Have you been having difficulty hearing from God lately?

How about your prayer life, can you remember the last time you were able to sit quietly and really communicate with God?

If you are like me who have been to a place of stagnation, then you are in the right place at the right time.

You can pull yourself from the depths of stagnation when you learn how to remove the clutter from your mind.

Your thoughts can easily become compacted with everyday responsibilities in your home or workplace.

Your mind can also become cluttered with problems, trials, grief and trauma.

How to remove the clutter from your mind

If your home is cluttered with a lot of stuff the first thing that you do before organizing your home is to remove things that you no longer used.

Similarly, our mind tends to collect and store stuff which can overload your brain leading to depression or even a nervous breakdown.

It is, therefore, important that you try to capture every thought before storage because prevention is better than cure.

For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled. (2 Corinthians 10:4-6)

The above verse states that we need to arrest every negative thoughts that are not obedient to the Word of God.

Whatever we think or say should glorify God and if they are not we need to let them go.

The clutter in your mind cannot be organized it must be released.

When I was going through some traumatic time in my life and I needed to hear from the Lord, the first thing that He told me to do was to release the clutter and kill the noise in my life.

The clutter in my life during that time was my secular dreams and desires.

Nothing is wrong with having a dream but if it starts to consume your life then it becomes a clutter.

The noise in my life was the many hours I spent watching television and reading secular books.

When I significantly reduced the hours I spent on those things I killed the noise and released the clutter.

Immediately, my mind was opened to receive and obey the Word of God.

Releasing the clutter

Getting rid of the clutter depends on what is littering your mind. For example, if you are constantly being bombarded by problems and you are feeling overwhelmed you will need to find a secluded spot to meditate and pray.

Jesus often goes alone into the mountains or a secluded area to pray (Luke 9:18, 28). During those intimate times with the Lord you will receive revelation on how to solve your dilemmas.

The word of God states that you should cast all our cares upon Him because He cares for you (1 Peter 5:7).

It is difficult to forget your problems and it is not wise to runaway from them but knowing that you have someone who is willing to shoulder the heavy burden will give you peace of mind.

Sometimes unexpected trauma or the sudden death of a loved one can occur.

In such cases how do you deal with it? How do you cope?

Read: How to cope with grief and loss.

It is difficult to understand why bad things happen to anyone especially if you have been faithfully serving the Lord.

During those difficult times you might feel as if God has forgotten you.

You do not have to feel guilty when you feel this way because even Jesus during His agony on the cross cried out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46)

Obviously, Jesus felt rejected and defeated but He knew it was the will of the Father and He yielded up His Spirit to God.

Immediately, the reasons for Jesus’ death was manifested when the veil of the temple was torn apart indicating that humanity has direct access to God.

Additionally, miraculous resurrection of the saints occurred indicating Christ’s victory over death and the grave.

Psalms 46:1 states, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in times of trouble.”

David has been through many traumatic times in His life and it was during one of those difficult times he wrote Psalms 34 and in verse 18 he assured us that:

“The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.”

The Word of God is direct confirmation that the Lord will protect you in times of trouble.

For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of His tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock. (Psalms 27:5 NKJV)

Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah. (Psalms 32:7)

You never need to be afraid to face your troubles because the Lord promised to save you from all your troubles.

This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.
The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles. (Psalms 34:6,17)

Therefore, the Lord says, “Call upon call upon me in the day of trouble and I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.” (Psalms 50:15 NKJV)

What to do when work and home responsibilities clutter your mind.

When responsibilities at work spill over into your private life it is best to adopt a strict policy of leaving your work at work at the end of the day. This could mean spending an extra half hour at work to complete your daily task.

Bear in mind that this policy will depend on the nature of the job and the amount of work load. Sometimes it may be necessary to take some of your office work home.

In such cases, it is best to first unwind by spending quality time with your family before tackling any office related jobs.

Researchers found that to avoid your job taking over your life and thus cluttering your mind it is best to create boundaries by strictly separating your work time from your home time.

You can also established routines for work and home and maintaining a healthy life style (Chron.com).

Put away all your work related technological devices such as cell phones and Laptops as soon as you arrive home.

When you have developed a principle to intentionally separate your work from your personal life you will become less stress and have a peaceful mind.

Do you find yourself rushing from work to pick up the kids at school then trying to beat the traffic to your home to prepare dinner before the sun set? Then you have to clean the house, feed the pets, help the children with their homework and get them ready for bed.

All of these every day tasks can quickly overload your mind and body leaving you exhausted at the end of the day with no time to spend with God.

How do you cope when home responsibilities become burdensome? How do you stay calm when life becomes overwhelming?

Some simple tips to handle home responsibilities are to share household tasks with your spouse, do a little at a time and not everything in one day, organize your time, do bulk cooking on weekends, avoid procrastination (Universalclass.com).

Be reminded that the Lord cares about every aspect of your life so always “trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6 NKJV)

I pray that this article will help you to reduce the stress in your life and release the clutter in your mind.

Share with us any additional thoughts that we have not covered in this article.

Thank you for reading and be blessed.