A FAITH-FILLED, PROPHETIC WORD OF ENCOURAGEMENT!
May 18, 2026
BY CRYSTAL G.H. LOWERY
I have been dealing for too long with a particular client matter that has begun to wear on me. I’ve allowed it to steal my energy and let anxiety slowly creep in where it doesn’t belong.
Today I went for a walk—even though it was stifling hot, humid, and heavy outside—because I needed to step away and move my body. One of my children came with me, but I realized I wasn’t really present. I was physically there, but inwardly I was somewhere else—deep in thought, carrying a heaviness that pressed on my chest.
I know God has always been with me. I know He has always made a way where there didn’t seem to be one. I know this situation will be no different. And yet, I am still in the middle of it—not at the end. I found myself praying for a creative solution, asking the Lord to bring understanding to everyone involved, and that eyes would be opened to truth and reason.
When I got back, sweaty and dripping with perspiration, I cooled off, but the heaviness was still there. I thought about calling a colleague who practices in the same area to ask for advice. I reached out—but they didn’t answer my message or phone call.
Almost immediately after that, one of my children came to me with questions about a language arts assignment. With a cloudy head and very little focus, I sat down and forced myself to read through it.
The assignment was a poem study, and the poem was:
“Thoughts” by Myra Viola Wilds (1915)
What kind of thoughts now, do you carry
In your travels day by day
Are they bright and lofty visions,
Or neglected, gone astray?
Matters not how great in fancy,
Or what deeds of skill you’ve wrought;
Man, though high may be his station
Is no better than his thoughts.
Catch your thoughts and hold them tightly,
Let each one an honor be;
Purge them, scourge them, burnish brightly,
Then in love set each one free.
The verse that accompanied the lesson was 2 Corinthians 10:5, which in many translations says to “take every thought captive.” In The Passion Translation it says:
“We can demolish every deceptive fantasy that opposes God and break through every arrogant attitude that is raised up in defiance of the true knowledge of God. We capture, like prisoners of war, every thought and insist that it bow in obedience to the Anointed One.”
That phrase—like prisoners of war—stuck with me.
Take (that means I have to do it myself—no one can do it for me) every thought. Not some thoughts. Not a few thoughts. Every thought. Capture it like a prisoner of war. Insist—demand—that it bow in obedience to Jesus. Not eventually. Not when it feels convenient. Now.
As I read the poem alongside the Scripture, something shifted. It felt like a prophetic reset in my thinking in the middle of the battle. I consciously chose to take that thought captive—right there in the middle of the pressure—and submit it to truth.
I purged it. I released it. I replaced it. And I let truth begin to burnish my mind again.
I still find myself in the middle of this situation, still representing my client, still walking it out step by step. But I feel lighter. Clearer. And anchored again in what I know to be true:
Truth bows to Jesus. And He has already made a way.
And to anyone reading this who is walking through their own “middle”—your own pressure point, your own unanswered questions, your own mental weight—this same invitation is for you.
Take the thought captive. Don’t let it take you captive.
Bring it into alignment with Christ. Let truth speak louder than the tension. Let the Word of God become the authority over what is trying to rise up in your mind.
The same promise that steadies me is the same promise that holds you. God is not distant from your situation, and He has not lost control of your outcome. What He has done before, He is faithful to do again.
Even here. Even now.
Based on Faith.
Crystal G.H. Lowery, Esq. is a Christian Estate Planning Attorney, ordained minister, as well as faith and prophetic author. She is the founder and visionary of the Law Office of Crystal G.H. Lowery, LLC and Based On Faith—a ministry dedicated to deepening biblical understanding through faith-filled teaching, prophetic insight, and the integration of faith, life, and law. Crystal is passionate about equipping the Body of Christ to walk in bold faith and purpose.
She is the author of Abraham’s Sandals of Faith, Faith. Is. Now., and Sweet Love Letters to Jesus. Many of her books are also available in Spanish. Her resources can be found at www.basedonfaith.org, on Amazon, and wherever books are sold.
Crystal is also a mother to four precious and beautiful children, living out her message of faith in both ministry and everyday life.
Copyright 2026 ©, Crystal G.H. Lowery and Based on Faith. All Rights Reserved.