Power Thoughts: 12 Strategies to Win the Battle of the Mind

by Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer has a knack for coining phrases-her fans call them Joyceisms-and one of her best loved is "Where the mind goes, the man follows." This was the basis for Battlefield of the Mind, and in her latest book, Meyer provides "power thoughts," bringing the reader to a new level of ability to use the mind as a tool to achievement.In Power Thoughts, she outlines a flexible program to turn thoughts into habits, and habits into success. Sections The Power of a Positive You 5 Rules for Keeping Your Attitude at the Right Altitude More Power To You bulleted keys to successful thinking in each chapter The Power of PerspectiveNobody has more of a "can-do" attitude than Joyce Meyer. Now you can, too.

Genres: Christian, Nonfiction, Self Help, Spirituality, Inspirational, Christianity, Religion

275 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 17, 2009

About the author

Joyce Meyer is one of the world's leading practical Bible teachers. A New York Times bestselling author, Joyce’s books have helped millions of people find hope and restoration through Jesus Christ. Through Joyce Meyer Ministries, Joyce teaches on a number of topics with a particular focus on how the Word of God applies to our everyday lives. Her candid communication style allows her to share openly and practically about her experiences so others can apply what she has learned to their lives.

Joyce’s programs, Enjoying Everyday Life and Everyday Answers with Joyce Meyer, can be seen around the world through television, radio, and the Internet. Joyce has authored more than 100 books, which have been translated into more than 100 languages and over 65 million of her books have been distributed worldwide. She teaches in cities across America as well as internationally. Joyce Meyer Ministries has offices in nine countries.

Joyce’s passion to help hurting people is foundational to the vision of Hand of Hope, the missions arm of Joyce Meyer Ministries. Hand of Hope provides worldwide humanitarian outreaches such as feeding programs, medical care, orphanages, disaster response, human trafficking intervention and rehabilitation, and much more – always sharing the love and Gospel of Christ.

Her latest book, LIVING A LIFE YOU LOVE, releases Spring 2018.

Hachette Book Group has sold over 30 million copies of Joyce Meyer's books.

Reviews

[Stefanie Sugia · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The battle in our minds will continue until our earthly lives are complete. We will never become so spiritual that the enemy decides to stop harassing us, but we can become stronger and stronger against him as we grow in our relationship with God and in understanding His Word."

A while ago, I was kind of bored reading fiction books (probably because I haven't found any that really blew me away lately); so I decided to pick up a non-fiction book to lift up my reading mood. I chose this book because I know it will be good for me and it's something that I wouldn't get bored with. Back in 2014, I read and reviewed Joyce Meyer's other book called God is Not Mad At You , and it was really life-changing for me. It changed my perspective about life and my relationship with God. So going into this book, I was hoping for the same life-changing effect—and it definitely did. I know I had a lot of wrong thoughts in my life, but this book pointed out even the ones that I never realized was wrong before. In this review, I'm going to briefly share half of the power thoughts in this book so you can have an idea of what's inside :)

"All of us have the privilege and responsibility of choosing our attitudes, no matter what circumstances or situations we find ourselves in. The key word here is choosing. Attitudes don't just happen; they are the products of our choices."

As an introduction, Joyce Meyer gave a foundation that will make us understand how our thoughts will affect our attitudes—and that our attitudes are based on our choices.We are reminded that we will always have an option to be miserable, unhappy, and pessimistic; but we can also choose to be optimistic and happy despite our circumstances. I really love the part in which she said:

"Being positive does not mean we deny the existence of difficulty; it means we believe God is greater than our difficulties.

because there's no denying that life can be—and will be—difficult at times. But if we choose to believe the best out of our situations, we will be living with the right attitude. This book encouraged us to start making the habit of controlling our thoughts. Whenever bad thoughts started arising in our minds, we need to think about something else, think about something good until there's no more room for bad thoughts to sink in. Talking about it might make it sounds easy, but the author reminded us that bad habits will not be broken just with our desire to break it. Doing it will require determination and diligence over the course of our lifetime.

✦ 1. I can do whatever I need to do in life through Christ. ✦

"God will not call you to do anything He will not enable and empower you to do. He will not allow you to go through anything that is impossible for you. Although God never authors bad things, He does use them for our spiritual growth."

The very first power thought introduced in this book points out our negative thoughts regarding our inability to do certain things. For a long time—I guess even until now, I always consider myself a quiet person who's not good at talking. I have a huge problem with public speaking and felt insecure whenever I talk in front of a lot of people. I always say that this is just how I am originally as an excuse; but that stops me from growing as an individual. Even though I'm still not a very good speaker, I constantly try to get out of my comfort zone because I want to be better. Self-pity and being jealous of other people who are better than us at something is a waste of time. It is better to take things at your own pace and grow towards our better selves with God's help.

"Stop making excuses and start doing what God is telling you to do. Stop looking at all your weaknesses because His strength is made perfect in our weakness. It is through our weakness and inability that God shows His strength."

✦ 2. God loves me unconditionally! ✦

"No matter how many right things you have listed, you can never do enough to deserve God's love, and no matter how many wrong things you have listed on your sheet of paper, they cannot prevent God from loving you forever."

I'm not going to go in too deep with this power thought because the book God is Not Mad At You went much deeper into this topic. Basically, this power thought is used to defend ourselves against guilt, shame, and feeling that there's something wrong with us. We will never have a good relationship with God if we come to Him with the mindset of paying back our sins with good deeds. When we understand how much God loves us, we will have the desire to please him with our lives. So every time we do something wrong, all we need to do is repent and receive God's forgiveness. Admit our mistakes and ask God to help us change.

"Is God ever displeased with us? Yes, He is displeased when we sin (this is our "do", not our "who") and He loves is enough to correct us and continue working with us to bring us into better and more godly behavior (Hebrews 12:10)."

"Good relationships must be based on love and acceptance, not on fear. All too often we are deceived into thinking that our acceptance is based on our performance, and this is totally unscriptural."

✦ 3. I will not live in fear. ✦

"Feeling fear is part of being alive.
We can only be cowardly when we allow our fears to dictate our actions or decisions, instead of following our hearts and doing what we know is right for us. Feeling fear is simply the temptation to run away from what we should face and confront; feeling fear is not equal to being afraid because being afraid means letting fearful feelings get the best of us."

The third power thought is really important to me because it pointed out a lot of my weaknesses. For one thing, I always have a fear of discomfort and fear of being misunderstood. Not to mention many other kinds of fear, which I'm sure all of us also have. This part made me realize that fear will prevent us from trying new things or stretching ourselves out of our comfort zones. Like I said earlier, I'm a very comfort-zone type of person. I'm always afraid of feeling humiliated or ashamed or regret. But I understand now that I should not be discouraged when my good intentions fail at times. We should not let our fear steal God's best plans for our lives. Here are some of the quotes that I need to remind myself over and over to get past my fear:

"Courage is not the absence of fear, it is progress in its presence."

"Do what you believe you are supposed to do even if you have to "do it afraid"."

"We may not know what to do in a tense situation, but God does. He is never surprised by anything. He knows everything before it happens and He has already planned our deliverance, so all we need to do is keep going forward. We simply need to take one step at a time and not worry about the next one because God will be there to guide us in the next step when the time comes."

___________________________________

"I am going to live to please God, not people. I want to be accepted but I will not compromise my faith and moral integrity."

First of all, sorry for the long summary—but I'm also writing this review for myself, in case I need to refresh my memory about the details of this book. There are still 6 more power thoughts that I didn't mention in this book, which are not less important than the ones that I mentioned here. If you want to know more, of course I would suggest you to read this book yourself. I believe everyone can at least gain a thing or two from this book; because having negative thoughts is what everyone in this world has to go through every single day. Even though it will be a long journey to fix our thoughts, I think it is something worth doing. Because when our thoughts are renewed, our attitudes will be affected as well.

I've always loved Joyce Meyer's writing since I read her book The Battlefield of the Mind (which correlates with this book). She uses a lot of examples that are easy to understand and is very relatable. There are times when she repeated things over and over, but I do believe it is necessary to set a certain idea/teaching in the readers' minds. Overall, this book really encouraged me to change for the better by controlling our thoughts instead of being controlled by them. I've now written down all 12 power thoughts on my phone and decided to meditate on them every day. Failure is inevitable, but I want to be disciplined and keep making progress towards a better mind and attitude.

↓↓↓↓↓↓↓

"We are not bad people because bad thoughts come to us but if we don't resist them, we can become whatever we choose to focus our thoughts on..... Seek meas "make an attempt". We also have to seek to think right thoughts. It takes discipline and training, but we can do it."

"You have to be relentless about thinking right thoughts. You need to think on purpose; you need to discipline your mind; and you need to make sure your thoughts agree with God's Word in every area of your life."

Read the full review here:
http://www.thebookielooker.com/2016/0...

[J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is definitely a book I will be reading repeatedly over the years! Joyce truly has an amazing gift of teaching. If you can't understand God's words for your life through Joyce then you're not listening!

[Kerry Peresta · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a huge Joyce Meyer fan because she is practical in her Biblical life applications. This was a wonderful book! A reminder that we do indeed have power (supernaturally) through Scriptural truths if we just apply them. Postive thinking can only go so far...but when combined with promises throughout the Bible...well get ready for your blessing! I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will read it again and again.

[Kate · Rating 1 out of 5]

Power Thoughts is divided into two parts, the first contains four chapters and the second twelve chapters. In part one Joyce outlines why she thinks that positive thinking is a vital component of living a happy, successful life. Part two contains Meyer’s twelve-step program for changing destructive thought patterns. Each chapter in part two begins with a Power Thought and a Bible verse and concludes with a “Power Pack” of Bible verses designed to help the reader implement the principles taught in that chapter. All chapters are divided into titled sections and are sprinkled with study questions complete with blank lines to fill in your answers.

I had numerous problems with this book, not least of which is the way that Joyce puts words in God’s mouth. An example of this comes from page 34 where Joyce states:

"I believe God has laws that completely disagree with Murphy’s Law. The world may expect Murphy’s Law to operate in their lives, but we need to resist that kind of negative thinking and embrace God’s Law instead, which says something like this: 'If anything can go right, it will; nothing is as difficult as it appears; everything is more rewarding that it appears; if anything good can happen to anybody, it will happen to me.'"

Continue reading this review here: http://parchmentgirl.com/2011/01/26/p...

[Emma.catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭6‬:‭33‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Yet another fantastic book by Joyce!

My favourite thing about this book is how practical it is. Joyce helps us to dive deep into our own thinking patterns and helps us to create and build on 12 essential Biblical principles.

This book has really helped me, and will continue to help me gain strength in my faith and grow closer to God. There is always more to learn and this book is a great stepping stone 👣

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

[Cassandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book. Joyce Meyer has a way of ministering to you through the hardships and breakthroughs of her personal life experiences. I like how she included others as an example, in spite of their hardships, how they never gave up and because of that, they became successful. I will definitely go back to this book for reference, life discipline, and inspiration for those times when I'm feeling defeated and want to throw in the towel. This was a great read!!

[Sunshine Rodgers · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like reading Joyce Meyer books, you will definitely love "Never Give Up!" Joyce uses personal examples in her own life as well as shares remarkable stories of people who didn't give up even under the worst conditions or facing the most impossible of odds. After every chapter, Joyce shares a historical account of someone who excelled beyond their means or their resources i.e. Marie Curie, Alexander Graham Bell, Helen Keller (to name a few!). Joyce shares the repeated illustration of being a bold eagle (and not a fearful chicken). Joyce talks about refusing to live in fear, expressing the 7 fears you must confront in Chapter 4. Joyce talks about having a conquering spirit, dealing with life's difficulties and reaching your full potential. In Chapter 9, Joyce describes the 7 hurdles to clear like experiencing rejection, handling jealousy, and feeling the temptation to quit. In Chapter 10, she goes over all the tests we face: the "Judas kiss" test, the "loving the unlovely" test and standing the test of time. This book is a great inspiration for those who are pursuing dreams, clinging to higher callings and standing resilient so as to never give up!

[Cheryl Selby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Joyce Meyer has put together a program using twelve steps to win the battle of the mind. Each step is described and explained, then followed up with questions to aid the reader in applying the principles taught. Joyce uses principles taught in scripture as a basis for her concepts and to aid the reader in using faith in the word of God to stand firm on winning the war that wages in one’s mind.

I found the book easy to read, and well written. The book’s format took me through each step in a progressive manner that was easy to adapt. I enjoyed the thought provoking questions proposed after each principle. I recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a system to apply in an effort to gain control of their thinking process.

I received a copy of the book through Goodreads in exchange for a review. I received no additional compensation and was not required to write a positive review.

[Monisha Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think many people don't understand the real value of this book and it is a shame. This book is about how God wants us to think positive about our lives even if things are not going the way we want them to. God did not promise us that we wouldn't have sorrow or pain, but if we trust Him we can get through anything. Her book emphasizes that and provides insight for people struggling to deal with life's issues. She mentions prosperity as God wanting us to get the most out of life but many times we make the wrong choices due to our negative thinking. I totally get what she is saying and I think this book is awesome and inspiring. What can be wrong with seeing the good and positive side of things in life, in turn you will be a happier person for it. Negativity makes us sick and unhappy why do it.

[Pam Holcomb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Parts of the book made me overwhelmed because of all the 'work' she was asking us to do. My brain can only handle so much, 'thinking'.

Surprisingly, my fav part of one of the chapters was on nagging. I hadn't realized how negative reminders & requests that we ask of others can be so demanding. I like how she said to use the strategy of positive talk and cheerfulness when asking someone to do something. How simple!

One of the other motivators she expands on is offendedness. She basically urges us NOT to be offended by others. No matter what the reason. This one is tough! I'll admit! It's one of my new goals in life: Pam-don't take it personal & don't get your feelings hurt.

Come to think of it...maybe I did like this book more than I think I did. Something to consider....& Joyce no offense meant at all with rewarding this one with three stars!

[Allison Falcon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Please read this book. It should be a prerequisite read for adulthood. Many people including myself would've greatly benefited from this even as a teenager but esp as a young adult. But it's never too late!!! This was my first JM book to read. I'm ordering more tonight; it was that great! I'm not one for "self help" books and the title seemed cheesy to me. I had a friend strongly recommend it to me so I ordered it. This was a great book!! Read it slowly and ponder what she's saying. Absorb the sentences because in almost every paragraph she says something really profound. Again, please read this book and enjoy!!!

[Edna Stewart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Friends and readers, thoughts are powerful and Joyce puts it to the test with "Power Thoughts: 12 Strategies to Win the Battle of the Mind." Nobody would know more about how to win that than Joyce with her beauty for ashes bio of her life story of overcoming many obstacles.

This book gives 12 essential strategies to win over those battles of the mind that we all have from time to time. This is a very interesting book that's at a pace to make you read, stop, think, and write. This is a great formula that works. Read "Power Thoughts" so you can gain 12 strategies that will help you win your battle over the mind.

[Serena Chase · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been slowly digesting this book since February. It is thoughtful, thorough, and Biblically based, but saddled with an unfortunate, new-agey-sounding title which could, unfortunately again, turn some people off from this potentially life-changing book.

The twelve power thoughts are good ones and have really opened my eyes to some issues in my mind that are hindering my spirituality. Like Joyce suggests, I plan to go back over the next 12 weeks and focus on one thought per week with prayer and action.

I would recommend this title.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

PHENOMENAL!!!! What an amazing book to learn how to have complete control over your thoughts and not give into the negative thoughts controlling you. God teaches you to turn to Him and learn to be what He made you to be IN Him.
I didn't read her first book. . .Battelfield of the mind, but I have just purchased it to start from the beginning and come back to this book again.
Definately a book everyone should read!!

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best Joyce Meyer book I have read so far. I can't say enough about it! The whole book feels like I'm having a conversation with Joyce and everything she's saying is dead on.

[Rosette Camilleri · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favourite books when it comes to Encouragment and Determination. Joyce is brilliant in delivering God's love and care for each of His children. Definetely a must read!

[Susan Millard · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have read many of Joyce Meyer's books and watched her videos. She has a wonderful way of making sense when it comes to tackling everyday issues and giving you a chance to look at things from a different perspective. I like her straight-up style of talking which leaves you with no confusion as to the point she is trying to get across. This book, however, was not up to her usual calibre of quality.

That being said I rate this book at 3 1/2 stars (Goodreads doesn't allow part stars reviews so I felt I had to lower it to 3 rather than raise it to 4.) If I could tell the author something I would tell Joyce, you know...sometimes less is more! I felt that in the first half of this book she had made her point. There were lots of scriptures and real-life examples of famous people from history that demonstrated her point. She lost me from about the middle of the book on because it became so repetitious with more scriptures and more people from history all to say the same thing. I sort of felt like she was beating me over the head with her message. I did plow through and finish the book simply to give her the opportunity to redeem herself somehow, but alas, it was not to be.

This is the first time I have felt this way about one of Joyce's offerings so I will read more of her books but this one gets the rating it deserves from me. Phew, I feel better getting that off my chest.

[Marnie (Enchanted Bibliophile) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book incredibly helpful in providing me with specific techniques that helped me change my mindset.

This quote from Joyce gives a good summary of what this book all about:
"As our minds are renewed with God's Word, our thinking will change and line up with Scripture. Then, day by day, godly boundaries around our thoughts will be established and reinforced. These limits will not only keep out the deceptions of the enemy, but help you live a more enjoyable, godly life."

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good book for it’s genre of Christian based motivation. Meyer is on par with other authors in her field, much of the book reminded me of Joel Osteen’s writings. Both authors use the formula of giving either their own personal story or another well known person's story of adversity and then backs up what they learned through a bible verse.

Meyer uses several of her own life experiences to drive home the point of not giving up and stresses the importance of having patience with God’s plan. She also uses several stories from people such as Aaron Ralston (the hiker that had to cut his own arm off when he became stuck under a rock). Having seen the movie "127 Hours" recently, I struggle when I hear a Christian writer relay about these stories, it seems that in Ralston’s case he didn’t seem to pray or ask Jesus for help but he still overcame his adversity. So why use stories like these if the people didn’t ask for God’s help and they still overcame?

I would recommend this book to anyone that needs a motivational nudge and is willing accept advice from a Christian. Meyer’s knows her subject well and it seems that she lives by what she preaches.

[Nina · Rating 3 out of 5]

My primary reason for really enjoying this book was Joyce Meyer's account of famous historical people such as Marie Curie, Alexander Grambell, and others that experienced challenges in their work and personal lives and eventually overcame that to achieve success. In fact, Meyer illustrates how those challenges or troubles actually molded their finished products to be even better and in one even such as Grambell's it led to him inventing the telephone!
In hard times it is easy to feel down but hearing these stories made me see how seeming troubles in our lives or extreme challenges are often God's way of molding us to a better "finished product." One thing seems to be certain as well, that failure is often an integral part of success. If we view it that way it sometimes can even be exciting to know what God will use this for!
I only gave it three stars because I did not feel the Christian perspective was very strong. Meyer's use of scripture seemed weak. I would buy this book even if it was not a Christian based book but only a historical one of famous figures who experienced challenges.
All in all a good read and will inspire you if you are feeling like giving up!

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

Do you battle with doubt, fear, or being overwhelmed? Maybe you battle with the constant negative thoughts that just wear you out? Well, this book offered me a lot of helpful advice to not only put God first in my life, but to stay positive. This book offers 12 powerful thoughts that you can reflect on to help you pursue a more positive life. This book also taught me that I need to change my thinking especially since thinking effects my emotions. I might not perfect this in just the week I've read and had it,but it will definitely get me started on working on myself to get better. I might not be where I want to be, but I'm not where I used to be and that is a good feeling. I expect relapses but it happens to the best of them. I'm just not going to give up. Attitudes are contagious and I want a positive one!

[Keith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book I have read by Joyce Meyer, and it was an amazing book!!! One morning a couple of weeks ago, I was up real early(around 4 am) and going through the tv channels to see what was on..I found Joyce Meyer on WGN and was fascinated by her sermon..When I went to the library the next day, I was amazed at how many books she has written...She has written over 70 books!! After reading this book, I am so happy to know there are others waiting to be read..I encourage anyone interested in spirituality, faith, hope, dreams, etc. to read this book and the others..You won't be disappointed!!

[Ze · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really am enjoying this book. So far it has helped me remind myself to constantly think positively
and reminds me not to be so hard on myself when I realize I'm focusing on the negatives. It teaches you to fill my mind with positive thoughts and win the battle over worry.

It also contains very simple and short exercises that help you really think through the points in the book and help you apply it to your own situation.

I recommend this book to anyone who wants to work on their minds and practice positive thinking.

[Lynn Coulter · Rating 4 out of 5]

i liked this one a lot, and i haven't always been a joyce meyer fan. Meyer provides good, practical suggestions for replacing negative thoughts with positive ones, using Scripture to claim (internally and out loud) that we're more than conquerors through Christ. She's challenging me to stop and realize what i'm saying with statements like, "i'll never get through this." Instead, I'm practicing saying, "I walk in faith. I speak faith. I trust God." Power thinking isn't just some spacey, New-Age mentality. It's using the Word to claim God's promises and keep them in your mind.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow....wow! I've learned so much about perservering and staying determined when it comes to overcoming any obstacles that satan puts in our way. I'm so grateful that I was led to read this; there was so much I learned. Joyce gives specific information about how to get through difficult times in our lives; she even goes so far as to specifically describe the different tests and trials we will face and the reasons why. A definite must-read!

[Paige Temby · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book extremely helpful. I enjoy most all of Joyce Meyer's books. This one has a great outline of how to train yourself to be a positive person and putting God first in all your decisions. She is great at organizing thoughts and plans of action. Who doesn't want to be a positive person all the time instead of slipping back into the same old patterns most people tend to do? I have her list of 12 power thoughts posted where I can read them daily.

[Alicia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Joyce Meyer is great at giving commen sense advice. Advice that makes you think and offers insight as to why we think and act the way we do. Her books offer great insight and tools to help overcome whatever it is one may be going through.

[April Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I give up fast! and easy and the lords been teaching me to not do so ! god gave me this book time and time and I ignored it then he gave it to me as a study and I'm hooked and latched!!

[Jackie Correro · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the most Spiritually inspiring books I have ever read. I will read again. Looking to grow in your walk this is a must read!

[Kat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once again, Meyers cuts to the point and lays it out plainly. I pretty much enjoy all of her teachings. Just wish I we better at putting them all into practice!