Prayer Calendar

Reflecting on our hearts

by Lisa Hall, international prayer coordinator for TWR Women of Hope

Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalm 139:23-24

How do you handle strained relationships with those you love? What do you do when you sense tension or separation in your friendships? If we want to find that place of healing and reconciliation with them, it may need to begin by taking the time to check our own hearts and attitudes.

If we are willing to put in the necessary work to restore our friendships, how much more important is it to make sure that our relationship with God is healthy? One solution I’ve found is to regularly take the time to reflect on my life and examine my relationships with God and with others. I ask God to search me, and I invite the Holy Spirit to reveal to me where my heart has strayed. How easy it is for each of us to be blinded by the sin in our own lives if it is deeply buried. That is why I love to pray Psalm 19:12-14 to God:

“But who can discern their own errors? Forgive my hidden faults. Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then I will be blameless, innocent of great transgression. May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.”

If we realize that our relationship with God is the most valuable thing in our lives, we see the importance of reflection. Whenever we sin, a wall is put up, blocking our fellowship with God. Many of us have experienced this wall after having an argument with a spouse or friend. We can feel the separation between us.

But God has given us a beautiful gift – forgiveness of our sin through confession and repentance. Wanting to once again be in that place of intimacy with our Father, we can welcome the opportunity not only to identify what is separating us but also to gladly confess and repent of our sin so that our fellowship is restored.

If we come openly to God with a sincere heart wanting him to find anything in our lives that is hindering our fellowship with him, he will honor that prayer and gracefully show us. This happened recently to me as I was having an extended time of silence and solitude with the Father.

I had begun my time asking God why I was not having victory over pride and judgmentalism in my life. Frankly, I was tired of confessing these sins to him. As I entered my time of silence, I was surprised that my thoughts were going back to my childhood. Scenes of my family during some painful situations played through my mind.

I questioned God about why he was bringing these things up right now. And he revealed to me that this was the place where the deeply buried root of my pride and judgmentalism had been formed. Because I had perceived the painful events as happening only to my family members but not to me, I did not realize the impact it had on my life.

And God showed me that I needed to forgive them. Equally important, I didn’t understand the ramifications of my pridefully judging my family members for their behavior. God graciously showed me that my reaction to them had been sinful and that it was the source of my stronghold.

The Father gently walked me through a time of forgiving my family members and then led me in confession and repentance of my own sin toward them. It was a significant moment for me. And with a heart of gratitude for this precious gift of forgiveness, I celebrated and took communion with a clean heart. God broke the power of that stronghold in my life that day. He severed the deeply buried root that I had not even known existed.

Taking the time to reflect on our lives is essential if we are going to allow God to do the deep work within us that he desires to do. Will you join me in making reflection a regular habit as we humbly bring our hearts before God?