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If you ask a doctor what a heart is, most likely, they will describe it as a hollow muscular organ that pumps the blood through the circulatory system by rhythmic contraction and dilation.
If you ask a child, most will describe it as a shape.
When we hear the word heart, we often associate it with love. For many of us, the heart represents only emotion. We say our heart is filled with happiness, or even sometimes sadness. We might even say our heart has been broken at times. Some people say it is only with your heart that you can feel things like love, sorrow, or even hope. We’ve been taught that our hearts are only for feeling, while our brains are only for thinking. When making decisions that involve emotion, we are often told to follow our hearts. But when it comes to matters of business, we are told to use our brains to make a wise and conscientious decision. This would conclude that we cannot feel the love with our minds, and we cannot find wisdom within our hearts.
The heart is actually what connects us to God in prayer. The Bible tells us that the heart is the center of our very being. With our hearts, we determine the reason for our decisions. Our heart intricately creates feelings that guide our emotions. Our heart gives us our hope and is what determines our will. The heart will tell us how to feel about situations; it affects the decisions we make, and ultimately determines our allegiances. This is why Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:21, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
In Proverbs chapter 4, the Lord tells us, “Above all else, guard your heart for everything you do flows from it.” This can easily explain those crimes of passion we hear about on the news. If we allow the anger into our heart, it can easily take over our minds. Perhaps mind over matter isn’t always right. When we’ve been hurt, it affects our heart. We instantly feel the anger, the sorrow, and the pain. During this very same moment in time, our minds try to come up with the reason as to why the situation happened. We try to analyze and understand how something might have happened, and replay events in the depths of our minds looking for clues.
We waste so much time trying to understand the matters of the heart. We allow our hearts to feel pain much longer than they have to. Proverbs 3:5 tells to “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your understanding.” He’s telling us exactly where to put our treasure in him. There is no need to figure out the “why”; we only need to trust God. When we allow God to dwell inside of our hearts, we don’t have to worry about making the wrong decisions based on emotion because our hearts are ultimately filled with wisdom and discernment, allowing God to direct our path.
When we surrender our hearts to the Lord, we are entirely open in prayer. We want to honor him in all we do—everything from thoughts to actions. We are opening ourselves up for transformation, a renewal. When we prepare our hearts for prayer, we are allowing God to work in us so that he can begin to work through us. We let him use us as a vessel to do his works.
Of course, because we battle with the flesh, we may fail, but that’s okay as long as we don’t stay in that mindset and let our hearts remain heavy. We may feel like we have separated from God, but in fact, he is always right beside us. In the book of Matthew, he tells us that no matter how far our hearts may wander from God, he promises to be near when we turn to him. One renewing encounter with God can change everything. And it’s always just a prayer away. What do people see flowing out of your heart? Will you prepare your heart this morning to let God in?
What are your thoughts? I'd love to hear them!