Matters of the Heart: 101 - The Heartbeat of Prayer
Welcome to Matters of the Heart: 101, class is officially in session!
Last week we discussed how every thought, word, and action begins as a seed and is directly tied to the condition of our hearts. Today we will be discussing the first and most foundational seed that will help us to guard and protect our hearts: prayer.
Synonymous with our heartbeat, prayer is the foundation of a healthy heart. When we pray, we open ourselves up to the wisdom and counsel of God by spending time talking and listening to Him. In the same way that we desire for our hearts to beat consistently and efficiently, we need to continuously pray to have a healthy flow for our spiritual hearts.
A healthy prayer life is not one-sided; only asking God for things that we feel we want, need, or deserve but it includes us asking God for His wisdom and guidance concerning all aspects of our life and what HE desires for us. When we pray we may ask God to fix this, change that, make them stop, or give us something but oftentimes the challenges that we are wanting God to intervene in are actually from Him and being used to strengthen us. Although God could have intervened and eliminated the thorn, Paul learned and truly understood God's grace, strength, and power through dealing with that painful, pesky thorn (See 2 Corinthians 12:7-9).
Self-awareness is key to protecting your heart. When you know your self you are better able to protect yourself in a way that is not closed off from the world but protection that comes from a place of confidence and balance. As Christians, the only way to be self-aware is through prayer. God knows us better than we know ourselves because He created us.
When we pray are we mature enough to ask God to show us the not-so-good things that are hidden in our heart, our areas of weakness, or what we are easily tempted by? There may be ways we think or act like perfectionism, gossip, promiscuity, insecurities that were planted with bad seeds. When we ask God for His insight on the condition of our hearts, those bad seeds can be uprooted from our hearts and replaced with His truth of what He says about us and who He created us to be! Don't be afraid or too prideful to ask God what weak areas you need His strength in; He will help you! It's best to let him show you in private before it spills out in public.
Our hearts are healthiest when we have a strong and consistent heartbeat and prayer life. You can get both your spiritual and physical heartbeat healthy by taking prayer walks. If you are able to, try taking a prayer walk this week. A prayer walk can help increase the strength of your heart and heartbeat while spending time with God as He works on your spiritual heart.