Grab it and throw it in the trash

Author Max Lucado wrote, “Some time back, a mother asked me to pray for her eight-year-old son. He was troubled by a constant barrage of images and scary visions that left him withdrawn and timid. They even took his sleep at night. On the day we met, his eyes filled with tears, and he clung to his mother. She had taken him to doctors, but nothing had helped. I told him that the devil had no authority over his life. That the real battles are fought in the mind. That God will help us take every thought captive. I urged him to memorize a Bible verse and quote it each time the fearful thoughts came to his mind. ‘Reach up with your hand,’ I urged, ‘and grab the thought and throw it in the trash. And as quickly as you do that, replace it with a verse of scripture.’ We then anointed him with oil and prayed for him. Five days later, his mother reported great progress. ‘Since last week, the images are gone; he is no longer seeing them. He recites this scripture from Psalm 25:5 NKJV nightly: ‘Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation.’ I believe this has brought him closer to Christ. He uses the strategy of throwing the fearful thoughts away in the trash can. He said when he tried to throw them away, his head would hurt. I asked, ‘What made them go away?’ He smiled and said, ‘I know God made them go away.’” So the word for you today is – “grab it and throw it in the trash.”