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Trim Size = 6 X 9, Spine = .875, Hard Cover Template $21.99 ($24.99 in Canada) Joyce Meyer has a knack for coining s s P phrases—her fans call them “Joyceisms”— bo m and one of her best loved is “Where the JOYCE MEYER is one of the world’s O E STRATEGIES to mind goes, the man follows.” This was leading practical Bible teachers. W the basis for her bestseller Battlefi eld of A #1 New York Times bestselling author, the Mind, and in Power Thoughts, Joyce h One of my favorite sayings is, si she has written more than eighty E brings us to the next level in overcoming rn a inspirational books, including THE BATTLE negative thinking. V R The Love Revolution, Never Give Up!, s of the MIND This follow-up to Battlefi eld of the Mind os the entire Battlefi eld of the Mind family I wholeheartedly believe our thoughts “lead” us, charting T Gl takes the groundbreaking principles that of books, and two novels, The Penny the course for our lives and pointing us in certain directions H ot have made that book so successful and p and Any Minute, as well as many others. that ultimately determine our destinations in life. Our S goes a step further. While Battlefi eld of the She has also released thousands of O thoughts cause us to have certain attitudes and perspectives; Mind exposes the truth that we can choose audio teachings, as well as a complete they affect our relationships; they determine how productive U what we think about and learn to think in h video library. Joyce’s Enjoying Everyday s Life radio and television programs are we will be personally and professionally; and they greatly G lsihnoew wsi tuhs Ghoodw’s t Wo aocrdco, mPopwleisr hT hthouisg.hts arni V infl uence the overall quality of our lives. We absolutely must broadcast around the world, and H e she travels extensively conducting understand the power of thoughts! Get equipped with twelve strategies that att T provide the antidote for every battle in M conferences. Joyce and her husband, Dave, are the parents of four grown —Joyce Meyer, FROM THE INTRODUCTION S your mind. With Power Thoughts, learn how you can control the way you think and children and make their home in POWER positively affect every area of your life! K St. Louis, Missouri. C A L B N A THOUGHTS Y C a nt e g a M ALSO AVAILABLE IN LARGE PRINT CHRISTIAN LIVING/INSPIRATIONAL AND SPANISH EDITIONS JACKET DESIGN BY MEGAN RIORDAN w JACKET PHOTOGRAPH BY DAVID DOBSON o ell Y VISIT OUR WEB SITE AT WWW.FAITHWORDS.COM #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR PRINTED IN THE U.S.A. ©2010 HACHETTE BOOK GROUP, INC. PWRTHOUGHTS_FNLJacket0524.indd 1 5/25/10 2:25:22 PM Pantone 8003 represents Crown Roll Leaf #651 01 02 03 04 P o w e r 05 06 07 ThoughTs 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 12 StrategieS to 15 Win the Battle of the Mind 16 17 18 19 Joyce Meyer 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 New York Boston Nashville S35 N36 PowerThoughts_HCtextF1.indd 3 7/1/10 10:02:17 PM Copyright © 2010 by Joyce Meyer All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without 01 the prior written permission of the publisher. 02 03 Unless otherwise indicated, Scriptures are taken from the Amplified Bible®. 04 Copyright © 1954, 1962, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by 05 permission. 06 07 Scriptures noted nasb are taken from the New American Standard Bible®, copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1972, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foun- 08 dation. Used by permission. 09 10 Scriptures noted The Message are taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 11 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publish- 12 ing Group. 13 14 Scriptures noted nkjv are taken from the New K ing J ames V ersion. Copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc., Publishers. 15 16 FaithWords 17 Hachette Book Group 18 237 Park Avenue 19 New York, NY 10017 20 www.faithwords.com 21 22 Printed in the United States of America 23 24 First Edition: September 2010 25 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 26 FaithWords is a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc. 27 The FaithWords name and logo are trademarks of Hachette Book Group, Inc. 28 29 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data 30 31 Meyer, Joyce. 32 Power thoughts : 12 strategies to win the battle of the mind / Joyce 33 Meyer.—1st ed. p. cm. 34 ISBN 978-0-446-58036-6 (regular edition)—ISBN 978-0-446-57414-3 (large 35S print edition) 1. Thought and thinking—Religious aspects—Christianity. 36N 2. Success—Religious aspects—Christianity. 3. Spirituality. I. Title. BV4598.4.M49 2010 248.4—dc22 2010008535 PowerThoughts_HCtextF1.indd 4 7/1/10 10:02:17 PM 01 02 03 04 C h a P t e r 05 1 06 07 08 The Power of a Positive You 09 10 11 12 13 O lympic gold medalist Scott Hamilton has said, “The only dis- 14 ability in life is a bad attitude.” It’s true. Nothing will hinder or 15 handicap you in life as severely as a bad attitude. When I use the 16 word attitude, I am referring to the system of thoughts, the mental 17 posture, the mind-set, or the way of thinking with which a person 18 approaches life. For example, if a person has a bad attitude toward 19 work, he will think thoughts such as these: 20 21 • I have the most boring job on Earth. 22 • My boss is too demanding. 23 • This company needs to pay me more and treat me better. 24 • I should get more vacation time. 25 • I always have to do the “grunt work.” 26 • No one here appreciates me. 27 • I may have to work with these people around me, but I don’t have 28 to be nice to them. 29 30 All those thoughts combine to make one big bad attitude. How 31 could a person with those thoughts running through his mind all 32 day ever enjoy his work, become a positive employee, or make valu- 33 able contributions to his company? He can’t—unless he changes 34 his thoughts and develops a better attitude. Even if your employer S35 definitely needs to make changes and improve in several areas you N36 PowerThoughts_HCtextF1.indd 13 7/1/10 10:02:19 PM 14 Power thoughts 01 must realize that being negative about your job does not change 02 your employer, but it does change your attitude into one that is 03 “power-draining.” 04 Do you think the person I just described would be a good can- 05 didate for a raise or a promotion? Certainly not. But, what about a 06 man whose attitude is built on thoughts like these? 07 08 • I am so thankful to have a job. 09 • I am going to do my very best every day. 10 • I believe that God gives me favor every day with my boss. 11 • I am glad to be part of a team with my coworkers even though 12 none of us are perfect. 13 • The work environment may not be ideal, but I will do my part to 14 make it pleasant for myself and those around me. 15 • I am committed to be focused and diligent while I’m on company 16 time. 17 • I would like a raise, so I will work hard to earn it. 18 19 No doubt, this person’s positive attitude will position him for 20 promotion in his company, and if he has the same type of attitude 21 in other areas, he will enjoy a happy and fulfilling life. Even if 22 his employer never recognizes his attributes, God does and will 23 either change the employer’s heart or provide better employment. 24 God always rewards openly what we do in secret for His honor and 25 glory. 26 27 28 It’s Up to You 29 30 All of us have the privilege and responsibility of choosing our atti- 31 tudes, no matter what circumstances or situations we find ourselves 32 in. The key word here is choosing. Attitudes don’t just happen; they 33 are the products of our choices. Over time, the thought patterns 34 established in our minds can put us on “autopilot,” which means 35S that when certain types of situations occur, we are preprogrammed 36N to think about them in certain ways. We have to interrupt this PowerThoughts_HCtextF1.indd 14 7/1/10 10:02:19 PM the Power of a PosItIve You 15 autopilot function and learn to stop our minds from going in the 01 directions they have gone for years if that direction is not produc- 02 ing good things in our lives. For example: 03 04 • You may have spent years dreading being with your family for 05 holiday celebrations, but this year, you can choose to think, 06 Being with family may not be my favorite activity, but I am going 07 to purposefully look for something good in each of my relatives. 08 • You may have a habit of complaining of feeling overwhelmed 09 when bills arrive in your mailbox every month, but you can 10 begin to think, I am going to pay as much as possible on this bill, 11 and little by little I am getting out of debt. 12 13 It is vital for you to understand that you can choose your own 14 thinking. You may be in a habit of merely thinking whatever falls 15 into your mind, but you are now in the process of retraining your 16 mind one thought at a time. As you learn to think as God thinks 17 it enables Him to partner with you in accomplishing whatever you 18 need to accomplish. 19 20 21 Think about It 22 23 What do you believe is the most important thought or attitude you 24 need to change in your life? 25 26 27 28 29 30 An Attitude Adjustment 31 32 Winston Churchill noted that “Attitude is a little thing that makes 33 a big difference.” I couldn’t agree more. All of us need “attitude 34 adjustments” at times, and an attitude adjustment is the result of S35 changing the way we think. N36 PowerThoughts_HCtextF1.indd 15 7/1/10 10:02:19 PM 16 Power thoughts 01 If we keep our attitudes up and positive, we will continue to 02 climb higher and higher in life and be able to soar. But if our atti- 03 tudes are down and negative, we will fall and stay on the ground 04 of life, never able to make the journeys God intends for us or reach 05 the destinations He has planned for us. 06 You may have heard the saying: “Your attitude determines your 07 altitude.” In other words, a positive attitude will cause you to “fly 08 high” in life, while a negative attitude will keep you down. Just as 09 pilots have certain rules to follow to keep planes oriented, with the 10 right attitudes and altitudes, I want to share a few rules you can fol- 11 low in life to help keep your attitude positive so you can keep your 12 “altitude” where it should be. 13 14 Rule #1: Maintain the right attitude when the going 15 gets rough. 16 17 No matter what happens to you, determine to go through it with 18 the right attitude. In fact, determine beforehand that you will keep 19 a positive attitude in the midst of every negative situation that pre- 20 sents itself to you. If you make this decision and meditate on it 21 during a good time in your life, then when difficulty arises you will 22 already be prepared to maintain a good attitude. For example, if an 23 unexpected bill or major repair presents itself to you, make up your 24 mind that you will not complain because you have to tighten your 25 belt financially for a few months to make up for it. Instead, look 26 at the challenge as an adventure and decide you will find creative 27 ways to cut costs for a while and look for ways to enjoy life without 28 spending money. I have witnessed over and over how God helps 29 people who keep a good attitude in challenging times. I recently 30 heard of a couple who were struggling financially but were also 31 determined to keep a good, positive, and thankful attitude. The 32 man, who we will call John, worked in a restaurant and one day 33 a customer had a heart attack while eating lunch there. John had 34 some medical training from being in the armed forces and was able 35S to administer CPR to keep the man breathing and his heart beating 36N until the paramedics arrived. As it turned out, the man whose life PowerThoughts_HCtextF1.indd 16 7/1/10 10:02:19 PM the Power of a PosItIve You 17 was saved happened to be very wealthy and in appreciation he gave 01 John a check for five thousand dollars as a way of saying, “Thank 02 you for saving my life.” The good attitude the couple maintained in 03 their financial struggle opened the door for God to work miracu- 04 lously in their lives. 05 Throughout history, we have examples of people who have 06 maintained good attitudes in the face of difficult times and thereby 07 turned their problems into opportunities. Specifically, I think of 08 various individuals who were imprisoned and composed some of 09 the most influential writing the world has ever known, such as: 10 “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King Jr., Pilgrim’s 11 Progress by John Bunyan, and Sir Walter Raleigh’s The History of 12 the World. While the famous composer Ludwig van Beethoven was 13 not literally imprisoned, he was almost totally deaf and suffered 14 great sorrow during a period of his life—and that was when he 15 wrote his greatest symphonies. No doubt, these people could have 16 had terrible attitudes as they faced trouble, but they made a decision 17 and maintained the best of attitudes through the worst of times and 18 made contributions that are still read and heard in the world today. 19 I don’t think they were simply born as positive people—I believe 20 they had to make a choice and decided to make one that would 21 benefit themselves as well as the world. One of the worst mistakes 22 we can make in our thinking is to believe we are just not like those 23 positive people and we can’t help it. If you think you can’t do any- 24 thing about your thinking and attitude then you’re defeated before 25 you even begin to try. 26 No matter what difficulty you encounter, maintaining the right 27 attitude will be much easier than regaining the right attitude, so as 28 soon as you sense your attitude losing altitude, make an adjustment. 29 Remember to resist the devil at his onset (see 1 Peter 5:8, 9). In other 30 words, as soon as the enemy sends negative thoughts into your mind, 31 stop them. Determine that you will not agree with them and decide 32 that you will not listen to his voice anymore. Discipline yourself to 33 stand strong with your positive attitude in every circumstance. Mis- 34 ery will always be an option; you can always choose to be unhappy S35 and pessimistic, but you can also choose to be optimistic and happy. N36 PowerThoughts_HCtextF1.indd 17 7/1/10 10:02:19 PM 18 Power thoughts 01 02 Think about It 03 04 How can you begin to make attitude adjustments now to help you 05 maintain a good attitude the next time you find yourself up against 06 a challenge? It may be as easy as saying, “I realize that life is not 07 perfect but with God’s help I am going to be stable even during the 08 storms of life.” 09 10 11 12 13 Rule #2: Realize the rough times won’t last forever. 14 15 I have heard many people who live in parts of the world where there 16 are four distinct seasons talk about how much they enjoy winter, 17 spring, summer, and fall. They like the variety and the unique 18 beauty, qualities, and opportunities of each season. The Bible tells 19 us God Himself changes times and seasons (see Daniel 2:21). Sea- 20 sons change; this is true in the natural world and it is true in regard 21 to the seasons of our lives. It means that difficult times do not last 22 forever. We may have “off” days, tough weeks, bad months, or even 23 a year that seems to have more than its share of troubles, but every 24 negative experience does come to an end. 25 Some of the trying situations we find ourselves in seem to go on 26 far too long. When this happens, we are usually tempted to com- 27 plain or become discouraged. Instead, we need to promptly adjust 28 our attitudes and ask God to teach us something valuable as we 29 press through the situation at hand. According to James 1:2–3, God 30 uses trials and pressure to produce good results in our lives. He 31 always wants to bless us. Sometimes His blessings come through 32 unexpected circumstances we may view as negative, but if we will 33 keep positive attitudes in the midst of those situations, we will 34 experience the positive results God desires to give us. 35S If you are going through a difficult time right now, let me remind 36N you that this probably isn’t the first challenge you’ve ever faced. PowerThoughts_HCtextF1.indd 18 7/1/10 10:02:19 PM the Power of a PosItIve You 19 You survived the last one (and probably learned some valuable les- 01 sons through it) and you will survive this one too. Your trials are 02 temporary; they won’t last forever. Better days are on their way. Just 03 keep your attitude “up” instead of “down,” and remember that this 04 is just a season and it will pass. 05 06 07 Think about It 08 09 Look back over the course of your life and remember some of the 10 trials you have faced. How has God used them to bring something 11 good into your life? 12 13 14 15 16 Now, remind yourself He will also bring good out of the current 17 situation and the next one too! 18 19 When David faced the giant Goliath, he remembered the lion and 20 the bear he had already defeated and it gave him courage in his cur- 21 rent situation. 22 23 24 Rule #3: Don’t make major decisions during a storm. 25 No one’s entire life is like one big, long sunny day. At some point, 26 we all face storms—whether they come in the form of unexpected 27 illness, job loss, financial crisis, marital difficulties, problems with 28 children, or any number of other scenarios that are stressful, intense, 29 and important. I have faced many storms in my life—some like the 30 quick afternoon storms that are common in summertime and some 31 that seemed like category four hurricanes. If I have learned any- 32 thing about weathering the storms of life, I have learned that they 33 don’t last forever, as I mentioned in Rule #2, and that if at all pos- 34 sible, I do not need to make major decisions in the midst of them. S35 When the storms of life arise, it’s best to keep your mind and N36 PowerThoughts_HCtextF1.indd 19 7/1/10 10:02:19 PM