Every Thought Captive

Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth: Do you ever find that when you sit down to pray, a thousand distracting thoughts cross your mind? The English poet John Donne described this problem well. Here’s what he said:

John Donne: A memory of yesterday’s pleasures,
A fear of tomorrow’s dangers,
A straw under my knee,
A noise in my ear,
A light in mine eye,
An anything,
A nothing,
A fancy,
A chimera in my brain,
Troubles me in my prayer.

Nancy: Can you relate? I’ve found that it takes some time to get a quiet heart before the Lord. Sometimes I start by singing a worship chorus or reading a psalm out loud, asking the Lord to settle my heart.

When I’m struggling to concentrate, I also ask God to help me do what’s described in 2 Corinthians 10:5, where it says that we are to take every thought captive to obey Christ.

With Seeking Him, I’m Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth.