Battlefield of the Mind is not a metaphor. In her bestselling book of 130 publications, author, Bible teacher, and speaker Joyce Meyer explains that whether we know it or not, we are engaged in a constant and literal battle for the well-being of our minds. On one side of the battle is Satan, who tries to corrupt our minds and lives with his negativity. On the other side are Christians hoping to live the meaningful and fulfilling life God intends for them.
(Shortform note: While any reader can glean the secular components of Meyer’s arguments, the book is written for a Christian audience.)
Meyer’s goal is to convince readers that the quality of our life hinges on recognizing Satan as the source of our negative thoughts and engaging him in battle. She uses a combination of scripture, anecdotes, and personal witness to explain what Satan’s attacks on our minds look like, their effect on our well-being, and how we can address them. She assures us that we can defeat Satan by cultivating our spirituality and relationship with God.
Meyer divides the book into three parts. In Part 1, she explains how a positive mind leads to words and actions that create a positive life. In Part 2, she explores signs that Satan is attacking our minds and that our thinking is compromised. Finally, in Part 3, she describes ways that unchecked negativity can derail our lives. Our guide parallels these three parts, with an added fourth section where we have consolidated much of her insight into using our relationship with God to live a better life.
Thinking positive is paramount to living a happy and successful life because our thoughts become self-fulfilling prophecies. Meyer explains that positive thoughts lead to positive words and actions that generate more positivity. Likewise, negative thoughts lead to negative words and actions that create further negativity. Therefore, Meyer argues that the only way to truly take ownership of our lives is to first take ownership of our thoughts.
The Power of Positive Thinking
Meyer’s idea that our thoughts have the power to shape our reality is well established in the field of psychology and our culture. Henry Ford’s famous quote, “whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right,” or versions of it, are commonly cited to remind us that thinking positively is the first step to success.
Researchers believe that our positive or negative thoughts become self-fulfilling prophecies because a belief that we'll fail at something causes us to approach a new challenge timidly, with dampened enthusiasm and marginal effort. If we experience initial setbacks, we may accept defeat quickly and easily.
In contrast, when we believe that we’ll succeed, we can experience setbacks and challenges without becoming discouraged and are more likely to approach new endeavors with enthusiasm and sustained effort. Therefore, first with our thoughts and then with our actions, we create our reality.
For Meyer, a close relationship with God is the driving force behind a positive mind and life. To reap the full benefits of our relationship with God, both our rational mind and our spirit must be attuned to and focused on His wisdom, teachings, and love. She explains that God invites Christians to share His love and wisdom through the power of the Holy Spirit, which provides a link between our own spirit and our mind. Since our rational mind is susceptible to becoming confused and discouraged, the Holy Spirit can help us feel the right thing to do.
With the Holy Spirit as our guide, God’s positivity will inform how we see the world, and we’ll be able to interpret and contextualize His teachings and messages and apply them to our lives.
Additionally, Meyer explains that by heeding the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we will not only be able to follow God’s unique path for us, but we will find peace and fulfillment along the way.
(Shortform note: Meyer believes that God has a specific plan for each of our lives, although she doesn’t elaborate on how we know what that plan is.)
The Holy Trinity
While Christians believe in one God; He is conceptualized as three noninterchangeable entities, called the Holy Trinity, for practical and spiritual reasons. The concept of the Holy Trinity explains why Meyer references God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit in different contexts. For example, Meyer specifically discusses how a partnership with the Holy Spirit can guide us to a positive mind.
For Christians, the nature of God and divinity (and the meaning of life) lies in the relationship between the three parts of the Holy Trinity. God the Father represents the source of all that has been and will be. God the Son (Jesus) is the physical manifestation of God’s love for humanity and His presence in the world. The Holy Spirit is the animating spirit of divine love that flows between beings. Meyer describes a partnership with the Holy Spirit in particular, not because the Holy Spirit and God are two separate entities, but because we can access the divine only in the context of a relationship.
Satan’s goal is to trap our minds in negative thoughts that prevent us from focusing on God and having a positive life. Meyer explains that Satan knows how powerful we will be if we embrace God’s positivity with our mind and spirit, and so he chooses to attack us where we are most vulnerable—our minds. He targets our mind rather than our spirit because human nature makes us susceptible to wasting mental energy on negative thoughts.
Satan uses our flaws to get us to sabotage our lives. Meyer explains that Satan uses his knowledge of each of our minds to target our weaknesses: our fears, insecurities, vices, desires, and so on. His attacks are subtle and often go unnoticed because he plants negative thoughts in our heads from a young age and encourages us to focus on them more and more over time. The negative thoughts he plants often turn into negative patterns of thinking that impact our words, actions, and lives. Recognizing these patterns is an important first step in defeating Satan on the battleground of our minds.
Satan as a Biblical Figure
Meyer chooses to follow a very literal interpretation of the Bible in her conceptualization of Satan. But not all Christians think of Satan as a literal, singular figure. Theological scholars actually urge against a literal interpretation of the Bible, encouraging readers to treat the text “as a symbol for a deeper reality." Since scripture incorporates elements of several cultures, languages, belief systems, and traditions, astute readers look for the underlying metaphor beneath the word-for-word translation.
The search for meaning beyond scripture’s literal wording applies to how we interpret the figure of Satan. In the Jewish tradition (from which Christian ideas of Satan evolved), Satan was rarely viewed as a literal entity. His first appearance in scripture is in the Hebrew text of the Old Testament, where he is cast in the role of the “accuser” or “tempter.” But, he was used symbolically. Instead of being an outside force imposing his evil will against us, Satan served as a manifestation of the duality of human nature and a reminder that we're all capable of thinking and doing evil things.
Since Satan’s attacks on our minds are subtle and prolonged, we need to be on the lookout for evidence that he has infiltrated our thought processes. Meyer identifies six “conditions” (we call them signs) that indicate an attack on our thoughts by Satan, and she explains why each is problematic. According to Meyer, our mind is under attack if it is:
As we can see from this list, Satan’s attacks manifest in common thoughts and behaviors that most of us either have experienced or experience regularly. If left unexamined, it is unlikely that we would even recognize them as an attack, which makes them dangerous. For this reason, Meyer encourages us to be “active” and “alert” about the thoughts shaping our behavior. If we realize that our words and actions are being informed by negative thoughts like these, it is time to take action.
Blaming the Devil
Critics have pointed out that blaming the Devil for such common thoughts and behaviors as are outlined in this list might be counterproductive for Meyer’s followers while proving financially lucrative for Meyer herself.
By placing us all in the middle of a cosmic battle between good and evil, Meyer’s message can diminish our feelings of agency in dealing with our negative emotions. While she argues that we can reject Satan, her imagery of demons constantly “lurking around” ready to wage war against our minds creates nagging anxiety that causes people to return to Meyer’s ministry (and the books and CDs off of which she profits) for “rearmament and reassurance.” Additionally, experts suggest that encouraging people to imagine demons and Satan as an actual presence in our lives can cause them to become more engaged with a “psychic experience” than with their reality.
Further, critics allege that her theories might cause harm to her followers because blaming such common experiences on the Devil ignores the real-world influences that might bring them about. Not only does it discount environmental factors that might cause a person to be unfocused or anxious, for example, but it also discounts the many cognitive and psychological issues that can affect a person's thinking, such as ADHD, dementia, depression, anxiety, OCD, and many others, which can lead to feelings of complacency, doubtfulness, and being judgmental.
Her theories also discount the often beneficial effects of some of these “afflictions,” such as allowing your mind to be unfocused, which can allow for creativity to flourish, and thinking rationally, which can counter emotional responses to setbacks.
When Satan’s negativity goes unchecked, it can derail our lives. Meyer explains that if negative thinking becomes habitual, we can become so lost in unhealthy patterns that a positive life becomes impossible. Meyer calls this being stuck in a “wilderness mentality” (we call it a negative mindset) because no matter what our actual circumstances are like, a negative mind can make life feel like an unnavigable wilderness.
A Negative Thought or Negative Thinking?
There’s a difference between having negative thoughts and becoming trapped in a cycle of negative thinking. Instead of viewing every negative thought as an attack from the Devil, as Meyer suggests, experts urge us to remember that negative thoughts are a normal part of the human experience. Some negative thoughts are justified and can help us process our experiences. However, if we realize that most of our thoughts are negative or that being positive is starting to become difficult, we may be entering a cycle of negativity (what Meyer would call a “wilderness mentality”).
The following strategies can help us break a cycle of negativity:
Accept negative thoughts (don’t tell yourself that having them is wrong) and then let them go. (We can use the analogy of a thought as a balloon that floats away once we’ve acknowledged it).
Practice being grateful
Avoid thinking in absolute terms like “never” and “always.”
Have realistic (and flexible) expectations. If we have unrealistic expectations about something we cannot control, we set ourselves up for disappointment. Keeping a flexible mindset about the future can help us take successes and setbacks as they come.
Meyer outlines 10 common negative mindsets that can trap people and some insights on how to escape them.
Satan will try to convince us that the positive future God has in store for us is unattainable. To avoid becoming discouraged by his suggestions, we should let our spirit rather than our rational minds inform our view of the future.
(Shortform note: Our brains are evolutionarily predisposed to weigh negative experiences more heavily than positive ones, which helps explain why a negative past/present can make it hard to be optimistic.)
It’s our responsibility to take ownership of a positive future. Responsibility means using our talents, skills, and opportunities to serve God to the best of our ability. Satan will try to convince us to pass up opportunities for self-improvement.
(Shortform note: Research has shown that giving back to others in an area we feel passionately about (what Meyer might call an area where we have taken responsibility) is a powerful way to add happiness and meaning to our lives.)
Satan tries to get us to focus on how hard everything is so that we give up. Using positive language when we talk to ourselves can help us stay positive and faithful during hard times.
(Shortform note: Research supports the idea that a self-defeating attitude negatively impacts our health. Multiple studies have shown that a “negative emotional style” can even make us more prone to both getting sick and feeling sicker when we do.)
Satan will try to convince us that we shouldn’t have to suffer at all, and that something is going wrong in our lives if we do. It is important to remember that God expects us to endure some suffering and that we can use it as a crucible to strengthen our faith.
(Shortform note: In The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, Mark Manson also suggests that there is utility in suffering. According to Manson, humans are biologically hardwired for suffering and dissatisfaction, and these feelings can actually be useful because they fuel a desire for self-improvement.)
Satan will tell us that we shouldn't have to wait for anything in our lives and tries to make us indignant about not having what we want right now. Humility can help remind us that we will be ready for God’s blessings when He says we are.
(Shortform note: Impatience and indignation combined can be a particularly destructive force in our lives. When we experience a setback that feels unfair, we're prone to making rash, self-destructive decisions.)
Satan wants us to believe that other people are the source of our bad behavior so that we blame them rather than focus on self-improvement. While it can be painful, we need to acknowledge that we are responsible for our choices.
(Shortform note: While Meyer argues that blame stems from an attack by the Devil, experts explain that blame comes from our desire to avoid painful feelings such as shame and regret.)
If Satan can convince us that we are victims rather than protagonists, he can stop us from taking control of our lives. Rather than feeling sorry for ourselves, we can remember that our relationship with God makes us powerful.
(Shortform note: One way to tackle self-pity is to frame negative thoughts as a challenge. For example, if we think we could never run a 10-minute mile, then a 10-minute mile would become our goal.)
Satan tries to convince us that we are unworthy, unlikeable, and unloveable. But God loves us unconditionally, as we are.
(Shortform note: Unlike self-esteem, which is based on external factors like our appearance, performance at work, and so on, our self-worth concerns our perception of our existential value. Basically, our self-worth is a measure of how entitled we feel to “take up space” in the world. While self-esteem can fluctuate based on external metrics of success, our self-worth is more deeply rooted and thus more constant.)
Jealousy comes from comparing ourselves to others, which is unnecessary. Satan uses our insecurities to fuel our jealousy. While being “better” than someone else may increase our value in our eyes, it does not increase our value in God’s eyes.
(Shortform note: Studies show that technology and social media exacerbate our insecurity and jealousy. This happens because people generally only post the very best moments and details of their lives online so that when we scroll through social media, it looks like everyone else’s lives are better than ours.)
Satan will try to lure us off the path that God has laid for us. When things in our life are going well, it is tempting to ignore God's messages and keep doing what we want to do. But honoring God and having a positive life means obeying His will.
(Shortform note: Obedience to God in the Christian theological tradition does not mean following a specific, predetermined plan for our lives the way Meyer describes it. In fact, experts explain that believing that God has a specific plan for our lives is “theologically flawed.")
Meyer explains that the only way to rid ourselves of Satan and his negativity is to cultivate a God-centered mind. Once our minds are focused on God rather than on all of the things Satan tries to make us focus on, we can enjoy a happier, more fulfilling life. God’s word is our most effective weapon in this fight.
Meyer explains that we use the word of God in three forms:
(Shortform note: Simply reading the Bible is often not enough to properly interpret it. Most readers don't have the theological training or expertise to reliably uncover personal meaning from the Bible that is consistent with the text's original meaning, which weakens Meyer’s argument that we can rely on scripture to fight Satan.)
(Shortform note: Our language has a powerful impact on our perception of reality. Therefore, simply changing our language may make us better able to give thanks for the positives we have in life, even if our circumstances haven’t changed. For example, we can substitute the phrase “I have to” with “I get to,” and instead of saying that we're “going” through something difficult, we can say we’re “growing” through something difficult.)
(Shortform note: In her discussion of prayer, Meyer does not mention the Our Father (The Lord’s Prayer). A Christian understanding of prayer comes from this prayer in particular. For Christians, it serves as a model for how people “should” speak to God. It is the foundational Christian prayer and is the only prayer that Jesus actually taught His followers to pray.)
Meyer explains that Jesus is the paragon of maintaining a positive mind in the face of suffering. Therefore, as we try to live a positive life ourselves, we should try to emulate his mindset. To channel Jesus’ positivity, we must:
Cultivating a Positive Mind With Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Many people looking for guidance in cultivating a positive mind have found success with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). CBT is a technique in which psychiatrists help people retrain their brains so that they can break negative thought and behavioral patterns.
As Judith Beck explains in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, we may experience persistent negative thoughts if we hold negative “core beliefs” about ourselves. These negative core beliefs fall into one of three types: helplessness, unloveableness, and worthlessness, all of which lead to a distorted self-image and can cause us to make self-defeating choices.
Practitioners of CBT help people to examine the validity of their negative thoughts by leading them through reasoning and thought experiment exercises. Through these exercises, patients may find no true rationale or evidence behind their negative thoughts. Realizing that negative thoughts come from negative core beliefs as opposed to reality can allow people to feel hopeful, giving them the courage to try things that they may otherwise have talked themselves out of.
Meyer doesn’t advise seeking out a method such as CBT to conquer your negative thoughts, but her advice tries to effect the same results. By recommending that you focus on positivity, she asks you to retrain your brain away from negativity. By urging you to accept and internalize God’s love, she seeks to counter your feelings of worthlessness. And by advising that you keep God’s relationship in the forefront of your mind, she tries to offer a specific, practical method by which you can achieve these ends.
Thus, while psychologists encourage their patients to avail themselves of methods derived from scientific study, Meyer focuses on methods derived from spiritual study.
If we hope to live the positive life that God intends for us, we must first win the battle for our minds. Satan tries to trap us in a negative life by convincing us to focus on negative thoughts. In Battlefield of the Mind, best-selling author, speaker, and Bible teacher Joyce Meyer teaches that Satan tries to trap us in a negative life by filling our minds with negative thoughts, but that we can thwart Satan’s attempts by focusing on God and His teachings. She explains that by aligning our minds with the Holy Spirit and using Jesus as our role model, we can learn to focus on and cultivate the positive thoughts that will lead to a happy, fulfilling, and faithful life.
Joyce Meyer is a well-known Bible teacher and a New York Times best-selling author. She has written 130 books that have sold millions of copies and been translated into 155 languages.
Meyer is the president of Joyce Meyer Ministries. She and her team run various outreach efforts, including Hand of Hope (which provides humanitarian aid worldwide), Project GRL (which focuses on empowering women and girls), and the St. Louis Dream Center (which provides local relief to struggling families in the St. Louis area).
Meyer reaches millions of people worldwide through her daily program Enjoying Everyday Life, which broadcasts through radio, television, and podcasts. She also hosts an annual women’s conference, the Love Life Women’s Conference, that draws participants from around the world. She makes regular public speaking appearances both around the United States and internationally.
Connect with Joyce Meyer:
The book was initially published in 1995 and was re-published by Faith Words in 2011. This guide refers to the 2011 version. In the introduction to this newer version, Meyer explains that she has included new insights, material, and updates to stories and anecdotes included in the initial version.
Battlefield of the Mind is part of a long tradition of popular self-help books that emphasize the power of positive thinking. For example:
Many of Meyer’s arguments share principles with the “positive psychology” field. This branch of psychology can be traced back to the 1950s, but it was popularized in the 1990s by Martin Seligman, who was president of the American Psychological Association at the time. Positive psychology seeks to empower people to live happy and fulfilling lives by taking ownership of their thoughts and mental habits and cultivating inner strength.
Battlefield of the Mind also follows a religious tradition known as the Prosperity Gospel movement. This movement is an offshoot of Christianity that teaches that God wants his followers to be healthy, wealthy, and successful. It was popularized by televangelists in the 1970s, and it’s very popular among American Christians today. (A poll taken in 2006 found that 17 percent of Christians in the United States ascribe to the movement.) Meyer is considered to be one of the modern leaders of the Prosperity Gospel movement (along with her popular contemporary Joel Osteen).
Battlefield of the Mind is the best-selling book of roughly 130 publications written by Joyce Meyer (she has a large collection of published books, devotionals, Biblical studies, and other publications). It has sold over three million copies and has been translated into 47 languages.
Battlefield of the Mind, like Joyce Meyer herself, is wildly popular. However, both she and the book have also received criticism. This criticism largely falls into three categories:
Meyer divides the book into three parts. Part 1 deals with the importance of keeping a positive mind and introduces her imagery of our mind as a battlefield between Satan’s negativity and God’s positivity. In Part 2, she describes common signs that indicate that our mind is under attack from the Devil. These signs, which she calls “conditions,” result from negative thoughts the Devil plants in our minds. In Part 3, Meyer describes “wilderness mentalities,” which are negative mindsets in which our minds can become trapped when Satan’s negative influence goes unchecked.
We have divided Meyer’s ideas into four sections, which largely parallel the sections she outlines in the original text. We added a fourth section to consolidate her ideas about how to cultivate a positive mind to highlight the actionable parts of her argument.
In our commentary, we provide additional context on the Christian principles that inform Meyer’s work and supplement her ideas with a wide range of perspectives, including those of theological scholars, self-help authors like Eckhart Tolle and Mark Manson, and proponents of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.
The central tenet of Meyer’s book is that the state of our lives mirrors the state of our minds. A negative mindset produces a negative life, while a positive mindset produces a positive life. According to Meyer, a “positive mindset” is one that is focused on God. She argues that when we put God at the center of our minds and spirits, we're happier, more successful, more fulfilled, and we positively impact those around us.
Meyer sees Satan as the source of our difficulties, arguing that he creates our negative mindsets by keeping us apart from God, which he does by controlling our minds. In Part 1, we’ll explore Meyer’s ideas about how our mindset shapes our reality, her view of Satan as the source of our negative thoughts, and her imagery of our minds as a battlefield between God’s positivity and Satan’s negativity.
Meyer explains that our thoughts shape our lives because they guide our words and actions. A positive mindset produces positivity that spreads throughout our lives, which brings positivity back to us and in turn helps us be even more positive. Likewise, a negative mindset produces negativity that’s likely to be met with reciprocal negativity by others. This, in turn, creates more negative thoughts in our own minds, leading again to more negativity—and often feeding the very problems we complain about. In this way, positivity and negativity each become a self-fulfilling prophecy in our lives.
The Power of Positive Thinking
Meyer’s idea that our thoughts have the power to shape our reality is well established in the field of psychology and our culture. Henry Ford’s famous quote, “whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right,” or versions of it, are commonly cited to remind us that thinking “positive” is the first step to success.
Researchers believe that our positive or negative thoughts become self-fulfilling prophecies because a belief that we'll fail at something causes us to approach a new challenge timidly, with dampened enthusiasm and marginal effort. If we experience initial setbacks, we may accept defeat quickly and easily. In contrast, when we believe that we’ll succeed, we can experience setbacks and challenges without becoming discouraged and are more likely to approach a challenge with enthusiasm and sustained effort. Therefore, first with our thoughts and then with our actions, we create our own reality.
Meyer uses an analogy from the Bible to describe the relationship between our thoughts, words, actions, and ultimately, how other people think about us. She explains that in the Bible, a tree is known for and judged by the fruit it produces. In this analogy, we're the tree, and our words and actions are our fruit. People will judge us based on our words and actions (the “fruits” we produce), but not the thoughts that produced them, because they can only tangibly experience our words and actions.
Attribution Error
Because we can't see the thoughts that produce people's words and actions (their "fruits," in Meyer's analogy), we tend to guess at them, and often guess wrongly, ascribing negative motivations to the other person. In doing so, we fall prey to what psychologists call the "attribution error," whereby we credit our own bad behavior to our circumstances (bad luck or unavoidable obstacles), while we blame other people's bad behavior on their character.
This tendency to judge others harshly comes from a lack of context. We know the conditions that precede our bad behavior, everything that might have gone wrong that day, the mood we were in, everything else we were dealing with when something didn't go our way, and so on. Knowing this allows us to excuse ourselves when we make a bad choice. In contrast, we may know none of the context of another person’s bad behavior. All we know is how it impacted us.
Recognizing attribution error can help us lead happier, more empathetic lives. When we catch ourselves judging other people, experts suggest putting ourselves in their shoes and trying to understand some of the context of their choices. We may never know if the circumstances we craft in our minds are correct, but, it never hurts to give someone a little extra grace. If nothing else, we may stop the negative thought processes that upset us when we sense we’ve been wronged.
Meyer argues that our minds are “positive” or “negative” because they are either aligned with God (positive) or succumbing to the influence of the Devil (negative). She explains that if our minds and spirits are aligned with God, Satan knows we’ll be immune to his attacks. But, if Satan can control our thoughts, he can trap us in a negative life away from God.
Satan as a Biblical Figure
The way we conceptualize Satan can impact our sense of agency in the “battle” between good and evil. In her imagery of Satan as an entity waging an actual battle in our daily lives, Meyer chooses to follow a very literal interpretation of the Bible. But not all Christians think of Satan as a literal, singular figure.
Theological scholars actually urge against a literal interpretation of the Bible, encouraging readers to treat the text “as a symbol for a deeper reality". Since scripture incorporates elements of several cultures, languages, belief systems, and traditions, astute readers look for the underlying metaphor beneath the word-for-word translation.
The search for meaning beyond scripture’s literal wording applies to how we interpret the figure of Satan. In the Jewish tradition (from which Christian ideas of Satan evolved) Satan was rarely viewed as a literal entity. His first appearance in scripture is in the Hebrew text of the Old Testament, where he is cast in the role of the “accuser” or “tempter.” But, he was used symbolically. Instead of being an outside force imposing his evil will against us, Satan served as a manifestation of the duality of human nature and a reminder that we're all capable of thinking and doing evil things.
Theology professor John Switzer explains why this more nuanced view of Satan matters. Switzer notes that conceptualizing Satan as a literal figure responsible for our negative thoughts can be a dangerous mindset because it allows us to deflect responsibility for our actions. He notes that we give evil more power in our lives when we think of it as a powerful entity. Rather, we should take ownership of our negative thoughts and actions and use “God’s grace” to make good choices. In this respect, Meyer may stand in her own readers’ way. While she urges her readers to take responsibility for their actions, as Switzer notes, this is difficult if you believe that “the Devil made me do it.”
Meyer explains that Satan chooses our minds as his battleground because it's where we're vulnerable. We have likes, dislikes, weaknesses, fears, and insecurities—and Satan appeals to them all with negative thoughts. He starts when we're young and plants these negative thoughts little by little, and in doing so, uses our imperfect human nature to attack our minds without us even noticing. Over time, his negative thoughts grow into what Meyer refers to as mental “strongholds” (we’ll call them “negative mindsets”), places where God’s positivity cannot reach.
More Work on Overcoming Strongholds
Popular Bible teacher Jennie Allen (founder of the Christian women’s group IF:) also uses the term “strongholds'' in her 2020 New York Times best-selling book Get Out of Your Head. Like Meyer, Allen argues that Satan uses “strongholds” (a place where God’s love cannot penetrate) in our minds to keep us trapped in cycles of negativity.
Also like Meyer, she explains that negative thoughts have the power to trap us in a negative life and that focusing our minds on God can help free us from Satan’s influence. She adds to these ideas with tips on how to break free from negativity—one such tip is to create “mental story maps'' as a tool to break negative thought patterns. With these story maps, readers are encouraged to write down their negative thoughts and contributing factors. Then, through a combination of prayer and guided questions, readers can work through problematic “storylines.”
Satan tries to keep our minds and lives negative by keeping us focused on ourselves. In short, Satan tries to make us selfish. If he can keep us focused on our physical bodies, our cravings, our desires, and so on, Satan can prevent us from focusing on God. Meyer describes Satan’s strategy as keeping our minds focused on the “flesh.” Since thinking about ourselves and our immediate surroundings is human nature, Satan uses our natural tendencies to defeat us.
The Holiness of the “Flesh”
Meyer stresses the importance of training our minds away from “fleshly” thoughts throughout the book, framing them as inherently wrong or selfish. She cites passages of scripture from Romans 8 to support her interpretation. However, some argue that her interpretation of this excerpt of scripture, which comes from the Letters of Paul to the Romans, was misguided, and that the scripture passage was not actually a call to renounce the flesh.
Paul sent his Letter to the Romans in response to a disagreement between Jewish and Gentile (non-Jewish) followers of Jesus about following the old laws of Jewish scripture. Gentile members of the Christian church were reluctant to follow some of the strictest laws about the physical manifestations of faith, particularly circumcision. Paul’s letters explain to the Romans that, since the gentiles had accepted the power of the Holy Spirit, they could be true followers of Christ regardless of their participation in the physical rituals in the Jewish faith. In this context, we can see that the scriptural focus is not on the flesh but the uniting power of the Holy Spirit.
A description of “the flesh” as something to be overcome rather than celebrated also contradicts the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which states that the “belief in the true Incarnation of the Son of God is the distinctive sign of Christian faith” and that Jesus “became truly man while remaining truly God''. The core of Christianity is that God became human and that Jesus was both fully human and fully divine. This belief means that the flesh is not something to be overcome. Rather, our humanity (flesh) can bring us closer to God if we choose to live as Jesus did.
Meyer argues that if we want to have a positive mind and a positive life, we need to focus on God rather than indulging in selfish thoughts. To do this, we must adopt the Holy Spirit as our guide. Meyer explains that the Holy Spirit is also called the “Spirit of Truth.” If we allow our minds, and thus our lives, to be guided by the Holy Spirit’s truth, then we can be confident that we're on the path that God intends for us. This assurance acts as a buffer against Satan’s seeds of negativity.
Meyer explains that when we accept God into our lives, the Holy Spirit comes to live within us and share God’s mind with us. The Holy Spirit provides a link between our own spirit, which helps us feel what the right thing is, and our mind, which is susceptible to becoming confused and discouraged. Meyer describes a mind that works in partnership with the Holy Spirit as being “normal” for a Christian (we’ll call it “balanced”). When our mind is balanced, God’s positivity will inform how we see the world. Through the Holy Spirit, we’ll interpret and contextualize God’s teachings and messages, and recognize and reject Satan’s negativity.
The Holy Trinity
The Christian concept of the Holy Trinity explains why Meyer references God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit in different contexts throughout the book. While Christians believe in one God, He is conceptualized as three noninterchangeable entities for practical and spiritual reasons. For example, Meyer specifically discusses a partnership with the Holy Spirit in her discussion of seeking God’s guidance in shaping a positive mind.
The Holy Trinity was adopted as a unifying Christian concept in the 4th century. While the conceptualization and formalization of the Trinity were contentious, the agreed-upon tradition allowed for a compromise between the Hebrew doctrine of a singular God and the Greco-Roman polytheistic tradition.
For Christians, the nature of God and divinity (and the meaning of life) lies in the relationship between the three parts of the Holy Trinity. God the Father represents the source of all that has been and will be. God the Son (Jesus) is the physical manifestation of God’s love for humanity and His presence in the world. The Holy Spirit is the animating spirit of divine love that flows between beings.
The Holy Spirit illustrates the idea that Christians find God in relationships. Meyer describes a partnership with the Holy Spirit in particular, not because the Holy Spirit and God are two separate entities, but because we can access the divine only in the context of a relationship.
Meyer explains that negative thoughts precede negative words and actions. Other people use those words and actions to form their opinions about us.
Think about the last time you were disappointed with your choice of words and actions while interacting with another person. What did you say or do that you wish you hadn’t?
Now think about the thoughts that preceded those words and actions. How would you characterize them?
How do you think your thoughts impacted your interaction?
How can you apply this insight to future interactions?
We’ve reviewed Meyer’s imagery of our mind as a battlefield between positive and negative forces. We’ve discussed how the Devil makes it his job to attack our minds with negative thoughts while our job is to align our minds with the Holy Spirit and the power of God’s positivity. Part 2 of our summary will mirror Part 2 of Battlefield of the Mind, in which Meyer outlines “conditions” (we’ll call them signs) indicating that our mind is out of balance with the Holy Spirit and under attack from the Devil.
The devil attacks our minds by preventing us from focusing and by causing our minds to wander. When our minds can’t focus, we can miss what is happening around us and lose opportunities to connect with God and other people in a positive way. For example, we may miss important messages from God during a sermon or scripture reading if our mind wanders off, or we may lose an opportunity for meaningful conversation if we can’t focus on what the other person is saying.
Meyer gives three main reasons why our mind may wander when we want it to focus. (Shortform note: it's unclear whether these three reasons are how the Devil attacks us or additional factors that affect focus. Meyer seems to be saying that these three factors can make our minds more susceptible to attack.)
(Shortform note: Meyer groups these factors together but doesn’t acknowledge a crucial difference between them: The first two indicate physical weaknesses, while the third, a lack of discipline, implies a character weakness. Her inclusion of a character weakness here indicates that she lacks empathy for, and even ignores, the many additional physical or neurological factors that may contribute to a lack of focus. For example, ADHD, dementia, depression, anxiety, OCD, and many other physiological conditions can all impede focus, and although they each have physical or neurological roots, might be interpreted as a lack of discipline, calling into question Meyer’s conclusion in this section.)
A specific way that Meyer warns that the Devil lures our minds away from the present moment is by causing us to “wonder” to excess. Meyer describes a “wondering mind” as one that spends too much time ruminating about future possibilities. Wondering can be unproductive if we simply waffle between decisions and become indecisive and confused. For example, we may wonder whether we should send our child to one school over the other. While this is a worthwhile question, once we have all of the information, we would do well to make the best decision we can and move on. Meyer notes that questioning our decisions robs us of the opportunity to experience the present moment in a positive way.
(Shortform note: Meyer seems to be equating “wonder” and worry. Switching the terms may make her meaning more clear, as the word “wonder” does not necessarily carry the negative connotation that she is implying. For example, a Christian may look at nature with a sense of “wonder” and admiration for God’s creation.)
Focusing on the Present Moment
The idea of being fully engaged in the present moment has gained traction with many people looking to slow down and reclaim joy and fulfillment in their lives. In his self-help book, The Power of Now, Eckhart Tolle argues that learning to let go of extraneous thoughts and focusing on the “now” can help us lead more positive lives.
According to Tolle, one reason that we often find ourselves unhappy and preoccupied is that we focus on the past and future rather than the present. Focusing on the past is unproductive if it brings up negative emotions about something we cannot change. For example, we may become overwhelmed with guilt, regret, and resentment, none of which are conducive to a healthy, happy present. Likewise, focusing on the future can make us anxious and stressed if we simply worry about what might happen rather than planning and taking action in the “now.”
Since we can’t change the past and we can’t fully control the future, Tolle suggests that we should focus on the only thing we can control: the present.
Both Meyer and Tolle propose that minding our thoughts can help us find inner peace and reclaim the present moment. Meyer argues that losing the present moment to distraction keeps our minds off our relationship with God. Tolle argues that it keeps our minds off our relationship with our true selves or our “being.” When we train our minds to focus on the “now,” both authors suggest that we can enjoy more positive lives and better relationships with those around us.
Meyer explains that Satan uses “reasoning” to sow seeds of uncertainty in our minds. When our mind is engaged in reasoning, it looks for the logic, or the “why,” behind what we experience. While this curiosity is part of human nature, Meyer cautions that reasoning that leads to confusion has gone “too far.” If we find ourselves reasoning to the point where we're questioning God’s teachings or our faith, Meyer explains that our search for logic has become a tool for the Devil.
Reasoning is dangerous, Meyer explains, because if there is a disagreement between our mind and our spirit, we may reason our way into believing that our rational mind is right and our spirit is wrong. In doing so, we may talk ourselves out of following God’s will. For example, we might talk ourselves out of volunteering at a charity event because we convince ourselves that we have more important things to do and the event will be fine without us. Meyer reminds us that reasoning is subordinate to the spirit in a balanced mind. If logic and reasoning tell us one thing and our spirit tells us another, we should always follow our spirit.
Reasoning can also be dangerous when it makes us question God’s plan for us. This can happen when we have experiences that are difficult for our rational minds to digest—like if we lose our job unexpectedly or a storm damages our property. At such times, we might get caught up asking “why” these things happened, and may end up in a place of confusion and negativity. Meyer advises us to instead turn to our faith, which can help us be at peace with the unanswered “why” behind our experiences more than reasoning can. She explains that God uses unanswered questions in our lives as a way to solidify our faith, helping us focus less on our worldly issues and more on our spirit.
Meyer uses her own experiences to propose that letting go of reasoning brings us closer to God and helps us have a more positive life. She explains that pursuing “head knowledge,” or knowledge from reasoning and logic, can make us unhappy and confused. Instead, she advocates for “revelation knowledge,” which she describes as knowledge that comes from God into our spirit. Revelation knowledge, she explains, has allowed her mind to rest.
(Shortform note: Meyer’s discussion of “head knowledge” versus “revelation knowledge” does not go into depth on the limitations or applicability of either. As written, the section suggests that she has “given up” logic and reasoning in general, which seems unrealistic. Her larger message seems to be that logic and reasoning are never-ending pursuits and, as such, if our happiness and peace of mind are contingent upon them, we won’t end up with a positive life.)
Science Versus Religion?
Meyer’s discussion of the pursuit of “head knowledge” as something to be overcome rather than celebrated can easily be interpreted as anti-science, as she casts the pursuit of logic and reasoning as antithetical to faith. Her portrayal of logic seems to diverge from the ideas proposed by the Vatican and other leading institutions of the Christian faith, which view science (or “head knowledge”) and religion as complementary rather than at odds with each other.
Some observers point out that some of the most celebrated scientists throughout history have also been Catholics: Descartes, Pascal, Mendel, Pasteur, and Copernicus are just a few examples. In fact, Georges Lemaitre, the cosmologist and Nobel Prize in Physics winner credited with proposing the Big Bang Theory, was a Roman Catholic Priest. Additionally, the Catholic Church has funded institutes of scientific learning (including the Pontifical Academy of Sciences) since the 17th century, and many famous cathedrals worldwide were built not only as places of worship but also as solar observatories.
Pope John Paul ll explained that science and religion complement each other by saying, "Science can purify religion from error and superstition; religion can purify science from idolatry and false absolutes. Each can draw the other into a wider world, a world in which both can flourish." Therefore, the Church does not ask us to eschew science and reason based on faith but to use our intelligence and curiosity to develop a deeper relationship with God, since, as Christians believe that the universe was created by God, studying God’s creation through science is a way to celebrate His creation.
Meyer explains that the Devil attacks our minds by sowing seeds of doubt, which is when we believe in God but lack strong faith. Doubt can make us question our relationship with God and our ability to accomplish our goals. It can make us feel trapped between knowing what our spirit wants to do and what our rational mind believes is possible. For example, we may feel called by God to fulfill a specific purpose in life, but doubt can make us feel like we lack the ability, talent, or strength to see it through.
Meyer uses Peter walking on water to illustrate the relationship between faith and doubt. She says that God called Peter out of a boat and onto the water during a storm. Because he believed in Jesus, Peter got out of the boat and was able to walk on water. But when he looked around at the power of the storm and began to think rationally about what he was doing, doubt crept into his mind. As soon as he began to doubt, he sank.
Meyer uses this story to remind us that God will never give us a challenge that we cannot accomplish so long as our faith in Him is strong. Peter did the impossible until his rational mind made him question his ability. In this way, faith is our antidote to doubt—it can offer us mental and spiritual rest because it helps us reject doubt and the discomfort that comes with it.
Meyer warns that if our faith isn’t strong enough, seeds of doubt can grow deep enough that they can lead to unbelief, which is when we’re unwilling or unable to follow God’s word and therefore can’t live a positive life. Meyer suggests that scripture can be a powerful tool in combating unbelief because it contains advice, stories, and lessons that we can apply to our lives. The better we know the written word, the better we can identify passages of scripture that apply to what we're experiencing. Meyer explains that reading or meditating on an applicable passage from scripture may be the exact tool we need to see the path out of unbelief.
Doubt and Faith
While doubt may be painful for a believer, Christianity recognizes that it's an important component of faith and, in fact, that there can be no true faith without doubt, for if we never encounter doubt, it may mean our spiritual life isn’t deep enough.
The idea that doubt and faith go hand in hand is well established in the Christian tradition. Sixteenth-century priest St. John of the Cross is perhaps most famous for his poem Dark Night of the Soul, which describes the painful experience of a doubt so deep that it forces an emptying of the soul (which can then be refilled by faith). “Dark night of the soul” has become a colloquialism for a crisis of faith.
Doubt can and does affect even the most devoted followers of God. Mother Theresa wrote letters to her spiritual advisor admitting that she had deep feelings of doubt despite her devotion to her work. In Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light: The Private Writings of The Saint of Calcutta, we see that Mother Teresa felt that the place in her soul where God belonged felt blank, leaving her with a sense of loss, darkness, and longing. While she asked that her letters be kept private, after her death, the Vatican determined that they should be made public, in part, to provide an example of how even saints (she was canonized in 2016) can experience doubt.
Meyer argues that if our minds are full of anxiety and worry, it’s a sign we’re under attack from the Devil, who uses anxiety and worry to torment us and consume our thoughts with negativity. According to Meyer, worry and anxiety are unproductive emotions that rob us of the present moment, which is a gift from God. She explains that worry and anxiety may begin with seeds planted by the Devil, but they are habit-forming. People can get so accustomed to worrying that their minds are constantly looking for something to worry about. Of course, if we're looking for something to worry about, we’ll certainly find it, even if it means worrying about someone else’s problems.
Can Worry Sometimes Help Us?
Meyer’s characterization of worry as a “useless” emotion may be too narrow. Dan Harris provides a different view of the utility of worrying in his book 10% Happier. He proposes that worry can be productive if it alerts us to something we need to address or prepare for. However, like Meyer, Harris cautions that if worrying causes us to ruminate about the same thought over and over, it becomes unhelpful and a waste of energy.
Similarly to Meyer, Harris suggests policing our thoughts to avoid wasting the present moment worrying. When we catch ourselves worrying, he advises asking ourselves whether the mental energy we're spending is helpful—is it moving us closer to our goal? If it's not, it's time to move on.
Meyer explains that worry can sometimes be a symptom of pride, which also originates from the Devil. Pride can make us feel like we have to solve our own problems without help. When we feel like we have to (or should be able to) deal with insurmountable problems by ourselves, our minds can quickly become negative. In contrast, a humble person doesn’t worry because she trusts that God will never give her a problem that she cannot handle with His help. Because of this faith, a humble person can maintain a positive mindset in situations where others succumb to negativity.
Our Ego in Our Way
Another way that worry can work with pride to hold us back from a positive life is that, as Ryan Holiday discusses in his book Ego Is the Enemy, when we experience setbacks, our egos, fueled by pride, worry that those setbacks reflect a personal character failure that will lead to permanent and complete failure. This worry can occupy us, filling us with negative emotions, making it difficult for us to think with calm, clear minds, and preventing us from seeking solutions to our problems. This can lead to a negative life not only because we are filled with negative, pride-induced worry, but also because our problems then become permanent.
Like Meyer, Holiday suggests that humility is an antidote to pride. Successful people, he notes, can control their pride so that they don’t get in their own way. One way he suggests keeping pride in check is to stop thinking so much about ourselves. If we can get our mind off of how great we think we are, he argues that we will have more time to actually do the things that will make us successful.
Meyer suggests engaging with the natural world to help manage our worry and anxiety. She explains that if we observe nature, we’ll see how well God cares for His creation. For example, she notes that birds don’t know where their next meal is coming from, but they don’t seem to be filled with worry about it. Like the birds, she says we should not be consumed with worry about what our future holds or what we have or don't have because God will provide everything we need to live the life that He intends for us.
Nature as an Antidote to Stress
Meyer’s suggestion of engaging with nature to help manage worry is backed by a growing body of research. Enjoying nature can lower blood pressure, stress hormones, anxiety, and aggression. It can also calm overactive nervous systems, improve immune system function and self-esteem, and even reduce the time it takes to heal from illness or injury.
A recent development in this area of research suggests that two hours per week is the minimum amount of time that it takes to experience measurable benefits from immersion in nature.
If we find ourselves feeling lonely and unhappy, it may be because Satan is attacking our minds and leading us to sabotage our relationships. Meyer explains that Satan tries to convince us to judge and criticize others, thus alienating people and hurting our relationships.
No one is perfect, and since we're all imperfect, Meyer urges us not to worry so much about what is wrong with other people. God can work on our faults with us, and He can work on others’ faults with them. By “minding our own business” when it comes to others’ faults, we can make more progress on our journey with God and leave ourselves less open to the Devil’s attacks.
Meyer reminds us that judging people is God’s job, not ours. When we judge and criticize, we cast ourselves into the role of God in another person’s life and set ourselves up to receive judgment later. Meyer urges us to remember that God calls us to love each other, not to judge. When we love people, we automatically look for the good in them, which is the opposite of judgment. Seeing the good rather than the “bad” in others keeps us in a positive mindset and sets us up to have more positive relationships.
The “Pygmalion Effect”: Another Reason to Look for the Good in Others
Looking for the good in others not only helps keep our mind positive, but it can also benefit the people we think positive thoughts about. Research shows that when we expect positive results from another person, they often behave more positively. This self-fulfilling prophecy is called the Pygmalion Effect, a term based on the work of psychiatrist Robert Rosenthal.
One of Rosenthal's studies looked at the performance of a group of elementary students over an academic year. At the beginning of the year, the researchers told teachers that a group of randomly chosen students were on the verge of an “intellectual growth spurt.” At the end of the year, the researchers found that those students actually did perform better than their peers.
The researchers concluded that the teachers’ positive expectations of the “growth spurt” students accounted for the difference in performance. Since they believed that a specific group of students would succeed, the teachers spent more time with that group and challenged them more than the other students. These results illustrate how our thoughts about someone else shape our actions towards them and, ultimately, their behavior.
One of the more subtle ways that the Devil can attack our minds and rob us of a positive life is by suppressing our motivation. If we don’t feel like we are achieving our true potential, it may be because the Devil has caused our mind to become passive. Meyer describes a passive mind as one that is “lazy” and “apathetic” about its relationship with God, taking that relationship for granted and paying it little attention. She contrasts this with an active mind, which purposefully and effortfully works to cultivate a positive spiritual life.
When our minds are passive rather than active in our approach to spirituality, we may make negative choices simply by not choosing to do anything at all. (Meyer calls these “sins of omission.”) For example, imagine a friend who is having a difficult time in her life. If we have a passive mind, we might not give her situation enough thought to check in, call, or perform an act of kindness for her. While we don't have selfish intentions in this scenario, we’ve failed to be a good (positive) friend by failing to act.
A passive mind is also dangerous because it leaves empty space for the Devil to move in. Meyer cautions by not actively thinking of God, we allow the Devil to fill the empty space in our minds with fantasies and daydreams. He can use these fantasies to make us less engaged and less satisfied with reality. Meyer notes that we often experiment with “sinful” thoughts which precede sinful actions through fantasy.
The Benefits of a “Passive Mind”
Some experts argue that an “idle” mind (what Meyer might term “lazy” or “passive” because it’s not actively involved in conscious, purposeful thought) is not necessarily a negative thing, so long as it doesn’t become a permanent condition. In fact, research suggests that having an “idle” mind in moderation can actually improve our productivity and memory, increase feelings of happiness, strengthen our immune system, and improve our physical health. Additionally, “idle” moments that allow our minds to be still serve as a way to pump the brakes of our lives, helping us to recharge physically and mentally so that we don't “burn out” and can lead happier lives.
Additionally, allowing our minds to practice “free association and mind wandering” can help us be more creative and innovative. Our minds can become stuck in unproductive thought patterns when we focus too hard on something. People often find that their best ideas come to them when their minds are freer to wander—in the shower, for example.
Thus, if taken too far, Meyer’s caution against allowing our minds to be “passive” may be detrimental to our spirituality, if it doesn’t allow us to process that spirituality on an unconscious level. The important thing is that a person is generally, overall active in their relationship with God—in this situation, occasionally allowing that relationship to take a back seat might allow them to more spontaneously come up with new and unique ways to be attentive to Jesus (such as coming up with a truly original way to help that friend in need).
Meyer cautions that sometimes, our talents and capabilities can make us complacent—when we feel as though we’ve mastered something, be it something ‘worldly’ like a sport or spiritual like prayer, we may feel like we have no work left to do, and, as such, we stop working. However, when we stop working on a skill, she explains that that skill will atrophy. Over time, we can end up in a situation where we think that we're competent in an area when we're simply passive and lazy.
Meyer uses fitness as an example of complacency. We may think that we're in great shape and become complacent about our exercise routine. Over time, our muscles will atrophy, and should we decide to go for a run, we may be in for a rude awakening.
Likewise, if we have a complacent attitude about our relationship with God, Meyer warns that it too will atrophy. Meyer reminds us that a positive spiritual life takes work. By keeping our minds active and engaged with God and His teachings daily, we can ensure that we're actively cultivating a positive, God-centered mind.
Engagement to Combat Atrophy
Meyer uses a physical analogy to illustrate how complacency can cause something (be it our spirituality or our bodies) to atrophy, but we can also look to neurology for another analogy, for just as our relationship with God and our physical fitness will atrophy if not actively cultivated, so will our mental sharpness if we don’t actively engage it.
While a decline in certain aspects of cognitive function is normal as we age, research has shown that some atrophy is avoidable, as adults can continue to build new neurons well into their later years. However, sticking with the activities that we're already good at is not the best way to keep our brains sharp. Research shows that participating in novel, mentally-challenging skills is the best way to improve cognitive function as we age.
Meyer highlights six signs that our mind is under attack and not as positive as it should be. These signs are the manifestation of negative patterns of thinking. The more habitual these negative patterns become, the more they will negatively affect our words, actions, and ultimately our lives.
Describe a negative pattern of thinking that has been appearing in your thought process recently.
What impact has this negative pattern had on your words and actions?
What can you say to yourself to break this pattern the next time you recognize it?
We’ve discussed Meyer’s ideas about how Satan attacks our minds with negative thoughts and have reviewed signs that he is succeeding. Part 3 will cover Meyer’s ideas about what a mind that succumbs to negative thoughts looks like.
Meyer describes a mind lost in negativity as lost in the “wilderness.” If we're trapped in a negative mindset, our lives can feel chaotic and unnavigable, even if our circumstances aren’t actually terrible. She uses the term “wilderness mentality” as a reference to the Israelites, who wandered in the wilderness for 40 years on what should have been an 11 day trip to the promised land (we’ll call “wilderness mentalities” negative mindsets).
Meyer argues that if the Devil can lure us into a negative mindset, he can keep us lost in a cycle of negativity indefinitely, impeding our ability to move forward in our relationship with God, relationships with other people, and our goals in life. She outlines 10 common negative mindsets that can trap people and some insights on how to escape them.
A Negative Thought, or Negative Thinking?
There’s a difference between having negative thoughts and becoming trapped in a cycle of negative thinking. Instead of viewing every negative thought as an attack from the Devil, experts urge us to remember that negative thoughts are a normal part of the human experience. In fact, some negative thoughts are justified and can help us process our experiences. However, if we realize that most of our thoughts are negative or that being positive is starting to become difficult, we may be entering a cycle of negativity (what Meyer would call a “wilderness mentality”).
The following strategies can help us break a cycle of negativity:
Accept negative thoughts (don’t tell yourself that having them is wrong) and then let them go. (We can use the analogy of a thought as a balloon that floats away once we’ve acknowledged it.)
Practice being grateful.
Avoid thinking in absolute terms like “never” and “always.”
Have realistic (and flexible) expectations. If we have unrealistic expectations about something we cannot control, we set ourselves up for disappointment. Keeping a flexible mindset about the future can help us take successes and setbacks as they come.
Meyer writes that Satan can trap us in a negative mindset if he can convince us that a better future is impossible. Satan can do this by prompting us to see the world through what Meyer calls our "natural eyes," which focus on the physical world. When we focus on the physical world, we can get caught up thinking about negative things that we see in our lives today, that we've seen in the past, that we tell ourselves, and that other people may tell us about our future. Focusing exclusively on these negative experiences is a self-defeating way to think about our future potential and can cause us to adopt what Meyer calls a “failure attitude.”
To escape a “failure attitude,” Meyer explains that we must choose to look at the world through “spiritual eyes” as opposed to “natural” eyes. When we look at the world through “spiritual eyes,” our future is not determined by past or present circumstances but by God’s plan for us. When we let the Holy Spirit guide our eyes and shape our view of the future, we can be free from negative preconceptions and open to the idea of a future that does not look like our present or our past. Of course, seeing the future with “spiritual eyes” does not mean that our path will be easy, but for a mind lost in negativity, “spiritual eyes” can show us that there is indeed a way out.
Using Our “Natural Eyes” to Collect Data
In her best-selling book Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don’t Have All the Facts, Annie Duke takes a secular approach in her advice on crafting a more positive future. While Meyer advocates eschewing our “natural eyes” and envisioning the future with “spiritual” ones, Duke argues that we should use what we can observe with our “natural eyes” as data to make smarter choices.
Duke explains that viewing every decision as a bet can help us be more objective in our reasoning. Like Meyer, Duke acknowledges that wrong beliefs can trap us in a mindset where we're prone to making bad decisions. She uses the term “motivated reasoning” to describe our tendency to continue to believe things even when it's clear that our belief is incorrect. (Meyer might call this a mental stronghold.)
While Meyer urges readers to use “spiritual eyes” to look past wrong beliefs, Duke urges her readers to imagine forcing themselves to place a bet on that wrong belief. Doing this can help us make choices based on probability and facts rather than emotions. It also forces us to acknowledge that some of our beliefs may be misconceptions. In Duke’s model, everything that we can observe with our “natural eyes” and everything we’ve learned through past experiences become useful pieces of data in casting these bets.
If we want to live the positive life that God intends for us, we have to be willing to work for it. Meyer refers to this as taking responsibility for our lives. She defines responsibility as our duty to “respond” to the “ability” that God has given us. She reminds us that God has a plan for each of our lives and has given us each unique abilities, talents, and opportunities. Taking responsibility means using these attributes to build the positive life that God has planned for us. Therefore, responsibility will look different for everyone.
(Shortform note: While Meyer assures us that God has a plan for our lives, it’s unclear how we are meant to know what that plan is.)
Satan tries to stop us from taking responsibility for our future by convincing us that the opportunities that God puts in our path are not right for us. He may tell us that they are too hard, that it’s not the right time to take on a new project, or that a particular role is not the right fit. If we listen to him, Meyer cautions that we may pass up a chance for a better life that will not come around again.
Accountability and motivation can help us ignore Satan’s suggestions. Meyer explains that all responsible people share a feeling of accountability to God, and this accountability fuels an intrinsic motivation to use their gifts to serve Him. Therefore, even when no one else is watching, a responsible person will continue to seize opportunities for self-improvement.
The Prosperity Gospel
Meyer’s discussion of responsibility is informed by her involvement in a popular Christian movement referred to as the Prosperity Gospel, which teaches that God wants His followers to be happy, healthy, and wealthy (Meyer is considered to be one of the modern-day leaders of the movement). According to the Prosperity Gospel, so long as we are faithful (responsible), we can expect success to follow. Indeed, in Battlefield of the Mind Meyer does not address the possibility that we might do all the “right” things and still not achieve success in life.
An article from the Vatican Journal La Civilta Cattolica critiquing the Prosperity Gospel movement (and Meyer in particular) helps to explain why this view is problematic:
- The Prosperity Gospel puts the individual, rather than God, at its center. Rather than needing God’s salvation, in this doctrine, we're owed something by God and are rewarded for our efforts with health and wealth. As Pope Francis wrote on the subject: “The result is a self-centered and elitist complacency, bereft of true love.”
- The Prosperity Gospel can make followers less empathetic. If God rewards the faithful with wealth and health, then those who are poor and suffering must, by extension, not be as “worthy” as the rich. The idea that “worthy” people are doing well can make people less inclined to help others.
In 2019, Meyer herself acknowledged that her views on the Bible’s promise of wealth and health “got out of balance,” and conceded that her views on faith and prosperity lacked empathy for the misfortunes of others. Therefore, a revised edition of Battlefield of the Mind might include some discussion of the possibility that our efforts to take responsibility for our lives might not always be successful.
Meyer writes that Satan tries to keep our minds negative by convincing us to use negative language when things get hard, which can trap us in a negative mindset. Statements such as “this is too hard” or “I can’t do this” lead to more negative thoughts and can actually make difficult things more difficult. Therefore, Meyer urges us to stop talking about how hard things are because it only makes us more likely to fail.
In contrast, keeping our language positive when encountering adversity makes us more likely to succeed. But this does not mean that we have to pretend that difficult things are easy. We can acknowledge our suffering while keeping our language, and by extension, our attitude, focused on the positive. For example, instead of saying “this is too hard” in response to a challenge, we could say, “yes, this is difficult, but I know that I will be stronger for having gone through it.” Meyer encourages us to stay positive through adversity by reminding us that the Holy Spirit will always lead us out of the wilderness so long as we have faith, but our route will not always be easy.
Framing challenging circumstances in light of our spiritual growth is a powerful tool in maintaining a positive mind and a positive life. Meyer explains that experiencing hardship teaches us to rely on God rather than ourselves. To reap the full benefits of weathering adversity, we have to trust that there is utility in difficulty and that it's part of God’s plan.
Physical Benefits of a Positive Emotional Style
Meyer’s suggestion that a negative mindset causes negative outcomes is supported by two widely cited studies from the medical field.
In one, researchers found that people with a more “negative emotional style” (more prone to hostility, anxiety, and depression) were more likely to both contract and report negative symptoms from the common cold than people with a more positive emotional style. The results even showed that people with a more negative style reported more “unfounded” symptoms than those who were more positive. These results suggest both physiological and emotional benefits to being positive.
A follow-up study corroborated these results with an additional level of scientific rigor. The researchers found that a positive emotional style was protective against both the common cold and the flu. Once again, the more positive personalities reported fewer symptoms of illness. The authors concluded that having a positive outlook is likely an important factor in overall health and wellness.
Having the wrong attitude about suffering can keep us in a negative mindset. Meyer explains that too often, we approach suffering with indignation. When we suffer, we feel wronged and become unhappy and unsatisfied with our circumstances. But Meyer explains that this is unproductive. She notes that God expects us to endure some suffering in our lives. Rather than seeing suffering as an injustice, Meyer suggests that we view suffering as a crucible through which we strengthen our faith.
Meyer explains that gratitude is an antidote to indignation. The key to becoming closer to God through our suffering is finding a way to give thanks no matter the circumstances. Meyer suggests making our prayers about thanks instead of complaints. She clarifies that it's ok to ask God for the things we want or need, but the spirit of our prayers should be one of gratitude and optimism rather than one of discontent.
Focusing on gratitude rather than indignation will allow us to enjoy a more positive mind and thus a more positive life. This positivity won’t just benefit us but will radiate to those around us. Meyer explains that when we approach suffering with grace and optimism, we give other people an example of how to live.
Accepting Negative Emotions
In The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, Mark Manson also suggests that there is utility in suffering. According to Manson, humans are biologically hardwired for suffering and dissatisfaction, and these feelings can actually be useful because they fuel a desire for self-improvement. However, Manson’s view of how we should handle the emotions that accompany suffering is different from Meyer’s. While Meyer suggests that we need to find a way to be positive and grateful even in the worst of circumstances, Manson suggests that the idea that we have to stay positive all the time is unrealistic.
Manson blames the media-driven self-help movement (of which Meyer is a part) for popularizing unhelpful ideas about negative thoughts. He argues that the push for relentless positivity can make people feel like they are failing when they are not able to immediately banish negative thoughts from their minds. While he does not suggest that people allow themselves to wallow in self-pity when things go wrong (he also stresses the importance of taking responsibility for our lives and making the best of our situation) he does remind us that negative emotions are normal, and in fact, that they can be useful because they serve as a signal that we need to make a change in our life.
Meyer proposes that we need to be patient to enjoy a positive life. Having patience means being positive while waiting for things in our lives. When we’re impatient for our lives to get better, we can end up trapped in a negative mindset because we have an excuse to not be positive right now. Meyer explains that we spend most of our lives waiting for something to happen. Many of us live in a pattern of expectantly waiting for something, briefly rejoicing when we get it, and then going right back to waiting for the next thing. While it's human nature to always have a goal to work towards, if we don't know how to be patient between our successes, we can easily be consumed with impatience and the negativity that comes with it.
Impatience as a Universal Experience
Meyer portrays impatience as an inherently negative experience. But, psychologist Jim Stone explains that impatience is a more complicated emotion than its colloquial use suggests and is in itself neither positive nor negative. Stone explains that impatience is our natural reaction when we realize that it will be more difficult to reach our goals than we initially thought. We respond to this realization by looking for alternative ways of accomplishing our goal. Together, our mental and physical reaction to a setback produces the experience of impatience.
Impatience can be useful at times. Stone points out that impatience likely served an evolutionary purpose. If hunter-gatherers realized that it took too long to find food using a particular method or location, their impatience would have prompted them to switch strategies. Today, impatience can help us realize when something in our life (something as small as a traffic jam or as significant as a relationship) takes more effort than it should, which can lead us to seek alternatives.
Like Meyer, Stone acknowledges that impatience can also be detrimental and potentially dangerous, citing a person trying to get out of a traffic jam and causing an accident as an example. Similar to Meyer’s argument, he notes that impatience and indignation combined can be a particularly destructive force in our lives. He explains that when we experience a setback that feels unfair (what Meyer might describe as pride), we're particularly prone to making rash, self-destructive decisions. Humility can help us avoid a negative mindset and poor choices in such a situation.
Meyer explains that trials in our life help us learn patience and humility because they force us to work through our negative tendencies like pride, anger, and self-pity. Once we’ve worked through these emotions, Meyer explains that we’ll accept that God’s plan for us might not involve getting what we want right now.
The humility and patience that we gain through trials also make us less vulnerable to Satan’s attacks on our minds. Meyer explains that Satan uses impatience and pride to make our minds overly idealistic. If he can convince us to have unrealistic expectations, Satan can bombard our minds with constant feelings of discontent, suggesting that things are not happening fast enough, that what we have is not good enough, or that we're not getting what we deserve. However, a patient and humble mind expects setbacks and does not expect perfection, and as such, can be both optimistic and realistic.
“Realistic Optimism”
Being overly idealistic and expecting things to work in our favor ‘right now' makes our mind vulnerable to negativity and, according to the authors of a paper on our brains’ response to uncertainty, is a predictor of failure.
The authors explain that when we're unrealistically optimistic, we're not mentally or emotionally prepared when success doesn’t come easily. Being unprepared means that setbacks can send us into a self-defeating negative spiral. They use the term “realistic optimism” to describe a belief that we’ll succeed, paired with the expectation that success will not be easy. This “realistic optimism” is a healthier and more sustainable mindset because it trains our minds to be mostly positive while leaving space for things not to go our way.
Satan tries to keep us in a negative mindset by impeding our self-awareness. He does this by convincing us to blame other people or difficult circumstances for our flaws and bad decisions. “If” and “but” are two words that Satan plants in our minds so that we keep making excuses for our problems. Meyer writes that we should be wary of thoughts such as “I could be positive if…” or “I would be positive but..”. Satan uses phrases like these to keep us from acknowledging our role in our problems and prevent us from developing the self-awareness needed for a positive life.
It can be painful to realize that we're the reason for our problems, but Meyer writes that we're free to change for the better once we do. She explains that God is always ready to forgive us our sins, so long as we take full responsibility for them. But when we outsource blame, we also outsource agency in our life. Once we can ask for God’s forgiveness without accompanying excuses, we’ll be ready to internalize His unconditional love and assume full responsibility for a positive life.
Blame as Avoidance
While Meyer argues that blame stems from an attack by the Devil, psychologist Bernard Golden argues that blame comes from our desire to avoid painful feelings such as shame and regret.
Like Meyer, Golden explains that we often use “If…” statements to deflect responsibility for our reaction to a situation. For example, “If he hadn’t been so mean to me, I wouldn’t have yelled at him.” Golden notes that while statements like this can preserve our self-esteem in the moment, they ultimately interfere with self-awareness and self-worth.
Golden explains that when we blame others, we rob ourselves of the chance to become more resilient, happier people. While blame may make us feel temporarily justified in our wrongness, it ultimately reinforces the idea that we're not in control of our lives. If we accept that we're victims of our circumstances, we're unlikely to take the time to reflect on our choices. If blaming rather than reflecting becomes our default mentality, we can end up feeling powerless and anxious.
Like Meyer, Golden suggests compassion as the antidote to blame. While Meyer urges readers to ask God’s forgiveness for bad choices, Golden proposes that we can live happier lives by simply accepting rather than judging ourselves. The takeaway message from both authors is that we can break the negative mindset that causes us to default to blame by coming to terms with our imperfections.
Meyer explains that Satan tries to trap us in a negative mindset by fueling an addiction to self-pity. While indulging in self-pity may make us feel better when things don’t go our way, it's destructive because it traps our minds in negative past experiences.
Self-pity also robs us of a sense of agency in our lives. When we feel sorry for ourselves, we cast ourselves as the victims of our stories, which means we lack the power to change our circumstances. Meyer explains that we cannot be both pitiful and powerful. If we hope to have a positive mind, we need to stop thinking about what has been done to us and start thinking about what we can do through our faith in God.
Because self-pity is an inherently selfish emotion, Meyer suggests that the best way to defeat it's to look at a situation from someone else’s perspective. Not only will this help us focus less on our problems (which is what Satan wants us to do), but it can help us to be a positive presence in the lives of others. If we can cast our attention off ourselves and onto someone else even during difficult times, Meyer explains that we’ll no longer feel like victims and have a more positive outlook.
Training Our Mind Away From Self-Pity
We can learn to break the habit of self-pity by practicing thought exercises that build mental strength. Best-selling author and psychotherapist Amy Morin explains that “throwing a pity-party” when things don’t go our way is a self-destructive habit that we can train ourselves to break.
She argues that negative feelings are natural, but dwelling on them is a choice. The key, she claims, is to accept any negative feelings we may have and then promptly move on without allowing them to rob us of our valuable time.
Morin lists several ways that “mentally strong people” avoid self-pity's “downward spiral,” including:
Recognizing when our mind is at risk of spiraling into self-pity
Taking negative thoughts as a challenge (for example, if we think we could never run a 10-minute mile, then a 10-minute mile would become our goal)
Practicing gratitude instead of complaining (mirroring Meyer’s earlier recommendation to direct your prayers toward thanks, not complaints)
Questioning whether our pitiful thoughts are rational (which you can do by following Meyer’s advice to look at your situation from someone else’s perspective)
In addition to the strategies listed above, Morin, like Meyer, suggests that helping other people can be an antidote to self-pity. Helping others can remind us of how fortunate we are and can take our minds off our problems.
Meyer argues that Satan tries to keep us in a negative mindset by making us feel unworthy of a positive life. She explains that most of our problems are the product of negative feelings we have about ourselves. Satan tries to make us feel bad for all of our missteps and failures. He uses any opportunity to convince us that we're unworthy, unlikeable, or unloveable. We’ll always find something to feel bad about if we listen to him.
Feelings of unworthiness will impact our relationships, goals, and outlook. We may lower our expectations, sabotage relationships, and expect failure from life because we believe that is what we deserve. At the extreme, our self-worth may sink so low that we stop envisioning a positive life altogether.
The biggest problem with listening to Satan’s attacks on our self-worth is that we can convince ourselves that we're unworthy of God’s love and forgiveness. Meyer explains that feelings of disgrace, blame, and shame make us unable to forgive ourselves for our flaws and mistakes. If we cannot forgive ourselves, we may feel like we're so terrible that God won’t forgive us either.
Contrary to what Satan tries to tell us, Meyer reminds us that we don’t need to earn God’s forgiveness, because God’s forgiveness is unconditional, as long as we ask for it with our whole mind and spirit. She argues that if we wait until we're “good enough” to be forgiven by God, we’ll never get there, because we’ll always be imperfect. Instead, we should accept that God loves us in our imperfect state and move forward.
Self-Worth Versus Self-Esteem
Licensed clinical psychologist Adia Gooden also discusses the importance of accepting ourselves as we are. Like Meyer, Gooden explains that feeling like we need to change something about ourselves before we can feel “worthy” is an exercise in futility.
But Gooden goes more in-depth than Meyer, explaining that, unlike self-esteem, which is based on external factors like our appearance, performance at work, and so on, our self-worth concerns our perception of our existential value. Basically, our self-worth is a measure of how entitled we feel to “take up space” in the world. While self-esteem can fluctuate based on external metrics of success, our self-worth is more deeply rooted and thus more constant.
Gooden lays out three ways, in addition to self-acceptance, to improve our self-worth by changing our thinking:
We can forgive ourselves for mistakes we’ve made in the past. We can’t feel worthy if we're angry and disappointed with ourselves.
We can have compassion for ourselves when we're feeling our worst.
We can foster and strengthen interpersonal connections to have a strong support system.
Gooden’s advice is similar to Meyer’s, except that according to Gooden, our ultimate source of love and forgiveness comes from deep within ourselves rather than from God.
Meyer contends that Satan tries to trap us in a negative mindset by convincing us that our life is worse than everyone else’s, thus stoking jealousy. If we become jealous of everyone else’s life, we’ll stop enjoying our own. Meyer explains that Satan uses our insecurities to fuel our jealousy. When we feel insecure, seeing other people succeed can make us unhappy because we focus on what we haven’t accomplished or what we don't have. If Satan can keep us focused on the things our life lacks, he can blind us to the fact that God has set each of us on a unique and valuable path.
Meyer recognizes that comparing ourselves to others is a tough habit to change. Many of us live in a culture of constant competition, where our value as a person is measured by how “successful” we are. But while beating someone else may increase our value in our eyes, it doesn’t increase our value to God. Meyer urges us to remember that this culture of competition is man-made, not God-made, and that buying into the idea that we need to be at the top of our field to have value causes us to miss opportunities to enjoy our lives as they are.
In addition to preventing us from enjoying our lives, Meyer notes that jealousy signifies that we may not be ready to receive God’s blessings. She explains that God wants to bless us, but he will not give us blessings that we're not mature enough to handle. If our minds are trapped in a place of jealousy, it may be part of God’s plan to make us wait for blessings.
The Role of Social Media in Fueling Jealousy
Studies show that technology and social media exacerbate our insecurity and jealousy. This happens because people generally only post the very best moments and details of their lives online so that when we scroll through social media, it looks like everyone else’s lives are better than ours.
Research shows that looking at social media leads to negative emotions because seeing something we want but don’t have can be an emotional trigger. This can even happen when we see our own lives posted on social media because when we look at our idealized version of ourselves, we may feel inauthentic and like we're failing.
Psychologists agree with Meyer that constantly comparing ourselves to other people can trap us in a negative mindset. They note that unfortunately, this problem can be hard to avoid as a great deal of modern life takes place online. Experts advise that to prevent negative emotions, you first remind yourself that social media is not “real life,” but that you also consider using feelings of envy for self-improvement. They suggest that if we see a post or photo that triggers our envy and insecurity, we try to understand what elements of that post we think are lacking in our lives. We can use these triggers as clues to areas we may want to focus on cultivating ourselves. Meyer might add that we can similarly use jealousy triggers to show us where we need to strengthen our relationship with God.
Meyer suggests that obedience to God is necessary for a happy life. However, as Meyer points out, many people choose to seek God only when they are going through difficult times or are in particular need of His help but talk themselves out of following His will when things are going well. When we feel secure in our worldly success, it can be difficult to deviate from our plan to follow God’s plan instead.
Meyer argues that a lack of obedience to God shows a lack of respect. She emphasizes that God has a plan for each of our lives, but we cannot be tools for His will if we're stubborn and rebellious. To lead a truly positive life, she explains that we need to be willing to follow God’s will at all times and without excuses.
Meyer urges us to remember that our obedience to God affects those around us. If we follow His will, we’ll be a positive influence in the lives of others. She notes that our lives would be better today if all of the people we’ve been affected by were obedient to God. Parents, she argues, would do well to keep this in mind because a parent’s disobedience today can impact their child’s future. She explains that if parents choose not to follow the will of God, they are not giving their children the best start on their path toward a positive life.
Believing in God’s Plan for Us
In the Christian theological tradition, obedience to God does not mean following a specific, predetermined plan for our lives the way Meyer describes it. In fact, Baptist minister Mark Woods proposes that believing that God has a specific plan for our lives is “theologically flawed." He explains that two problematic views of God can lead to such a belief.
Woods explains that some people ascribe to a “deterministic” view of God, where everything that happens, good and bad, is part of His divine plan. In this view, we accept all of the bad things that happen in the world as part of the “greater good,” trusting that everything happens for a reason, thus encouraging us not to question the plan and instead to be blindly obedient.
Woods highlights two problems with this view:
The idea that there is an ultimate plan for the world and that our lives are part of that plan precludes the existence of free will and negates moral agency. If God has everything planned out, then our choices don’t matter.
For the “deterministic” view to be true, God would need to be cruel. Woods points out that truly terrible things happen in the world that a loving God would never plan.
The other view that Woods critiques is that God, as Meyer proposes, has laid out a “roadmap” for each of our lives that will lead to us being satisfied and content. In this view, we expect good things to happen to us, and we accept them easily as part of God’s plan when they do. When they don’t, we assume that we’ve failed God or that He is testing us. Woods calls this view of God and life “materialist and consumerist” because it frames faith as a transaction. When we do the “right” thing, we get a reward.
Woods explains that neither of these views is a healthy conceptualization of God and His role in our lives. He suggests that instead of thinking of God as planning our lives, we think of Him as wanting the best for us. In this view, God is akin to a loving parent. He wants a good life for us, He has given us the tools to mature as His children, and he is always there to support us. But He does not make our choices or lay out our path for us.
If our mind is trapped in a negative mindset we can feel lost in our own lives. Even if our circumstances are objectively pretty good, a negative mindset can make us feel miserable, frustrated, and hopeless. It might take a thorough inventory of our thought processes to realize that a negative mindset, rather than our circumstances, is causing our problems.
Is there an area where you have felt “trapped” or “stuck” in your life?
How have your circumstances impacted that feeling? (Has the feeling remained constant despite changing circumstances? Have you felt like the feeling would go away if your circumstances changed, only to find that it did not?)
Can you identify any thought patterns that might be contributing to that feeling?
What might be some different ways you can think about your situation? How might you change your thought patterns?
We’ve reviewed Meyer’s ideas about how Satan tries to corrupt our minds with negative thoughts. We’ve explored her 10 common mindsets indicative of a mind trapped in Satan’s negativity. Part 4 will explore Meyer’s ideas about how we can fight off Satan’s attacks and cultivate a positive mind aligned with God’s way of thinking.
Meyer explains that the word of God is our primary weapon against Satan’s negativity. We use it in three main forms: the written word (scripture), praise, and prayer.
Meyer argues that the written word of God provides us with an arsenal of positive messages that we can use when our mind is under attack from the Devil. She explains that consequently, the more time we spend thinking about and studying the written word, the easier it will be for us to fight off Satan—when we know scripture well, we can easily recall helpful passages from the Bible to apply to any situation where Satan tries to corrupt our thoughts.
In addition to helping us recall God’s messages when we need them, Meyer proposes that when we can apply the meaning of scripture to our lives, our protection from negativity becomes more powerful. She explains that there are “treasures” and “secrets” hidden in the written word that we can reveal only by taking the time to think deeply about its meaning. The more time we spend studying scripture, the more we’ll get out of it. She explains that when she reads and meditates on a familiar passage of scripture, she often finds new meaning in it that she had never seen before.
Finding Meaning in Scripture
Meyer’s discussion of gleaning deeper meaning from scripture downplays the academic rigor required to interpret the Bible correctly, and therefore weakens her argument that we can rely on scripture to fight Satan. Most readers don't have the theological training or expertise to reliably uncover personal meaning from the Bible that is consistent with the text's original meaning, and thus, simply reading the Bible is often not enough to properly interpret it.
Jason DeRouchie, a professor of biblical theology, explains that the role of scripture is not to create meaning for readers but to convey meaning. Our job as readers is not to use scripture to generate meaning for our lives. Rather, our job is to read scripture as scholars of a historical text, compiled over generations, written by many authors, in many languages, and rich in political and cultural history. Just as we would be met with raised eyebrows if we gave “our version” of World War 2 in history class, we are not each academically invited to have “our version” of scripture.
DeRouchie outlines specific instructions for how to interpret scripture accurately. These include studying its grammar, the translation of keywords, and its historical and literary context, among others. From this, we can see that to get the deeper meaning of scripture takes active academic study. We can enjoy reading scripture independently and are free to interpret it as we choose. But to understand the Bible in the Christian tradition and to claim the authority to interpret it accurately is a rigorous undertaking.
Meyer writes that the quickest way to defeat the Devil is with praise for God that comes from the heart. Praise is the expression of gratitude and appreciation for all God has done for us. It’s powerful because it represents true thankfulness for God’s blessings in our life, given without reservation, and coming from a place of peace and contentment. If we're truly thankful and content regardless of our circumstances, there will be no place where the devil can penetrate our minds.
The Power of Words
Not only do our thoughts shape our reality, as Meyer proposes, but the specific words we choose have generative power—that is, they create our circumstances. When we talk to other people, we do this carefully and consciously, because we know what sort of relationship we're trying to cultivate with them and we choose words that reflect that desire. However, the way we talk to ourselves often lacks the same care. While this may not seem like a big deal, psychologists believe that the way we talk (and think) to ourselves has an impact on our mental health.
Experts propose that making even subtle shifts in our self-talk can change our life. For example, if we substitute the phrase “I have to” with “I get to,” we’ll emphasize opportunity over obligation. And instead of saying (or thinking) that we're “going” through something difficult, we might say we’re “growing” through something difficult. In this way, we can feel empowered rather than victimized and grateful rather than discontented.
Psychologists thus argue that by using more optimistic language, we can lead happier lives, mirroring Meyer’s view that simply changing our language may make us better able to praise God for the positives we have in life. By speaking positively, even if our circumstances haven’t changed, we’ll be less susceptible to negativity.
Meyer also writes that we can grow our relationship with God through prayer, a third form of the word of God. Meyer explains that prayer can take multiple forms. We can pray with our mind, with our spirit, and with our mind and spirit simultaneously.
Meyer explains that praying with our mind starts with rational thoughts. For example, we may hear about something on the news and decide to pray for those involved. This type of prayer is valuable because it directly connects our prayer life to everyday life. But, Meyer explains that it can sometimes be overly rational and emotionless.
(Shortform note: While Christian tradition does not divide prayer into the same categories as Meyer, her description of praying with her mind most closely parallels the types of prayer that Catholics would call “petition” (which is asking God for the things we need) and “intercession” (which is praying on behalf of others).)
In contrast to rational prayer from our mind, Meyer explains that prayer that comes from our spirit is all about our feelings. When we pray with our spirit, emotions too deep or abstract to put into words to flow out of us. Sometimes these feelings are our own; for example, we may pray with our spirit about a deep sense of longing that we cannot rationally explain.
Meyer explains that the feelings our spirits pray about sometimes come directly from the Holy Spirit. She explains that the Holy Spirit can guide us to pray about something God wants us to focus on, but our rational mind has yet to understand. Meyer refers to this as praying “in tongues”.
(Shortform note: The practice of speaking in tongues is often referred to as glossolalia (from the Greek for tongue). It is most common in the Pentecostal Christian tradition, which Meyer represents. Some followers of this tradition (including Meyer) maintain that speaking in tongues is a “supernatural outpouring” from the Holy Spirit, which can then be interpreted by oneself or another member of the congregation for the benefit of the larger group.)
When we accept the Holy Spirit as our guide, we can pray with our mind and spirit united. Meyer explains that this type of prayer is particularly powerful because it allows our thoughts and feelings to work together. For example, a prayer that starts as rational thought, say, “God, please help the victims of the hurricane,” can turn into a more profound prayer when we feel connected to the issue through our spirit.
The Holy Spirit can also help our rational mind make sense of prayers from our spirit. For example, Meyer explains that the Holy Spirit may call us to pray about something we don't fully understand. If our minds and spirits work together, the Holy Spirit’s message may take a more coherent shape.
(Shortform note: In her discussion of prayer, Meyer does not mention the Our Father (The Lord’s Prayer). Christian understanding of prayer comes from this prayer in particular. For Christians, it serves as a model for how people “should” speak to God, inviting them to pray with both their minds and their spirits. It is the foundational Christian prayer and is the only prayer that Jesus actually taught His followers to pray. Readers who, after reading Meyer’s description of prayer, might not know where to start in their own prayer life, can start there.)
Meditation and Prayer
Both Meyer and the Catholic Church caution against equating prayer with eastern non-Christian meditation. Meyer explains that many Christians are “fearful” of the term “meditation” because they associate it with “pagan” and “occult” religions. She casts meditation in this context in a firmly negative light, calling it a “perversion” by Satan for the purposes of evil.
The Catholic church takes a more diplomatic view of the desire of many modern Christians to incorporate meditation into their lives. Some Catholic scholars attribute the increased popularity of meditation and eastern religions to people’s desire for connection in our largely technologically-based culture. However, while it has many benefits, meditation in the context of eastern religions does not foster a connection to God in the Christian tradition for multiple reasons.
- The Christian faith is based on a relationship with God. For Christians, prayer is a way of tapping into and strengthening that relationship. As such, prayer requires two entities (us and God). Many forms of meditation invite practitioners to focus on themselves, their physical bodies, their breath, and so on as a means of connecting with divinity. Leaving God out of the equation means that mediation, by definition, cannot be a Christian prayer.
- Meditation often focuses on transcending this worldly plane to tap into the divine. But Christians believe that God’s love (the Holy Spirit) and his literal presence (Jesus) are/were here on Earth. Therefore, Christians don't need to transcend daily life to find God, and to suggest that they do would be to reject a central tenet of the Christian faith.
The authors do note that the increased interest in meditation and eastern religions has had the benefit of making more people realize that the position of their body influences their prayers. They explain that we can use body positions to add meaning and depth to our prayer life. For example, breathing practices can promote relaxation and overall engagement during prayer, and our body position during a prayer can act as a symbol of its meaning. However, they caution that feelings of relaxation or other physical sensations resulting from a physical component of prayer should not be interpreted as a literal connection with the Holy Spirit.
Meyer explains that Jesus is the paragon of maintaining a positive mind in the face of suffering. Therefore, as we try to live a positive life ourselves, we should try to emulate his mindset. While this may seem like an impossible task, Meyer reminds us that God invites all Christians to share the mind of Christ through the Holy Spirit. She outlines steps that can help us think like Jesus. Following these steps will keep our minds positive no matter the circumstances.
(Shortform note: Meyer outlined six separate steps, but some of them mirror each other or repeat previous discussions, so we’ve condensed them into three.)
To think like Jesus, we should always look for something positive to think, do, or say. Meyer explains that Jesus was always positive in the face of suffering and adversity. She argues that in every situation, we can choose to follow a path of “death” (which we’ll continue to call negative thoughts and actions) or “life” (which we’ll continue to call positive thoughts and actions). Meyer argues that if we’ve aligned our mind with the mind of Jesus, we’ll find a way to see and do things from a place of positivity, even when we face situations that seem hopeless or joyless.
Thinking like Jesus means looking for the good in those around us. As Meyer has mentioned earlier, we all get a positive lift when we think kind and encouraging thoughts about other people because those kind thoughts become kind words and actions.
Balancing Positive and Negative Thoughts
In her bestselling book The Secret, Rhonda Byrne proposes a math-based reason for why we should always look for a reason to be positive about ourselves, about others, and about our lives. In contrast to Meyer, Byrne writes that it's unrealistic to expect ourselves to be exclusively positive in every situation. The key, she explains, is to make sure that our ratio of positive to negative thoughts remains tipped in the positive direction.
Byrne explains that each time we think a positive thought, we add “weight” to the positive side of the scale. Byrne explains that as these positive thoughts accumulate, living a positive life becomes easier and easier. If we start the day positively, that momentum will carry us into a happier day. If we start the day on a negative note, we’ll only make it more difficult to be positive later because we’ll have added weight to the negative side of the scale.
Thinking about positivity as a ratio is helpful because it effectively shows why taking every opportunity to be positive matters. One negative thought in a sea of positive thoughts is unlikely to derail a positive mind. But if we're negative as much as we're positive, then any additional negative thought could be the tipping point into a negative day.
Meyer explains that aligning our minds with Jesus’s mind lifts us up not only mentally and spiritually but physically. When we allow God to guide us in a positive life, we can stand taller and hold our heads higher. Meyer adds that her physical appearance has improved since cultivating a positive mind because her positivity radiates from the inside out.
In contrast, Meyer argues that Satan’s attacks can physically bring us down. She notes that attacks from the Devil can cause us to hang our heads and slump our shoulders and even feel like we need to lay down. At the extreme, we may become clinically depressed by Satan’s attacks.
Stress and Posture
Research has shown that maintaining upright posture when we feel stressed can actually have measurable physiological benefits. A study of the effect of posture on participants’ response to emotional stress showed that sitting up straight helped people maintain their self-esteem and positive mood during an emotionally stressful situation. Sitting upright also helped people focus less on themselves (which Meyer has argued is an effective strategy in combating a negative mindset). Researchers concluded that proper posture may be an easy way for people to combat the effects of stress. In light of this study, Meyer might add posture as a weapon in our arsenal against Satan’s attacks.
Meyer notes that modeling ourselves on Jesus's mindset can help overcome depression. She outlines several steps to overcoming depression and regaining a positive life:
(Shortform note: We’ve merged Meyer’s eight steps to overcoming depression into four to avoid repetition.)
Step 1: Recognize Satan as the source of the problem.
Step 2: Take early action. Meyer notes that the longer Satan’s seeds of negativity are allowed to grow, the more difficult it will be to get rid of them. If we start to feel powerless in our lives, we should use that feeling as a warning sign that Satan may be driving us towards depression.
Step 3: Focus on the positives. Meyer explains that remembering good times in our lives can lift us up and give us a frame of reference for what we're fighting for.
Step 4: Look for relief in God. Meyer explains that if we feel depressed, we should not look for ‘worldly’ fixes to our problems but instead focus on our relationship with God. She explains people who are depressed often look for relief in the wrong places, but anything other than a positive relationship with God will be a bandaid, not a cure. Therefore, if we're feeling depressed, Meyer explains that we need to open our minds and spirits to God, ask for His help, and allow Him to guide us out of negativity.
Battlefield of the Mind Is Not Clinical Advice
In outlining steps to overcome depression, Meyer opens herself to criticism by giving what can be considered unfounded clinical advice. Meyer recognizes the seriousness of depression in her discussion of suicide as a worst-case outcome of the disease, yet does not suggest that people struggling with depression seek professional help.
A paper from the University of Leicester providing a “psychoanalytically informed” discussion of Meyer discusses why her foray into providing clinical advice may be ill-advised. The authors of the paper note that Meyer’s teachings employ therapeutic language when discussing their followers’ mental problems but then fail to employ appropriate clinical approaches to address them. The authors note that Meyer consistently fails to acknowledge the “biological, social, and experiential causes” of psychological disorders and, as such, does not suggest medication or professional help as a treatment option. In fact, her admonition to avoid “worldly” fixes seems to specifically advise against seeking help from sources like professional psychologists or medication—advice that might cause people to delay getting meaningful help.
While her advice to seek help early and to focus on positives echoes some aspects of more traditional advice, her teachings depart from mainstream psychological recommendations in that it encourages people to see their issues as stemming from “supernatural” causes. Outsourcing our negative thoughts and feelings to Satan fails to acknowledge the complexity of human emotions and runs counter to psychotherapy, which encourages people to better understand and work through their thoughts and feelings. The authors note that for people who suffer from certain disorders such as bipolar and manic depression, Meyer’s use of supernatural imagery can actually make manic symptoms worse.
To think like Jesus, we need to make our relationship with God part of our daily lives. Meyer reminds us that we cannot have a strong relationship with someone when they are not on our minds. Jesus, she notes, was in constant communion with God. Since He is our example for leading a positive life, we should strive to do the same.
Meyer suggests finding places throughout the day to focus our thoughts on God. Taking opportunities to think about and appreciate God every day will strengthen our relationship with Him and help our minds stay positive. She gives the following suggestions of simple ways to incorporate God into our daily lives:
Tending to Important Relationships
Many people would describe their relationship with God as one of, if not the more important relationship in their lives. Therefore, it's not surprising that Meyer’s advice for cultivating a healthy relationship with God parallels advice on maintaining a healthy relationship with our significant other.
Psychologist Abigail Brenner adds that a relationship we don’t prioritize will not continue to add positivity to our lives. She writes that relationships need “constant attention and constant tending” to stay healthy.
Like Meyer, Brenner proposes that simply taking moments throughout the day to prioritize thinking about and appreciating our partner will strengthen our relationship. Her suggestions include:
Taking moments to check in with our partner throughout the day via phone call, text, and so on (mirroring Meyer’s advice to carve out moments to connect with God by meditating and reflecting on His word).
Making sure that we set aside time each day to show affection for one another (Meyer’s take on this recommendation is to start each day with a prayer).
Complimenting our partner to show that we don't take their good qualities for granted (echoing Meyer’s guidance to notice and appreciate the positive qualities of the world around us).
With busy schedules and hectic lives, pulling our thoughts back to our closest relationships throughout the day every day can help remind us what’s important.
Meyer says that many people don't realize the power of believing in God’s unconditional love. When we believe in and internalize God’s love for us we feel worthy—worthy of His blessings, worthy of His love and love from others, and worthy of the positive life that He intends for us. Internalizing God’s love stops us from wasting time feeling guilty for things we’ve done in the past or feeling bad about ourselves and allows us to embrace positivity in our lives. Therefore, while it may seem elementary, Meyer suggests that people should spend more time appreciating what it means to be loved, as we are, by God.
In addition to celebrating God’s love for us, if we want to think like Jesus, we should also express our love and appreciation for others. Jesus was a positive force in the lives of so many people because he always shared a message of love. Meyer explains that we’ll bring more positivity into our lives and the lives of those we care about if we make it a point to tell people how much we appreciate them.
Receiving Love
Internalizing love can be difficult if we have low self-esteem. Psychologist Marissa Franco explains that people often have a harder time receiving love than giving it. She proposes that receiving love from someone else can make us uncomfortable if we don't share the same love for ourselves.
Hearing loving things about ourselves that we don’t feel we “deserve” can make us feel confused about who we are. Are we the person we see or the person other people see? Franco explains that we may worry that we’ll let people down when we don’t live up to the standards others’ love has set for us.
We can get better at receiving love if we practice giving it. Therapist Barton Goldsmith explains that when we give love to others, we simultaneously increase our capacity to receive love. In this sense, the more love we give, the more we can get. Goldsmith explains that it's important to build our capacity to receive love because feeling loved and loveable will help us live a happier life.
One way to add deeper meaning to the love we show to others is by sharing the reason we love them. For example, instead of saying “I love you,” we can say, “I love you because you are so thoughtful.” Goldsmith explains that hearing a specific reason we're loved helps remind us of our good qualities. It's especially beneficial to hear love in this format when we feel unloveable or bad about ourselves. Meyer would likely urge us to use this advice when we respond to God’s call to share His love with others.
Having a model of positivity to emulate can make our work towards a positive mind feel more tangible and attainable. Meyer chooses Jesus as a role model, but we might have someone else who has positive qualities that we would like to cultivate in ourselves.
Think about someone whose positive qualities have made them a positive presence in your life recently. What qualities makes them a positive influence?
Since we can’t see other people’s thoughts, what are some specific words and actions that this person said or did that had a positive impact on you?
What qualities would you like to cultivate in your own life that would make you a more positive influence on others?
What are some ways you can tweak your thought process to help you embody these qualities?