Those words you say to yourself in your heart. The ones that discourage and make you feel insecure. You don’t have to let them overwhelm you anymore. The Crash the Chatterbox devotional is based on the book of the same title designed to help you overcome the lies of insecurity, fear, condemnation, and shame that have been holding you back.
Pastor Steven Furtick
Day 1
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 10:3-5
CRASH THE CHATTERBOX
My mind is bombarded with constant chatter that goes something like this: I can’t . . . I won’t . . . I’m not . . . I never . . . Do you hear it too? I have struggled with these lies of insecurity, fear, condemnation, and discouragement throughout my life and my ministry, and I have seen people I know be overwhelmed to the point that they feel hopeless and helpless to fight.
Jesus calls the devil “a liar and the father of lies”, but the devil isn’t the only one feeding us chatter. It comes from our own thoughts and beliefs too. The great news is that God has a voice in this fight, and it’s far more powerful than any one else’s. We can’t silence the negative chatter, but by studying God’s Word we can learn to Crash the Chatterbox and overcome the lies that hold us back.
I wrote this study to help you start your fight. I believe if you commit to seven days of focusing your thoughts on what God says about who you are and what you can do, the lies of the Chatterbox will lose their strength. You can learn to make a daily choice to hear God’s voice above the rest.
PRAY:
God, thank you for always speaking to me. Help me to identify the lies that the enemy speaks to me so that I can exchange them for your truths. I trust that you will equip me to crash the Chatterbox within my own mind. In Jesus name.
Day 2
Scripture: Matthew 3:16-17
INSECURITY: GOD SAYS I AM
Do you know that preachers tend to be one of the most insecure groups of people on the planet?
Ironic, don’t you think? Especially if you realize that insecurity might be the ultimate insult to God.
Think about it. If I believe the lies of my insecurities, it’s as if I believe God didn’t quite get it right when He put this calling on my life.
The Chatterbox loves to point out those things I see in myself as imperfections and convince me that’s who I am. And sometimes I can be tricked into believing it.
What’s interesting is that God also sees all my imperfections. As a matter of fact, He knows what they are better than I do. He knows everything that’s wrong with me and why it’s wrong. Yet, when God talks about who I am, he says things such as:
I am fearfully and wonderfully made in His image.
I am sealed with His promise.
I am redeemed.
In Matthew 4, the devil had no chance against Jesus when he tempted him with lies in the desert, because at the end of Matthew 3, when Jesus was baptized, He heard the simple affirmation of God’s word:
“This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
Jesus understood that, before His ministry began, His Father loved Him and was pleased with Him. So, when it came to defeating the devil, Jesus did not draw his strength from his own opinion of himself, or from the opinion of the people around him. He drew strength from His Father’s words.
God speaks the same word over us every day. We just have to hear it.
If we push aside the lies of the Chatterbox and focus on the words, “God says I am,” we don’t have to live up to anyone else’s expectation, or even our own. Instead, we can begin to live out of the perfect affirmation’s already given us.
PRAY:
God, thank you for making me unique. You have a purpose for my life that far exceeds my own ability or expectation. Teach me to lean solely on what you say about me. In Jesus name.
Day 3
Scripture: 1 John 4:18
FEAR: GOD SAYS HE WILL
I have fears.
What if I fail?
What if I lose someone close to me?
What if I never get what I’m praying for?
If I don’t learn to block fear out of my life, it will rob me of the life God planned for me.
Fear is that bully on the school playground that grabs me by the shirt collar and says, “give me your lunch money, or else!” The Chatterbox does the same thing to my thoughts, using “What if” scenarios that create fear and hold me back.
The more I listen to the Chatterbox, the more power I give to fear. But even if the bully seems too big to defeat, I know I don’t have to run and hide. God has given me everything I need to fight back and win.
When the bully yells, “What if?”, we can learn to answer back with, “God says He will.”
What if I fail? God says He will pick me up and fully restore me.
What if I lose someone close to me? God says He will comfort me.
What if I never get what I’m praying for? God says He will provide everything I will ever need.
Even at the bottom of your worst fear you’ll find a greater God.
And God doesn’t need to duck any punches. As we begin to hear God’s voice, we’ll see that His perfect love can kick fear out our lives and lead us safely into his will.
PRAY:
God, thank you for being greater than all my fears. Your perfect love has more power than anything the enemy will throw my way. Open my eyes today to see how you are fighting for me. In Jesus name.
Day 4
Scripture: Romans 8:1-2
CONDEMNATION: GOD SAYS HE HAS
No one is free from struggling with sin. One sin I struggle with is anger. Maybe you do too. Or, maybe not. It doesn’t matter. To God, sin is sin, and we all have our own variety.
Because we’re imperfect people, we make mistakes. God knows this. He even gave us the Holy Spirit to help us know when we’ve done something wrong. Remember? It’s called “conviction”.
But because we’ve all sinned, the Chatterbox knows we’re all vulnerable to the lies of condemnation. If we can be forced to focus on our sin just long enough, our conviction from the Holy Spirit can be twisted into condemnation from the Enemy.
When this happens, the Chatterbox is quick to turn out a vicious cycle of personalized lies. Here is one of my own examples.
I can’t believe I just did that. I really screwed up this time.
Actually, yes I can. I always screw things up.
That’s what I do. I’m a screw up.
If we’re not careful, the Chatterbox can use shame to turn one mistake into our entire identity. That’s what he wants. Then, the times in our lives when we need to feel God’s presence the most, become the times when we feel like we can come to God the least.
In God’s presence, there are no lies of condemnation, only the truth of His limitless kindness and forgiveness.
Even though the Chatterbox can disguise conviction with condemnation, it can never change the truth of what God says he has already done for us.
God says He has already forgiven us, so we should never feel condemned.
God says He has erased all condemnation for those who know His Son.
Being convicted of our sin is not the same as being condemned for it. If we listen to God’s voice, we’ll only hear truths that cannot be twisted.
PRAY:
God, thank you for your endless forgiveness. No matter how far I feel from you, you are always there with me. I release all condemnation today to see that you have already forgiven me. In Jesus name.
Day 5
Scripture: Ephesians 3:20-21
DISCOURAGEMENT: GOD SAYS I CAN
One thing I wish I’d learned earlier is that going to the “next level” in my relationship with God doesn’t mean I’m free from difficult circumstances and dark emotions.
It is important for you to know that the Chatterbox can’t be crashed once and for all. It has to be dealt with daily.
Anyone who is trying to draw closer to God faces the potential for discouragement. When I get discouraged, it’s not because I don’t believe in God, it’s because I don’t believe in myself. I know that God created the universe and sent His Son to die on the cross, to overcome death, and be resurrected from the grave. It’s illogical for me to ever doubt God’s capability.
What I can doubt is my ability to do great things on God’s behalf. The chatter sounds something like this:
“There’s no way I can do that. I know God is powerful, but I am nowhere near ready to be used by Him.”
None of us, on our own, is ever ready to do the incredible things God calls us to do. Peter wasn’t ready to walk on water under his own strength. David wasn’t qualified to lead God’s people. And Abraham was too old to become a father of many nations.
But God said they could. And they did.
When the Chatterbox says, “You can’t”, “You’re not”, or “You won’t”, be ready to answer:
“God says I can.”
When we start listening to God’s voice above all others, the Chatterbox knows his time is almost up.
PRAY:
God, thank you for the encouragement you speak over my life. You are infinitely powerful, yet gracious enough to use an imperfect person like me. Give me the confidence to know that you have specifically placed me where I’m at today to fulfill your purposes. In Jesus name.
Day 6
Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-17
YOU’VE GOT THIS
The soundtrack of life, for every person God uses, is often marked by the constant background static of the Chatterbox. It may seem futile to think that no matter what you do, the Chatterbox is never going to completely disappear.
But the more we tune into God’s voice above all others, the easier it is to drown out all that useless chatter.
I should know. I wrote the book.
Now, when insecurity creeps in and tries to poison my thoughts, I know who God says I am and I can choose to believe what He says over the lies of the Enemy.
When fear tries to bully me and block my progress, I know God is at the bottom of even my worst places, and I can fight with faith in His promises.
When condemnation twists the way I see my past mistakes, I know the truth of God’s love, and I don’t have to stay in my sin.
And when discouragement puts a detour in the path of my progress, I know God’s Word is the only direction I need to follow, and that I will use His strength to accomplish His work.
When the Chatterbox starts up again tomorrow, you don’t need to cringe or hide. Don’t worry. You’ve got this.
Just don’t stop crashing.
The Chatterbox is not as powerful as you might think.
Though the Chatterbox can never be silenced, it can always be crashed.
Swiftly.
Decisively.
Continually.
PRAY:
God, thank you for equipping me with the tools to hear your voice over all others. You have given me everything I need to stop the Enemy’s advances in their tracks. Give me the strength to turn to you as I crash the Chatterbox every single day. In Jesus name.
Day 7
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:13-15
CALLING ALL CHATTERBOXERS
It’s not just about you.
You’re not the only person fighting off the internal Chatterbox that keeps you from hearing God’s voice above all others. The people around you are locked in the same battle. We live in a world full of chatter, and I believe every person you make eye contact with has wrestled with these same lies.
You can’t crash their Chatterbox for them, but you can share these tools and start a chain reaction of Chatterboxers, who will stop at nothing to drown out
the noise of the Enemy with the truth of God’s Word.
God’s potential is limitless. So, start the conversation. Have coffee with a friend, encourage someone going through a hard time, or even start a small
group to study Crash the Chatterbox together.
I’m calling all Chatterboxers.
Lace up the gloves. Join the fight.
The Chatterbox can be crashed.
You have the tools to do it.
PRAY:
God, thank you for teaching me how to hear your voice and for giving me an opportunity to help others do the same. Your love doesn’t just change me, it compels me to help others change. Give me an opportunity today to encourage someone close to me. In Jesus’ name.