anointed One. All because I chose complete obedience and applied the truth of
God’s promises to me as a daughter of the Most High!
Amen and Amen.