There are so many things that may cause our heart to be divided. We see something shiny that looks attractive to us, or is intriguing and our attention is drawn to the thing, person, or circumstance. It does not even need to be things in the outside world that draws our attention, it could be our emotions, thoughts, or even our to do lists.
Have you ever had trouble falling asleep? The thoughts from daylight hours may keep going around and around in your mind or worries haunt you and keep you awake. These worries and thoughts running amuck in the mind and keep our heart divided. Any number of things can distract us from focusing nearly all of our attentive heart on God.
The Scripture
For the topic of an undivided heart, one verse catches my heart’s attention from Psalm 86. Verse 11 states:
Teach me your way, O Lord,
that I may walk in your truth;
give me an undivided heart to revere your name.
In our wonderful humanness, we have such a propensity to dwell on thoughts, feelings, circumstances of life which may be difficult for us. I wonder, how do we live with an undivided heart in God? How can we focus upon God throughout our days and not get distracted with many things?
Kind David, the author of this Psalm, realized how easily we humans get distracted. We see something that looks more appealing and our attention, our motivation, our actions go over to the shinny circumstance. We might simply be preparing dinner and our mind wonders. We may use the TV to help us not feel so lonely, or calm down our anger.
David wasn’t distracted with dinner preparations or screen time. I can imagine he did get preoccupied with warring strategies or with thinking of how to protect the people. So, he pleaded with God:
Teach me your way, O Lord,
that I may walk in your truth;
give me an undivided heart to revere your name.
Question
How do we learn God’s way? When I was a young child in public elementary school, we actually had time during the school day when each child walked to their church for religious education. I still remember sitting in the small class at church and being taught Psalm 8 and memorizing the order of all the books of the bible.
We have Bible studies that teach us about the Bible. In seminary while training to be a pastor the students learn a study technique called exegesis. This is how to read biblical commentaries and study the historical dynamics of the word of God. A commentary will have 6-8 pages of interpretation for a few verses of the Bible.
Informational study and learning of God’s Word through Scripture is very vital to know! However, since God’s Word is a living word, not just a historical word, it is important to also know how God’s Word speaks to our heart also. What I mean by a “living word” is that the Holy Spirit has potential to literally jumps from the pages of scripture into our heart. The Holy Spirit dwells in our heart guiding our thoughts, and inspiring heart and mind by the Scripture. Informational study and knowledge of scripture is very vital.
But there is another way of learning scripture also. It is the formational method of reading and praying scripture. Formational reading of scripture happens when we allow God’s love to be the greatest influence of our mind, heart, and actions as the Word of God soaks deeply into our hearts.
We are shaped by God’s Word from the inside of our being to our outward actions. There is no division as we let God lead our way forward in thought and actions. An undivided heart is one that seeks to live as Jesus’ love increasingly influences our ways of living in the world more each day through the days, months, and years of our lives, so that when people engage us – our words, our attitudes, our mannerisms are like that of Jesus.
Both information and formational ways of reading and praying scripture are vital.
Today’s Prayer Practice
I invite you to pray with Psalm 86:11 today. Make this verse the foundation for your reflection. You may even want to memorize this verse so that it is always with you. Then consider:
How does God teach me God’s way?
When have I experienced the presence of God in a way that truly impacted my thinking – which impacted my actions and interactions with others?
How do live with an undivided heart?
When you complete your time of prayer, offer great thanksgiving to God for the steadfast consistent love of God which empowers you to live with a pure and undivided heart.
Enjoy praying.
