Every year, my sister organizes a vision-board session with close friends. We sit together, talk about our dreams for the coming year, write them down on cards, seal them in envelopes, and pray over them. I call it a prayer board — a collection of desires, expectations, faith seeds, and declarations for the year. Our requests cover everything: finances, careers, faith, love, friendships, self-growth, healing, spiritual goals… everything.
For 2025, I wrote down so many requests. Some God answered quickly. Some He told me, “I have something better.” And others, He confirmed, but said they would manifest in 2026. But there is one particular prayer that stands out because… He answered it in a way I did not expect.
I wrote:
“Change my mindset into that of a winner, a conqueror — someone who keeps pushing. It’s not the end until it’s over.”
If you asked me what exact moment made me write that, I couldn’t tell you. But I know I was frustrated. Tired of letting fear and anxiety dictate my behavior. Tired of watching opportunities slip away because of doubt. Disappointed in how I allowed emotions to cripple me.
And here is something I’ve learned about God:
He LOVES character-building prayers.
If you ask Him to break cycles, build strength, remove limiting beliefs, or develop discipline… oh, He will answer — not always by removing the problem, but by confronting the belief system behind it.
One of the ways He confronted mine was through something as simple as… failing my driving test.
The Driving Test Lesson
God had told me beforehand that I needed to prepare, and even though I wasn’t 100% ready, I would have favor to pass. But instead of believing Him, I relied on my natural mind and what I saw. My instructor discouraged me day after day, and I didn’t make the extra effort to study because — deep down — I had already agreed with failure.
A few days before the test, I heard a gentle voice telling me, “Reschedule. You’re not ready.”
I ignored it.
That night, I dreamed that I passed — but made a mistake at the end due to fear, and the instructor cancelled the test.
The next day… that is exactly what happened.
But what confused me was how peaceful my spirit felt, even though my emotions were upset. I kept asking, “God, why would You tell me I’d pass if I failed?”
That night, I went to bed and encountered God so clearly. He told me:
“You didn’t fail because you don’t know how to drive.
You failed because you didn’t believe what I told you. Fear crippled you.”
I immediately prayed, “God, increase my faith.”
But He said:
“It’s not your faith — it’s your mindset.
I need you to change your mindset.”
That same night, He instructed me to go on a 10-day positive-thinking fast and reminded me of two books I read seven years ago when I first became serious about my walk with Him:
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The Magic of Thinking Big
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The Power of Positive Thinking
As I reread them, I realized how deeply my own beliefs were sabotaging me. How I saw myself. How I interpreted situations. How quickly I agreed with negativity. This was Him answering the prayer I wrote in that envelope — not by magically improving my thoughts, but by exposing the root so I could conquer it.
A winner’s mindset is:
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positive
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expectant
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grounded in God’s promises
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resilient
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unshaken by setbacks
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aware that obstacles are part of the training
A winner believes, “All things work together for my good,” not just in theory but in practice.
I’m still practicing for my driver’s test, and I know the next time I book it… it will be successful.
The Lesson Through Illness
Sometimes God can also give you a physical burden — like a pain or an illness — to teach you not to depend on your physical strength, but on Him.
I’m currently dealing with a really bad flu that I’ve been asking God to remove because I kept thinking it would stop me from doing my job, my tasks, and even praying the way I normally do when I’m well. But God hasn’t made the flu go away — not because He can’t heal me, but because He wants to show me that this illness will not hinder me from doing what He has called me to do daily.
Surprisingly, I’ve been able to do a lot despite the discomfort of coughing, spitting, and slight headaches. I genuinely believe He is training me to build the “winner mindset” — to rise above situations and lean on His strength, not mine.
I still make the effort to pray, write the blogs, study the Word, and continue my 10-day fast by reading the books He recommended. I’ve been able to work, move around physically, and stay consistent.
And I believe that when I fully recover I will be spiritually and physically stronger than before.
The Moral of the Story
Sometimes God announces something — a job, a marriage, a child, a business, a move — and yet it doesn’t manifest immediately.
It’s not because He lied.
It’s because you cannot carry a new blessing with an old mindset.
So many Christians give their lives to Christ but still battle the same issues because they never changed the thinking patterns attached to their old life.
I’ve also learned that sight in the spiritual realm is about perception.
When the Bible talks about unbelievers being blinded, it’s about how the enemy has made them perceive the things of God as crippling or “against them,” and made them perceive the ways of the world as good when they are not.
You must change your mindset to see things properly.
By changing your mindset, you’re renewing your desires — and your desires are what the enemy detects. He often comes to tempt you through those desires in order to trap you.
And it won’t always look like a spirit coming to attack you. It may come as a person, an opportunity, or even through your own desire to get a quick response. This makes you take the fastest solution instead of waiting on God.
Renew your mind.
Read books, pray, and submit beliefs that hold you back — beliefs that make the path of God look dangerous and make your own path look righteous when it’s not.
The minute God sets a path for you, the enemy drafts a different one, because if you don’t obey where God is trying to take you — and you think you’re “just doing you” — the enemy will come with his plan. He presents it in a way that appeals to your heart’s desires, and you fall into it because you’re weak in that area.
Staying with God guarantees protection.
Stay alert and be aware of your choices.
Consider your ways, because God works for you and the enemy works against you.
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