A Magnolia's Heart Beats

Heart Examination

God is so good. He proves Himself faithful to answer our prayers, no matter what we pray. We all probably know that the answer is either yes, no or wait.

Sometimes, however, it's not as black and white as that.

A few days ago I decided to write on a topic that has been on my heart for some time. I kept starting on the post and ending up with nothing. Usually the words flow from my heart when I'm writing. Not so the last few days. I'd start and stop. I'd look up verse after verse and just couldn't get the post to flow onto the screen. What I didn't realize was there was a wall up between my heart and my fingers, praise God!

Last night I was praying on a totally unrelated topic and prayed the following verses:

"Test me, O LORD, and try me, examine my heart and my mind; for your love is ever before me, and I walk continually in your truth." ~ Psalm 26:2-3 (NIV)

I promise I almost felt God laugh and say, "You are so not walking in My Truth, Laurie Ann Pierce."

I paused and prayed again.

"Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts." ~ Psalm 139:23 (NIV)

I felt a strong prompting to search my own heart and ya'll, that post came to mind! I realized that my motives were so impure (hence the brick wall between my heart and the keyboard). I confessed that to God and asked Him to forgive me. Of course, He is so faithful! It's one of the things I love about my Jesus.

I asked Him to just give me the proper motives and timing for it and felt such peace as I just left it alone. Didn't think about it the rest of the night.

This morning I opened my email and had a message from a friend with some guidelines to follow on a project I was doing. I went in to fix it and stopped dead in my tracks.

There was a post I had written two weeks ago on the very subject my motives were impure over. At the time I wrote the post, my motives were very pure. I prayed and asked God if this was what I was to do and got such a peace about it. I edited one thing and let it go.

I realized in doing this that I needed to probably ask God to examine my heart a little more carefully. The irregular heartbeat could have caused major damage. Thankfully He rectified it and provided me with the pure motives I had earlier in the month. I praise Him for convicting me of the sin set before me and pray that I remain sensitive to His prompting.

Have you had your heart examined lately? Maybe it's time for a check-up.

The Hebrew word for examine in Psalm 26:2 is bachan. This word means:

1) to examine, try, prove
a) (Qal)
1) to examine, scrutinise
2) to test, prove, try (of gold, persons, the heart, man of God)
b) (Niphal) to be tried, proved
c) (Pual) to make a trial

The Hebrew word for search in Psalm 139:23 is chaqar. Chaqar means:

1) to search, search for, search out, examine, investigate
a) (Qal)
1) to search (for)
2) to search through, explore
3) to examine thoroughly
b) (Niphal)
1) to be searched out, be found out, be ascertained, be examined
c) (Piel) to search out, seek out

We need to ask God to really examine and search our hearts and minds for us each day before we speak, write, or respond to others. When we do this and He cleanses us, we'll truly know that we are walking in His truth and our path will be made clear.

The Hebrew word for truth in Psalm 26:3 is 'emeth. It means:

1) firmness, faithfulness, truth
a) sureness, reliability
b) stability, continuance
c) faithfulness, reliableness
d) truth
1) as spoken
2) of testimony and judgment
3) of divine instruction
4) truth as a body of ethical or religious knowledge
5) true doctrine

Can you think of a better path to walk down than in all these avenues of God's truth?

Father, please forgive me for the times when my motives have been less than pure. I invite You to continually examine my heart and mind and that You would enable me by the power of Your Holy Spirit to recognize when I am straying off the path of Your truth. Help me to stay on the path of truth with Your rod and Your staff to correct and guide me. Help me be a living example of Your love, Lord, and bring more people onto the paths of Your truth by my example, not for myself but for Your glory. Amen.

"Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective." ~ James 5:16 (NIV)

Humbly,