Unless you learn to hold your thoughts a safe distance from your heart, not only will your thoughts and emotions drive you day and night, but as you seek God in prayer, they’ll rise between you and the God you seek. Even the best thoughts about God will stand-in as surrogates for God, mind-made idols jealous for your attention and affection (Exodus 20.4-6). As John Milton put it so memorably: “The mind is its own place, and in itself / Can make a Heav’n of Hell, a Hell of Heav’n”. With practice you’ll learn to turn your thoughts toward the living God (1 Thessalonians 1.9), and with the help of grace, make your mind a holy place.

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