Upon waking one morning, I began quietly talking to God. Praying and listening.
After a few moments He spoke three words to me.
“Preparing the heart.”
I knew this was to be my subject of study for the day – so I began.
What is preparing the heart? After much study, I find it to mean preparing our heart to agree with God.
There are two different aspects concerning preparation of the heart. One is the preparation God does in preparing our heart. The other is the preparation we do.
Psalm 10:17 says, Lord, You have heard the desire of the humble. You will prepare their heart.
The Amplified Bible says it like this; You will prepare and strengthen and direct their hearts.
The word, prepare, in the Strong’s Concordance is defined as to be firm, fixed, and stable.
Therefore, when God prepares our heart, He causes it to be firm, fixed, and stable and He directs us in a way that we will continue to align and agree with His Word.
A prepared heart is not a one-time occurrence, it is an ongoing process. We must work to continually allow God to prepare our heart and we must always be willing to keep our heart prepared to agree with God’s will and God’s plan.
Keeping a prepared heart allows us to walk through seasons of change in faith and peace. It means holding our heart out before the Lord, with a humble attitude. Asking Him and allowing Him to deal with any areas of our heart that are not currently aligned with His plan and purpose.
A prepared heart helps us to embrace change when it comes our way.
Looking back is often a great teacher. I can remember times I have walked through difficult seasons, that if I look back, I see times when God attempted to draw me away unto Him just before the difficulty began.
If I heeded that drawing away, I would walk through the season with much more peace. However, in the times I didn’t heed that call to come away with God. I had a much more difficult time walking through the season.
That, I believe, are the times God prepares our heart, before the difficulty. For if our heart is totally aligned with His, we will remain in peace no matter what comes our way. That’s what God wants for us. A heart that is always prepared. A heart totally aligned with Him and His Word. A heart, that is always at peace.
Today, my prayer for all of us is this; “Lord, prepare our hearts for whatever lies ahead. We trust that You have a good plan for us, one to prosper us and give us a good, pleasant and peaceful future. Help us to lean into your plan for our life, which is always good and always full of unending hope. For this we give You praise, in Jesus name. Amen.”
