When Jesus and the Father use the word ‘heart’ do you think they meant/mean just your human emotions?

If you think they mean just your emotions, please read on!

Your understanding will radically change.

You see, there’s no getting around it…

If you don’t understand what Jesus and the Father mean when they use the word ‘heart’, you’ll never be able to grasp the vital importance of praying with and from your heart.

And if the importance of praying with and from your heart continues to elude you, you’ll cheat yourself of the most necessary friendship of your entire life —your relationship (and your prayer) with the Lord himself.

God certainly doesn’t want that for you.

So …let’s see

- - WHAT He does want for you, right this moment, just as you are
  - WHY He wants it for you

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Whenever they use the word ‘heart’ in both the Old and the New Testaments, Jesus and the Father mean your WHOLE being, every single aspect of your human make-up; namely your …

- - - - will
      - conscience
      - actions
      - words
      - thoughts
      - decision-making

For Jesus and the Father, your heart includes every single aspect of your human make-up.

Nothing in your human make-up is excluded!

This is radically different from the contemporary, popular meaning of the word ‘heart’, and the way in which many people use it, today.

“I Have Called You Friends…”

When therefore, you read again and again in both the New and the Old Testaments that the Lord is after your ‘heart’, it means that the Lord concerns Himself with your ENTIRE being, the whole person that you are —definitely NOT simply your emotions!

You see, Jesus really longs for, and needs, your friendship.

And true friendship embraces every aspect of who you are, not merely your emotions.

So …Jesus wants your whole self i. e. your HEART!

Why Does the Lord Long for Your Friendship?

Your friendship means everything to the Lord.

God seeks your genuine friendship in order to accomplish His purpose for you.

That ONE purpose is to save you from yourself by transforming you into His image.

‘We are transfigured by the Spirit of the Lord in ever-increasing splendour into His own image.’

Corinthians 3:18

J.B. Phillips New Testament

(My emphasis)

“I have called you friends …”

The Lord can only do this if you choose to answer His invitation to become His friend.

You see, the Lord knew He couldn’t save you if He first didn’t earn your friendship.

And earning your friendship didn’t come easy to Jesus.

He had to die a brutal death by crucifixion to convince you that your friendship means everything to Him.

As is the case with everything else with the Lord, the initiative to have you as His friend always comes from Him.

For example:

He loved you first:

‘… we love because he first loved us.’

1 John 4:19 New Catholic Bible (my emphasis)

He chose you first:

‘You did not choose me, but I chose you …’

John 15:16 NIV (my emphasis)

And He called you friend first:

‘I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.’

John 15:15 NIV (my emphasis)

‘I have called you friends.’

He calls YOU (put your own name here) His ‘friend’.

He calls me His ‘friend’.

That said, the Lord NEVER forces Himself on you.

He leaves it entirely up you to respond to His invitation to be His friend.

Two people become fast friends when they

freely open up themselves to each other
are completely at ease with each other
don’t ever feel it necessary to put on a mask!
don’t take their friendship for granted
start an ongoing conversation
cultivate their friendship
share with each other their deepest selves, their hearts

Each of these aspects also plays a role in your friendship with Jesus, but in an even deeper way.

Here’s What I Want You to Do Now

Now, keeping your friendship with God at the forefront of your mind, I want you to

take a look at some scriptures that reveal the meaning of the word ‘heart’ as Jesus and the Father use it
take a look at some scriptures that help you better understand exactly how ‘central’ your human heart is in the eyes of Jesus and the Father
take a look at what Jesus himself said about your human heart.

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Scriptures That Reveal the MEANING

of the Word ‘Heart’

As Jesus and the Father Use It

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Matthew 6:21 NIV

These people honor me with their lips,

but their hearts are far from me.

Matthew 15:8 NIV (1984)

My heart has heard you say,

“Come and talk with me.”

And my heart responds:

“Lord, I am coming.”

Psalm 27:8 NLT

… it is with your heart that you believe and are justified …

Romans 10:10 NIV

I pray that Christ

will be more and more at home in your hearts

as you trust in Him….

Ephesians 3:17 NLT

Today when you hear his voice,

don’t harden your hearts….

Hebrews 3:15 NLT (2007)

For the Lord does not see as man sees;

For man looks at the outward appearance

But the Lord looks at the heart.

1 Samuel 16:7 NKJV

As water reflects the face

So one’s life reflects the heart

Proverbs 27:19 NIV

And the Lord your God

Will circumcise your heart

And the heart of your descendants,

To love the Lord your God

With all your heart

And with all your soul,

That you may live.

Deuteronomy 30:6 NKJV

For this people’s heart has become calloused;

They hardly hear with their ears,

and they have closed their eyes.

Otherwise they might see with their eyes,

hear with their ears,

understand with their hearts

and turn, and I would heal them.’

Acts 28:27 NIV

…God … tests our hearts.

1 Thessalonians 2:4 NIV

For with the heart one believes and is justified …

Romans 10: 9 – 10 NIV

May the Lord guide your hearts to the love of God

and the steadfastness of Christ.

2 Thessalonians 3:5 New Catholic Bible

Scriptures That Reveal the Centrality of Your
Human Heart to Jesus and the Father

Note

Words in bold print indicate my own emphasis.

Group One

The scriptures in this group state the case for a close relationship with the Lord.

‘…when you pray,

go into your room,

close the door,

and pray to your Father,

who is unseen.

Then your Father,

who sees what is done in secret,

will reward you’

… We grow only as we get

our nourishment and strength from God.

Colossians 2:19 NLT

I have treasured the words of His mouth

more than any necessary food.

Job 23:12 NKJV

Be still and know that I am God

Psalm 46:6 KJV

Group Two

The scriptures in this group hint at HOW this relationship comes into being.

My heart has heard you say,

“Come and talk with me.”

And my heart responds:

“Lord, I am coming.”

Psalm 27:8 NLT

I pray that Christ

will be more and more at home in your hearts

as you trust in Him….

Ephesians 3:17 NLT

Today when you hear his voice,

don’t harden your hearts….

Hebrews 3:15 NLT (2007)

‘My sheep hear my voice.’

John 10:27 NKJV

For the Lord does not see as man sees;

For man looks at the outward appearance

But the Lord looks at the heart.

1 Samuel 16:7 NKJV

And the Lord your God

Will circumcise your heart

And the heart of your descendants,

To love the Lord your God

With all your heart

And with all your soul,

That you may live.

Deuteronomy 30:6 NKJV

These people honor me with their lips,

but their hearts are far from me.

Matthew 15:8 NIV (1984)

What You Learn from These 2 Groups of Scripture

The scriptures in both Group One and Group Two state the case for

a close relationship with the Lord
how this close relationship comes into being

They reveal that:

God’s focus is ALWAYS AND ONLY your human heart.

He longs to develop a relationship of genuine intimacy with you.

The only sign that this relationship is real to the Lord is that you hear and respond to Him with your heart, your entire being.

Another sign to the Lord that your relationship is real is that you engage in a lifelong, ongoing conversation with Him.

This relationship with the Lord sustains your whole being in the same way that ‘necessary food’ sustains your body

The human heart is the only instrument by which you can ultimately KNOW God.

You cannot know God with your intellect.

This is not to say that your intellect is not important to God.

It certainly is.

But your intellect is not the primary instrument by which the

Lord reveals Himself to you.

Your heart (your whole person) is.

‘You will seek me and find me

When you seek me with all your heart’

Jeremiah 29:13 NIV

“A good man produces good things from the good stored up in his heart, and a bad man produces evil things from his own stores of evil. For a man’s words will always express what has been treasured in his heart.”

Luke 6:45 J. B. Phillips New Testament PHILLI

For from within, out of the human heart, come evil ideas, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, evil, deceit, debauchery, envy, slander, pride, and folly. All these evils come from within and defile a person.

Mark7:21 New English Translation

“For a man’s words depend on what fills his heart. A good man gives out good—from the goodness stored in his heart; a bad man gives out evil—from his store of evil.

Matthew 12:34 J. B. Phillips New Testament PHILLIPS

Now the Pharisees, who were very fond of money, heard all this with a sneer. But he said to them, “You are the people who advertise your goodness before men, but God knows your hearts. Remember, there are things which men consider perfectly splendid which are detestable in the sight of God!”

Luke 16:15 J. B. Phillips New Testament PHILLIPS

“Have faith in God,” relied Jesus to them. ‘I tell you that if anyone should say to this hill, ‘Get up and throw yourself into the sea,’ and without any doubt in his heart believe that what he says will happen, then it will happen!”

Mark 11:23 J. B. Phillips New Testament PHILLIPS

But the people couldn’t believe, for as Isaiah also said,

“The Lord has blinded their eyes

And hardened their hearts—

So that their eyes cannot see,

And their hearts cannot understand,

And they cannot turn to me

And have me heal them.”

John 12:40 New Living Translation

Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God.

Matthew 5:8 NIV

“But the seed sown on good soil means the (women) who hear the message and accept it with good and honest heart, and go on steadily producing a good crop.”

Luke 8:15 J. B. Phillips New Testament PHILLIPS

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My Prayer for You

Here is the prayer the Apostle Paul offered for the Ephesians.

It is also my own prayer for you!

I pray that you will come to know God’s love from repeated, direct, firsthand, one-on-one experience.

This, in fact, is the overriding goal of this online Christian magazine.

Once you do, you’ll also begin to experience the countless benefits o your life that come with that experience!

Paul’s Prayer for You

For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name.

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,

so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people,

to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,

and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—

that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Ephesians 3: 14 -19 NIV

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Scroll down for your Recap…

Recap …

You cannot know God with your mind; only with your heart.
Your heart is the Lord’s constant focus
Your heart is what ALWAYS matters most to the Lord
The Lord knows He has to earn your love and friendship if He is to SAVE you
This is why He longs for, and needs, your friendship
Earning your friendship was not easy for the Lord.: He had to die a brutal death by crucifixion to achieve this
This was how He revealed to you the extent of His LOVE for you --for you, not for someone else, for
The Lord will NEVER force Himself on you. He always only extends an invitation
It’s always up to you to respond to this invitation
My prayer for you is Paul the Apostle’s prayer for the Ephesians

(Ephesians 3: 14 – 1 NIV)

Want to discover how to pray with your ‘heart’ in the sense that Jesus and the Father use this word?

Scroll down to get my FREE Guide.

I’m Jan Weel.

In 1984, at the age of 35, in answer to my prayer for urgent help during a personal trauma, God introduced me to a simple and utterly reliable way to experience firsthand, directly, one-on-one, His presence, love and rest.

The early church had prayed in this way. In fact, this is the very same way of prayer that Jesus himself taught you and me.

Get help now.

If you’re a Christian woman from ANY Christian denomination who’s seeking God’s help urgently for ANY reason, this way is guaranteed to give you the help you’re seeking.

It always gets results.

Matthew 6:21 NIV

Romans 10:10 NIV

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