Where Is Your Heart.

When we are young, and I guess even some when they are old, are taught to ask Jesus into our hearts. He lives in our hearts. Not in the literal worldly definition, but in the spiritual definition. Those of us who were young when we accepted Jesus into our hearts forever, were not quite old enough to understand that your heart plays an even bigger part in our faith. Anyone can sit at a computer and write a blog of testimonies, or become a Sunday School teacher, or be in a leadership roll at the Church, but we are wrong, if we are involved in all of these things, and our hearts are not in the right place.

We become hypocrites, when we preach of living our lives for Christ, even though in our hearts, we are not fully devoted to Him. I am always reminded of the movie, "Left Behind". Ministry heads, especially Pastors and Reverends are held to a higher standard than your average worshiper. Although in God's eyes we are all equal, here in this world, we expect more of them. We trust that they know the Word, and that they are leading us in our walks. This doesn't really seem fair, when we all are supposed to live our lives showing the love of God, but that how it is. In the movie, you are brought into a church, where the pastor is standing at the pulpit crying out to the Lord, asking Him, why he was left behind. Later in the movie, he realizes that he was just speaking the words, and his heart wasn't in it. You could say that he wasn't practicing what he preached.

Prayer cannot just be words that you speak out of routine. You cannot fully accept the love of Christ if you live with more doubt than faith. Even the worldly definition of the word faith says "complete trust". The Lord has provided us with His Word so that if we have the slightest amount of doubt in our hearts, we can read what He has to say. Next time you open your mouth to pray, first think about where your heart really is. Are you about to divote the next few seconds/minutes/hours to the Lord completely. Or is your mind wondering and taking your heart along with it.

At my house, when we were little we were taught different prayers. As little kids we couldn't remember in depth prayers, so we learned the simple ones for things like the blessing's for meals. Some Christians change that prayer as they grow older and are able to form their own prayers that come from their hearts. My sister, however, insist on praying the EXACT same prayer for every meal. Sometimes they rush through it so that we can eat. Those prayers have become impersonal, and I know that when I pray them, I don't put my heart into it, and its so routine that I don't really need to think about it.

I challenge you to stop before you open your Bible, or begin praying. Figure out where your heart is. Are you ready to listen and accept anything that the Lord could be about to tell you? or is this another fluff prayer that you have said so many times its tattooed to your eyelids. Jesus is in our hearts, we have accepted Him in. It's time to take another look and stop rushing through everything because we are too "busy" to slow down. This is a matter of heart and head. Don't make this about your chaotic life, and no time to do anything. God created us, we wouldn't be here without Him, so we need to make time. Clear your head and open your heart fully.