Transforming A Crappy Attitude

   Have you ever had one of those days where your attitude just sucked? One of those days when you woke up in crappy mood and everything seemed to go wrong? One of those days when you are snapping at everyone and people are afraid to be around you? One of those days when you not focused on things of the Spirit?
    Today has been one of those days for me. I have felt off kilter all morning and things just are not going the way I wanted them to go. I felt out of control and that has pushed me into "anger zone." This morning I was snapping at my kids, thinking really mean thoughts about the people around me, and having a nice little pity party because things were not working out the way I wanted. I felt justified in all of my feelings until I remembered that it is not up to me to keep the universe in motion.
     Sometimes I need to be reminded that I am not God and that if my plans fall through, oh well. I need to be reminded that God has not tasked me with being in control of everything, he has tasked me with being filled with the Spirit and bringing glory to his name. Days like today, I need to refocus my mind on things of the Spirit so that I can be pleasing to God.
      As I have shared in some of my previous posts, I am learning to seek God's Words when I am struggling and I am practicing praying through Scripture. I want to be the kind of person who prays by getting in God's face with God's word. I want to remember God's promises and cry out to him to fulfill those promises. Today I am going to share four pieces of Scripture, talk a little about how they spoke to me this morning and then share with you how I prayed through them.

     Romans 8:5-"For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit."

     How it spoke to me: This morning my mind was definitely set on things of the flesh-I was consumed by what I wanted and how I wanted it and getting angry when life did not follow my plan. I needed to be reminded that since I live according to the Spirit, that I need to set my mind on things of the Spirit. I also needed to be reminded that it takes a conscious effort to set my mind on the things of the Spirit.
    How I prayed through it: First I confessed to God that my mind was set on things of the flesh then I asked for God's help to set my mind on things of the Spirit.

    Romans 8:10-"But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness."
 
    How it spoke to me: Sometimes I forget that since I am in Christ and Christ is in me, that I also have the Spirit in me. I depend on myself for my righteousness and forget that my righteousness is through Christ alone and that the Spirit is my life-giving force. I forget that I do not possess the ability on my own to change anything-that it is all done through the Spirit in me.
    How I prayed through it: I asked God to remind me that the Spirit is already in me and that it's not up to my own power to change my attitude. Then I asked the Spirit to do that work in me and I asked for power to simply allow the Spirit to work in my soul.

   Ephesians 5:18-"Do not be drunk with wine for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit."

    How it spoke to me: I bet your thinking, as I did when I was first told to memorize this verse, that it is a strange and really weird verse. Why does Paul talk about being drunk and being filled with the Spirit in the same sentence? What do those two things have to do with each other? We were discussing the work of the Holy Spirit in Women's School a few weeks back and the teacher explained to us that this verse is meant to be viewed as an analogy. When you are drunk, people know it. Being drunk effects your speech, the way you walk, the way you interact with people, everything; people can tell when you are drunk. This is how it should be when we are filled with the Spirit. The Spirit should effect our speech, the way we walk, the way we interact with people, everything; people should be able to tell when you are filled with the Spirit. This applied to me today, because much like people can tell when I am drunk, people can also tell when I am filled with a spirit of anger and frustration.
    How I prayed through it: I cried out to God to fill me with the Spirit and to take away my spirit of anger and frustration. I confessed that my kids can see when I am angry and frustrated and that those feelings effect the way I treat my children. I asked God to help me to demonstrate to my children what it looks like to be filled with the Spirit.

   Ezekiel 36:26-27-"And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statues and be careful to obey my rules."

    How it spoke to me: Again I need to be reminded that God has already done the transforming work in me and that he has already replaced my heart of stone with a heart of flesh.
    How I prayed through it: I asked God to remind me that he has already put a new heart within me and that he has already filled me with the Spirit. I asked God to help me to be renewed by the fact that the work has already been done and to help me walk in that assurance.

    My challenge to you is to dig into God's word and find his truths that speak to whatever situation you find yourself. Memorize those words so that you can recall them in times of weakness. Pray through Scripture, calling out God to fulfill his promises and beg his help to remember his truths. God's word is powerful, take hold of it and grasp it tightly!