Did you realize that most of us… before we say a single word out loud each day… we’ve already had a full conversation.
As we mentioned in the opening sermon of this series, psychologists say the average person has somewhere between 60,000 and 80,000 thoughts a day.
And the reality of this truth is that a shocking number of them are negative. But here’s the part that gets me: most of those thoughts aren’t new… they’re repeats.
So imagine this.
What if you carried around a small speaker all day… clipped to your belt, playing your thoughts out loud.
Every time you made a mistake, the speaker blurted out:
“Nice job. You always mess things up.”
Every time you compared yourself to someone else:
“You’ll never measure up to them, stop trying.”
Every time you felt overwhelmed:
“You’re failing. Everyone else has it together but you.”
Now… let me ask you this question… If someone else spoke to you the way you speak to yourself, how long would you let them stay in your life?
Most of us would call that abuse. We’d set boundaries.
We’d walk away. And yet… we let that voice live rent-free in our minds… day after day.
What’s even more dangerous is that some of us have learned to spiritualize it. We confuse humility with self-hatred. We confuse conviction with condemnation. We confuse being “realistic” with being relentlessly negative.
But Jesus never spoke to broken people the way we speak to ourselves. He spoke life. He spoke identity. He spoke truth that healed instead of putting labels on people that crushed them.
And today, the question isn’t whether you have a voice shaping your thoughts…The question is: Is that voice leading you toward life—or slowly draining it from you?
Because life-giving attitudes don’t start with pretending everything is fine. They start when we stop agreeing with every negative thought that crosses our mind… and start letting truth speak louder.
Today is week #4 in our series “Every Thought Captive” based on the book and sermon series by Kyle Idleman. In his sermon, “Say it out Loud” Kyle brings up the amazing story that is found in the Old Testament in the book of Ezekiel chapter 37.
We’re going to take a look at that story and draw some spiritual truths from it, that I believe will help us to continue taking every thought captive.
Look at verse 1 and 2 The Lord took hold of me, and I was carried away by the Spirit of the Lord to a valley filled with bones. 2 He led me all around among the bones that covered the valley floor. They were scattered everywhere across the ground and were completely dried out.
So the first truth is this… often times in our lives…
1. God brings you face to face with your thoughts.
Ezekiel is led back and forth through the valley and he doesn’t just see the bones… he studies them… and he see that “They were very dry.”
Now… that phrase matters. What it shows Ezekiel is that this wasn’t a recent loss. This was a long-term defeat. These bones were “dry”.
What we often try to do is, we will often try avoid hard thoughts. But sometimes God brings us right into them.
Now… Why would a loving God want you to do this? It’s because you can’t renew what you refuse to confront. If we don’t learn to face some hard stuff and call it for what it is… we can’t take it captive and renew our thinking about it.
Let me ask you… What thought has been “very dry” in your mind?
Maybe it’s a belief you’ve carried for years. Maybe it’s a label you’ve accepted. Maybe it’s a narrative you keep repeating
Now… again… like we discussed last week, God doesn’t expose dry places to shame you… He reveals them so He can redeem them.
Let me ask you this? How many of you have you ever avoided stepping on a scale after the holidays? And you do this… because you know what it’s going to say… but you still blame the scale.
“This thing must be broken.” No—it’s just telling the truth you didn’t want to face.
God does the same thing spiritually. He doesn’t bring us into the valley to shame us… He brings us there to show us what’s actually going on.
Remember what we mentioned last week, “You can’t heal what you won’t reveal.” Well, that is still true this week.
Some of the strongest believers carry the driest bones because they’ve learned how to function without ever facing what’s dead on the inside. God walks Ezekiel through the valley because renewal begins with honesty.
I don’t know if anyone here has every been involved with Alcoholics Anonymous but the first step in getting better is this…
Admitting that you are powerless over alcohol. And the reason they do this is because…
Denial Keeps the Problem in Control. Addiction thrives on denial.
As long as someone says: “I can stop anytime.” “It’s not that bad.” “I’m different from other people.” …the addiction stays in charge… whatever addiction that may be.
AA understands a core truth: self-deception blocks transformation. Admitting the problem removes excuses and puts an end to the justification of your problem.
Admitting the problem is not weakness…it’s reality. And reality is where change begins. Ironically, pretending you don’t have a problem produces more shame.
Admission does the opposite: “This isn’t who I am—but it is something I’m dealing with.” When we are able to make that shift it allows us to move from self-condemning thoughts to life-giving responsibility.
James 4:6 says…
And he gives grace generously. As the Scriptures say,
“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.
Ask yourself, What thought has been “very dry” in my mind? What belief have I quietly accepted as permanent? What story do I keep telling myself about who I am or what’s possible?
Maybe it sounds like: “This is just how my marriage is.” “I’ll never be free from this.” “God can help others—but not this.
So when God, through His word, through His Holy Spirit, through wise counsel, brings you face to face with your thoughts… also known as conviction… don’t run from it… like Ezekiel… admit those dry areas… those dry bones.
Next, understand that…
2. God will often challenge you before He changes the situation.
Look at verse 3. God asks “Son of man, can these bones become living people again?”
When God asked this question… He wasn’t looking for optimism… He’s revealing Ezekiel’s theology. And Ezekiel gives a wise answer: “O Sovereign Lord,” I replied, “you alone know the answer to that.”
Translation: “Don’t know how you’re gonna do it…” “But I trust You anyway.” “I don’t have a plan…” “I don’t have the power…” But I believe that you can do something about this situation.
That’s what a transformed mind can look like. Instead of doubting that God can work things out for our good and His glory… we believe that God’s power is limitless.
Some of our thoughts aren’t sinful… they’re just pretty small.
“I’ve always been this way.” “That’s just how my family is.”
“Nothing ever changes.”
I think that before God works miracles in situations… He challenges those assumptions.
Think about some of the ways that Jesus worked in the New Testament. Jesus often asks questions… not because He lacks information, but because people do.
God’s question to Ezekiel reveals this truth:
Your mindset will determine whether you expect resurrection or accept decay.
God will often challenge your perspective before He ever changes your reality.
It reminds me of when my kids were younger and would come running in saying, “Dad! He’s bothering me!”
Now, I never said, “OK… I’m grounding him immediately.”
I always asked annoying follow-up questions like,
“What do you mean by bothering?”
“Well… what did you do first?”
And they’d look at me like, Why are you asking questions? Just bring the thunder.
But here’s the truth: I wasn’t ignoring the situation—I was checking their perspective. God does the same thing.
All through Scripture, before God changes a situation, He asks a question. Adam: “Where are you?” Elijah: “What are you doing here?” Jonah: “Is it right for you to be angry?”
God already knows the answer. The question isn’t for Him… it’s for us.
Sometimes we want God to move the mountain,
and God says, “Let’s talk about how you’re looking at it first.”
Because here’s the uncomfortable reality:
If God fixes the situation but doesn’t fix our perspective,
we’ll just end up in the same mess again… just with new scenery.
We pray, “Lord, get me out of this,” and God says, “Before I do… what do you see right now?”
Because God isn’t just interested in changing your circumstances… He’s committed to transforming the way you see them… and truthfully… the way you see Him too.
Now here is the third thing we need to learn.
3. God’s word must replace your inner thoughts.
Look at verse 4-6 Then he said to me, “Speak a prophetic message to these bones and say, ‘Dry bones, listen to the word of the Lord! 5 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Look! I am going to put breath into you and make you live again! 6 I will put flesh and muscles on you and cover you with skin. I will put breath into you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”
God says: “Prophesy to these bones.”
Do you see what God is doing here? Ezekiel is commanded to speak God’s Word, not his emotions. And I’m sure Ezekiel is like… “God… these dry dead bones aren’t gonna hear this.”
This got me to thinking about some the things that we talk to that fully knowing… they don’t hear us.
Our GPS: “That is NOT the fastest route.”
Or during a national championship football game. We yell at the TV… “That’s targeting!”
Not that I’m bitter or anything… good thing IU won. But how many of you were talking to the referees to the TV… knowing they can’t hear you?
Our Phone When It Freezes. “Come on… come on… DON’T do this right now.” As if your phone responds better to encouragement.
Self-Checkout Machines: “I did put it in the bag.”
Or the cat… “Why would you do that?” The cat knows. The cat does not care.
God… but Only About the current situation…
“Lord, FIX THIS.”
And God says, “Let’s talk about how you’re seeing it first.”
“We spend a lot of time talking at things that can’t hear us…
and not nearly enough time listening when God is actually trying to speak.”
Let’s go back to this thought about having 60,000-80,000 thoughts a day… and most are repetitive. And here is a dangerous scenario…
If we are not filling our heads with truth… then the lies get louder in our thoughts. That means lies get louder when the truth remains quiet.
God’s Word doesn’t replace lies by storing it away somewhere… it replaces them by being spoken. If you don’t speak truth out loud, your inner critical self will gladly fill the silence.
Then God does something unexpected. He doesn’t say: “Ezekiel, pray silently.” “Ezekiel, wait patiently.” “Ezekiel, think positive thoughts.”
He says: “Prophesy to these bones.” Speak to them.
That’s important… because Ezekiel is told to speak to something that looks foolish to talk to.
Bones don’t listen. Bones don’t respond. Bones don’t care.
But God knows something Ezekiel is learning: What you speak shapes what you believe.
This is the core of Every Thought Captive: You don’t defeat lies by ignoring them. You defeat lies by replacing them… And replacement requires truth spoken out loud.
Whatever lie Satan is whispering to your… or shouting to you… You must interrupt the lie with God’s Word.
Because here is what happens most of the time… the loudest voice in your life is going to shape your direction. And the loudest voice should not be your fear… it should be your faith.
Now here is the fourth thing we need to understand…
4. Life comes when faith keeps speaking.
Look at verses 7-10
So I spoke this message, just as he told me. Suddenly as I spoke, there was a rattling noise all across the valley. The bones of each body came together and attached themselves as complete skeletons. 8 Then as I watched, muscles and flesh formed over the bones. Then skin formed to cover their bodies, but they still had no breath in them.
9 Then he said to me, “Speak a prophetic message to the winds, son of man. Speak a prophetic message and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, O breath, from the four winds! Breathe into these dead bodies so they may live again.’”
10 So I spoke the message as he commanded me, and breath came into their bodies. They all came to life and stood up on their feet—a great army.
Ezekiel obeys…. He speaks… and something happens.
There’s noise. There’s movement. Bones come together. But there’s still no breath.
Imagine how tempting it would be to stop right there: “Well… at least something happened.” “I guess this is as good as it gets.”
“Maybe partial obedience is enough.”
But God says something crucial: “Prophesy again.”
I think this is a very important lesson that we need to learn.
Renewal doesn’t always happen in just one moment. Freedom doesn’t necessarily come from one prayer. Victory isn’t always built in one Sunday.
Faith is persistent obedience. And when Ezekiel obeys God speaks again: Breath enters, Bodies rise, an army stands… What was once a graveyard becomes a battleground.
Some of us stopped speaking because: We didn’t see immediate results. We got tired. We felt foolish. We assumed silence was safer
But faith keeps talking—even when it feels awkward. Even when it feels repetitive. Even when it feels slow. Because God often brings breakthrough after consistency, not before it.
Our text today is an incredible story. Unbelievable story to many. But at the end of it, God explains what is happening here. Look at verses 11-14
Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones represent the people of Israel. They are saying, ‘We have become old, dry bones—all hope is gone. Our nation is finished.’ 12 Therefore, prophesy to them and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: O my people, I will open your graves of exile and cause you to rise again. Then I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 When this happens, O my people, you will know that I am the Lord. 14 I will put my Spirit in you, and you will live again and return home to your own land. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken, and I have done what I said. Yes, the Lord has spoken!’”
“These bones are My people.”
This wasn’t about anatomy. It was about: Hopeless minds. Captive thoughts. Silent faith… And God’s promise is clear:
“I will put My Spirit in you, and you will live.”
I want to wrap up by in a similar way that Kyle Idleman did in his sermon on this passage. I’m going to put two statements up on the screen.
I will read the first part. And then, I want you to read the second part ( which is just Scripture ) I want you to read it out loud with me.
We are going to declare scripture together and we are going to speak out loud… truth over the lies that Satan will often feed us. Ready? Here is the first statement…
When anxiety tries to overwhelm our thoughts…
We cast all our anxiety on God because He cares for us. 1 Peter 5:7
When discouragement whispers that we’ll never change…
He who began a good work in us will carry it on to completion. Philippians 1:6
When distraction tries to pull us away from what matters…
We set our minds on things above not on earthly things. Colossians 3:2
When offense tempts us to hold grudges…
We forgive each other, just as in Christ, God forgave us. Ephesians 4:32
When fear threatens to paralyze our faith…
God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7
When lies about our identity try to define us…
We are chosen, royal, holy, and belong to God. 1 Peter 2:9
Today and every day…
We will not be conformed to this world, but we will be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Romans 12:2
Let’s pray!!!
