A Prayer to Focus on God in this Distracting World
By Kelly Balarie
“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” – Romans 12:2 NLT
I scrolled down the never-ending social media page. Of course, what I saw was opinions and more opinions, controversies on top of controversies, and offense after offense. Add that to people’s long-winded discourses on religious topics and their views of the news, and I didn’t know what to think anymore…
Ugh. Everyone has something to say, but are they even saying anything that matters? I didn’t know. I kept scrolling. One rabbit hole led to another, and before I knew it, I wasted half an hour getting sucked into meaningless social media chatter. Then, I spent another thirty minutes researching a quick-fix solution for a health problem and a post on a mind-renewal strategy that, apparently, works in ten minutes.
Is this what Jesus intended for us Christians to spend our time doing? And could what we are reading transform our minds? One must wonder… When I talk about a subject, my phone repeatedly shows me ads on that topic. When I research something to discern if it is a path God might want to take, I get more posts on that topic. Controversy rises to the top. Controversy divides and makes love run cold.
After writing a book on taking every thought captive, I know that what we fill our minds with is what our minds will contain. Think: if a pitcher contains water, it will pour out water. If we fill our minds with offense, we will think offended thoughts.
God tells us in Romans 12:2, “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”
When we avoid the behaviors and customs of the world, we make space to learn the ways and thoughts of God. When we let go of how the world thinks, we can begin to understand how God thinks via His Word. This is powerful. The goodness we search for is not found in the material items of the world, through the intellect of man, or in the structures of government; what is good is found in the will of God activated in our lives.
How do we know this? Because God’s will is: “good, pleasing and perfect.” Goodness is not found via the world but by living a life set apart by God. Romans 12:2 makes this abundantly clear. The pleasure we seek comes not from people’s affirmations but from a heart willing to untangle from the lures and the allures of the world in order to please God. The perfect thing we long for is the hope found only in Jesus Christ.
Worldliness distracts from pure-heart devotion to God. What might you need to let go of today to experience the goodness of God?
Let’s Pray
Father, I want to know you more. I want to experience your goodness. I want to understand your perfection. I want to live a life that seeks your pleasure, first and foremost. I want to live your will for my life. Father, I know that I cannot do this on my own. There are things that have entangled my heart and have been engrained in my mind. I ask you to release me from those temptations and traps. There are things that I have made habits and that now have become hurdles. These things are not your ways. I ask you to equip me to overcome these things and to help me set new habits. I have followed the world’s ways, but I want to be renewed in your ways. Teach me your ways, God. I repent of partnering with the world. I repent of believing and trusting in its ways more than yours. Forgive me. I want you and I ask for your help. Have mercy on me and give me your grace to go a new way. In Jesus’ mighty name. Amen.
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