8 Prayers for Bad Thoughts & Moods: Shift Your Focus
Spring rain falls warm and soft against my skin. I lift my hooded face to the grey sky as it spits the cleansing rain, and I have an honest moment about my life. Lately, I’ve been in a perpetual bad mood for no reason I can identify. As I continue walking, the walk becomes a prayer, and I spend my time praying prayers for bad thoughts and attitudes.
When I return to the house, I feel cleansed, as if God has washed something away.
Today, we’ll explore eight prayers for bad thoughts and attitudes. Then, I’ll share a list of questions to ask when you’re in a bad mood for no good reason.
Be sure to read to the end of today’s post for a free devotional eBook to lift your head.
Let’s begin with prayer.
Prayers for Bad Thoughts and Attitudes
Here are eight prayers for bad thoughts and attitudes.
8 Prayers for Bad Thoughts and Negative Attitudes
Prayer #1: Ask God to search your heart.
At times, bad thoughts come because we have embraced sinful attitudes and actions.
Ask God to search your heart and reveal anything that does not align with his truth. If he reveals something sinful, confess it to him.
Repent by turning away from this sin and turning toward him.
Here is a prayer:
“Father, thank you for your love for me. Please search my heart and show me if I have offended you in any way.”
After praying this prayer, spend some time in silence, paying attention to any thoughts that come to mind. If God reveals a misaligned attitude, misspoken word, or misdirect behavior, confess it to him. Receive his forgiveness and commit to not indulging in the sin again.
Prayer #2: Ask God to align your heart with his heart.
The most powerful prayers are prayers for alignment. When our hearts are aligned with God’s heart, our lives are transformed. We also start seeing answers to our prayers.
Here is a prayer:
“Father, thank you that you are pure and perfect. Please align my heart with yours. Burn away anything in me that does not honor you. Bring every part of my life into complete alignment with you as I surrender to you.”
Prayer #3: Ask God to help you fix your eyes on what is pure, lovely, and good.
Philippians 4:8 tells us that we are to focus on what is excellent, admirable, pure, lovely, praiseworthy, and good.
At times, negative thoughts enter our minds because we have shifted our focus. Watching disturbing movies and TV shows can do this. Reading dark books can lead us astray.
In a similar way, if we are dwelling on negative and critical thoughts about others, or ourselves, we can be swept into the dark abyss of negativity.
Here is a prayer for pure thoughts:
“Lord, please purify my thoughts. I confess that I do not always dwell on what is right and good. At times, I dwell on the negatives. I repent of this. Please help me focus on what is pure, good, and right in every area of my life.”
Prayer #4: Pray for spiritual thirst.
We can also be drawn away from God when we fill ourselves with comforts and pleasures of this world.
These pleasures never fulfill what they promise.
Ask God to show you that your thirst is for him.
Here is a prayer:
“Father, as I bring you my emptiness and neediness, fill me with your righteousness. Rather than thirsting for things of this world, show me that my true thirst is for you. Forgive me for turning to worldly comforts to fill my inner longings. Teach me to find satisfaction in you as I live in this world. Mold me into your image as you transform me in moral purity.”
More Prayers for Bad Thoughts and Moods
Prayer #5: Pray for purity of heart.
We can also prayer for pure hearts.
Here is a prayer:
“Father, please give me a pure heart as I aim to rebuke everything that is false and evil within my sinful nature. Help me lean into one thing: allegiance to you. Lord, I want to see you. I want to be aware of your presence, struck by your glory, and moved by your grace and love. Empower me to go into the world and fulfill the two great commands: Loving you and loving other people.”
Prayer #6: Pray for joy that isn’t dependent upon circumstances.
It has often been said that happiness is dependent upon what is happening around us, and joy comes from deep within, unshaken by difficult circumstances. This kind of joy comes from God alone.
God is the source of everything good in this world (see James 1:17).
Even when love and joy flow through those who don’t know God, God is the source of these gifts.
God wants to fill our hearts with joy regardless of our circumstances. Ask God to fill you with his joy so that you might walk in it regardless of what you are facing.
Here is a prayer:
“Father, help me find my joy in you. Help me cultivate a grateful heart as I recognize that every good gift in my life comes from you. Teach me to be grateful at all times, focusing on your goodness.”
Prayer #7: Pray that you will learn to find joy when experiencing trials and troubles.
James 1:2-4 reminds us, “Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (NASB).
Considering it joy when life gets tough doesn’t come easily to most of us. Yet when we learn how to be joyful in challenging times, this joy carries us forward.
We can be joyful in difficult times because God uses adversity to help us become more mature and complete. Ask God to help you shift to joy when life is challenging.
Here is a prayer:
“God, thank you for your promise to be with me always. I confess that I have a hard time embracing difficulties in life. Please change my heart. Help me find joy in these circumstances as I trust that you are shaping me and helping me grow.”
Prayer #8: Pray for joy that flows from your relationship with Jesus.
Psalm 16:11 reads, “In your presence is fullness of joy.”
Jesus wants us to experience so much joy in our relationship with him that it naturally fills our hearts and pours out to others.
I periodically step back to assess whether my relationship with Jesus is filling me with joy. It’s easy to fall into patterns in which Bible reading, prayer, and other spiritual disciplines become obligations rather than sources of joy. When this happens, it’s usually time to change the ways we’re pursuing God. He wants these quiet moments to fill us with his joy.
Ask God to fill you with his joy so that wherever you go, you carry the joy of knowing you are in a relationship with him.
Here is a prayer:
“Lord God, thank you for your desire for a relationship with me. Please help me experience you in such a way that my joy comes from my relationship with you. Draw me deeper into your love. Thank you that your plans for me are good and full of hope.”
Read here for eight prayers for bad thoughts and attitudes. #prayer Share on X
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Let’s now take some time for reflection as we apply these prayers for bad thoughts to our lives in a practical way.
Applications of These Prayers for Bad Thoughts
Below, you’ll find a list of questions to ask when you feel defeated by negative thoughts. Ask God to bring you into alignment with him as you honestly answer these questions and confess any ungodly attitudes to him.
1. Are you letting someone annoy you instead of appreciating what you do like about them?
Sometimes it takes a reality check to curb a mood. Maybe your kids are running in noisy circles around the house. Perhaps your spouse left a pile of dirty laundry on the bathroom floor again. Maybe the friend you can never appease complains again, or your coworker is chomping her gum again.
Some of our bad moods happen because we let other people get under our skin. The next time you sense your bad mood is triggered by someone’s behavior, pause.
Remind yourself of three things you appreciate about this person instead of dwelling on what’s bothering you. Ask God to help you shift from annoyance to gratitude. Ask him to help you see this person through his eyes of love.
2. Are you afraid of rejection?
Fear is a joy-stealer, and the fear of rejection can easily lead to a horrible mood. The fear of rejection—regardless of the form—always creates an inward focus. When you’re afraid of feeling left out, less-than, or pushed away, it’s hard to see anyone other than yourself.
An inward focus will ultimately lead to a bad mood because we were created to worship God, not ourselves. Instead of fearing the rejection of others, look for someone to love. Anchor yourself in your identity as God’s child and find freedom from the fear of rejection.
3. Are you holding onto unforgiveness?
Are you still angry at someone who crossed you yesterday—or ten years ago? Unforgiveness takes prisoners, and the only one held captive is the one who cannot forgive.
You’re not punishing someone else when you refuse to forgive. You are punishing yourself. You are breeding bitterness, and bitterness will make your heart sick.
Consider whether you’re holding onto unforgiveness the next time a bad mood parks itself on your doorstep and refuses to leave.
4. Are you angry things didn’t work out the way you hoped?
Disappointment can lead us to take offense toward God and others. Hold onto anger regarding your circumstances, and resentment will grow in your heart. Some bad moods are the result of offense.
Ask God to show you if you are in a bad mood because you’re offended. If you discover offense in your heart, repent of this hardness and ask God to give you a soft and moldable heart.
5. Is this bad mood for no reason the result of sin in your life?
Pause to ask God to show you if you have offended him in some way.
He might bring to mind a word of gossip, a sinful attitude, or a moment when you stepped outside of his will.
Unconfessed sin might be the source of your bad mood. If you sense God showing you a sin, name the sin, ask for forgiveness, and ask him to help you turn away from this sin and turn toward him in repentance.
6. Are you taking care of yourself physically?
Finally, physical depletion can lead to a bad mood. Lack of sleep, lack of exercise, and unhealthy eating patterns can influence the chemicals in our bodies.
Did you binge on sugar last night, eat too much at the Chinese buffet, or fail to eat enough nutrient-rich food? Did you stay up too late watching your favorite reality TV show?
Ask God to help you make changes to your daily schedule to better care for your body if you find this is the case.
When You’re in a Bad Mood for No Reason:
When a bad mood slips in, the one you hurt the most is yourself. Make up your mind to fight for joy. (For more practical ways to overcome your worst moods, join me right here.)
When a bad mood slips in, the one you hurt the most is yourself. #badmoods #seekingGod Share on XIf these prayers for bad thoughts were helpful, I invite you to explore our family devotionals and library of free eBooks below. I pray you will follow God as you learn to take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ, coming into closer alignment with God.
Calling All Parents and Grandparents!
As the parent of two sons and a daughter, I have a heart for helping parents develop deeper relationships with their children and with God. Our kids, ages 6, 11, and 15, share this vision. They have helped me write three family devotionals for parents or older relatives to read with the children and teens they love. You can find all three books here or read more below.
Attention All Boy Moms (and Dads)!
God’s Warrior: Devotions for Boys Who Want to Grow in Courage and Strength helps young boys, ages 5-13, learn what it means to trust God and become strong warriors for his kingdom. Now, more than ever, our world needs men who are willing to boldly carry God’s love into the world. I wrote this boys’ devotional book with our two young sons, Aiden and Caleb, ages six and eleven! You’ll enjoy their honesty as we teach boys how to be strong warriors for the Lord. Find this life-changing devotional book here.
Mother-Daughter Devotionals by a Mom and Daughter
Girl to Girl: 60 Mother-Daughter Devotions for a Closer Relationship and Deeper Faith is written for girls ages 7-12. It includes 60 devotions with Scripture, conversation starters, and a shared journaling section for moms and daughters after each devotion. I wrote this book with the help of our daughter, Bekah, when she was eleven. Find this one-of-a-kind shared devotional here.
Heart to Heart: A Mother-Daughter Devotional With 50 Devotions for Teen Girls is for teenage girls ages 13-20. It includes 50 devotions, each with a shared journaling section to help moms and daughters connect through writing. This is a great book for moms who want to communicate about awkward topics—like dating, sexuality, peer pressure, and more—but don’t know where to start. Bekah and I will help you right here.
Find Our Family Devotionals Here
Find all three books right here. They are also free on the Kindle Unlimited plan, which you can enjoy with a free three-month trial! These books make great gifts, and you don’t need to be the parent of young children to read them. Share them with your grandchildren, nieces, nephews, or the young ones you love.
Learn Why Willpower Doesn’t Work and Experience God’s Deliverance and Healing
God wants to work in your life to accomplish what you’ve been unable to do through willpower alone. Lean Into Grace: Let God’s Grace Heal Your Heart, Refresh Your Soul, and Set You Free shares practical ways to experience God’s freedom, healing, power, and presence in your life. Find this life-changing book as a free eBook on Kindle Unlimited or for 12.99 in print right here. (If you do not have Kindle Unlimited, you can try it out with a free three-month trial!) This book will transform your life and revitalize your relationship with the Lord!
A Free Devotional to Help You Connect With God
God is a good Father, and he wants us to experience his healing, deliverance, and replenishment. Most of us have learned that we cannot heal, deliver, or refresh ourselves; we need God to do this work within us. I invite you to create space for God to transform your life by downloading a free copy of my devotional eBook, The Lean Into Grace Devotional: An 8-Day Devotional for Healing, Deliverance, and Replenishment. Find it for free here. I also offer a library of free online devotional eBooks for free. I invite you to explore the collection right here! 
