The Mind-Body Connection
– From The Mind Connection by Joyce Meyer
Proverbs 17:22
A merry heart does good, like medicine,
But a broken spirit dries the bones.
Isaiah 30:18
Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you;
And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you.
For the Lord is a God of justice;
Blessed are all those who wait for Him.
Isaiah 40:31
But those who wait on the Lord
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.
Isaiah 53:5
But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.
Ephesians 1:3
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,
Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Our bodies are like an automobile that God provides for us to drive around earth. If we want them to perform to their maximum ability and be around for a long time then we need to choose to think in ways that will help them.
The truth is that all of our thoughts, good or bad, have an effect on our physical body. Science has proven that positive, hopeful thoughts increase energy, whereas negative, hopeless ones drain energy. In fact, research shows that 75 to 98 percent of mental, physical, and behavioral illness comes from one’s thought life.¹ The mind and body are definitely connected!
When we’re sick, the enemy likes to bombard our minds with negative thoughts like, This is never going to work out. You’re never going to get well. It’s just going to keep getting worse. However, one of the ways I’ve learned to stop the wrong thoughts is to fill my mind with the right thoughts from God’s Word. Hebrews 4:12 says, “The Word that God speaks is alive and full of power.” Thinking and speaking His Word literally breathes life into our situation!
Years ago when I was battling cancer, God put it on my heart to fill my mind with the following things, then speak them out loud as often as I could. I would think and say: “God, I know that You love me. I believe that all things work out for good for those who love You and are called according to Your purpose. I put my trust in You, and I will not fear” (Romans 8:28, 35-39; Joshua 1:9; Proverbs 3:5).
I encourage you to focus on things that are positive and full of hope from God’s Word, especially if you are battling sickness in any way. Think, I am blessed, and I’m getting stronger every day—the Lord renews my strength. I receive healing because Jesus died to take away sickness and disease. God has a great plan for my life, and I am expecting great things for my future. Something good is going to happen to me today!²
Make the Mind Connection: Focusing on life-giving, hopeful thoughts from God’s Word can help strengthen and heal your body.
¹Dr. Caroline Leaf, Switch On Your Brain, Baker Books, pg. 33–38, September 1, 2013.
Adapted from The Mind Connection by Joyce Meyer. Copyright © 2015 by Joyce Meyer. Reprinted with permission of FaithWords, a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc. All rights reserved.