Winning the War in Your Mind: Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life

Declarations are one of Groeschel’s main methods for implanting new habits of thought. His recommended process, laid out in multiple chapters, is to discern negative, unhealthy thought patterns; find Bible verses that counteract those patterns with positive truths; and write personal declarations based on those verses. These declarations are simple statements, usually just one or two sentences in length, and are meant to be repeated on at least a daily basis. As repetition is carried out over the course of weeks or months, the brain habituates itself to the positive truths of the declarations.

Meditation, as used in Winning the War in Your Mind, does not refer to popular forms of meditation based on eastern techniques like yoga or Buddhist practices, which often focus on attempts to empty one’s mind of thought. Rather, Groeschel refers to a Christian spiritual discipline in which a person meditates on a Bible passage by reading it slowly, thoughtfully, and prayerfully. Groeschel uses “rumination” as a synonym for this idea. Just like cows ruminate by chewing their cud repeatedly, so Christians can extract the greatest amount of “spiritual nutrition” (102) from their study of scripture by using a thoughtful and repeated process of reading, studying, and praying.

Neuroplasticity is a neuroscientific term. It refers to the adaptive nature of the brain’s neural pathways. Instead of existing in a permanently fixed state, the brain can change its neural functioning in response to repeated thoughts or behaviors. This is a positive attribute of mental health; it allows the brain to gain new functions and learn complex skills in a fluid and repeatable way. However, it can also have negative effects when the repeated thoughts or patterns are unhealthy or damaging. To win the war in your mind, Groeschel argues that you need to harness your brain’s neuroplasticity. Repeated use of truthful declarations, prayer, and praise build new, positive thoughts into neural pathways.

Groeschel borrows biblical imagery; he describes the deeply-rooted nature of negative thought patterns as “strongholds.” This term occurs throughout the book, but its fullest explanation is in Chapter 2, where Groeschel refers to the lies that motivate our unwanted behaviors as “the walls of the strongholds […] reinforced over and over to become bigger and stronger” (33). This underscores the impossibility of reforming one’s behavior without dealing with the root of the problem; the stronghold must be torn down.