The Plans of the Heart

At one time I was part of a group of leaders for a prayer meeting that met in the basement of a church that Jackie and I attended. Part of my responsibility was about every three or four weeks to take a turn leading the meeting, and that meant having a 20 to 30 minute teaching. I often had this experience. I would study up on a certain subject matter. I would read, hear or see something on a completely different subject that made a big imprression on me, and something would be happening in my life or with someone I knew in a spiritual area. Then while in prayer as I was driving to the meeting. not really knowing what God wanted me to say, He would connect the dots and the talk would formulate in my mind.

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The meetings started with praise and worship and people were encouraged to share what God was doing in their lives that week, or to have a scripture reading that struck them, or to request a special song. And there would often be a time during or just after the worship to be quiet before the Lord, and sometimes a person would then have a word of encouragement or a prophecy. The amazing thing was that on certain nights all the pieces would fit together wonderfully on a certain theme. The songs, the sharings, the scripture, the prophetic word, these were by different people, and yet it would all relate to the teaching which God had given me on the way to the meeting but which had yet to be delivered. That, my friends, is the work of the Holy Spirit.

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I heard a story just last night which will illustrate the difference between hearing and seeing, and understanding. My nephew Scott really wanted a new Wii (?) game system, as apparently millions of others also do. He asked his dad Jim, who he knew was very good at getting hard to find stuff, to check it out for him. Jim found out that Target was having a sale on them at midnight, got there third in line, and bought it without Scott knowing. The next day Jim and Jennifer put the syhstem in a Talbots bag (a clothing store), went over to visit Scott and Betsy, and when they got there Jennifer told Betsy to check out the new dress that she bought for our daughter Becky's upcoming wedding. Betsy saw the game system and excitedly remarked how wonderful it was. Scott, sitting in his chair by the TV, and while actually looking at them, remarked how great the dress looked. The game system was right in front of Scott but he didn't see it because a little switch in his brain clicked off when it heard - mothers dress for wedding.

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Talking to others about spiritual subjects often requires that we be sensitive to the move of the Spirit in our preparation, and that we present it in a way that allows the Spirit to move upon the listener or the reader. We don't want the little switch in our or their brains to be clicked off. In preparation there is one main thing to be aware of. It is God who touches and changes hearts, not us. We may have a great plan, a great delivery, a perfect setting, yet if God is not in it we may move the mind or the emotions, but the heart stays tucked away. So we need to prepare with prayer, with hearing God through His written word, and with reflection on things that make an impression on us. There is usually a reason for having a strong impression.

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If we are sensitive to the Holy Spirit, without even realizing it, God will be preparing us with something that will combine with how He has been moving in another person's life. And that combination will unlock access to the heart. "The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord. All the ways of a man are clean in is own sight, but the Lord weighs the motives. Commit your works to the Lord, and your plans will be established." (Proverbs 16: 1-3)