A Prayer To Guard Our Hearts Well During These Times of Upheaval

Who of us understands why we think and feel and react the way we do?  Life seems to be going along relatively well in this in between season of vaccines and virus variants,  and then something “out-of-the-blue” happens and our emotions are tipped over the edge or our thoughts go into negative overdrive.  We think, say, or do things that are ugly and so far from what we long to do.  Ask us to explain why we did it and we often can’t even tell you.

The Bible tells us to:

Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. 

Proverbs 4:23

We are wonderfully complex people with powerful passions running deep in us.  Sorted out by God and shaped for God’s purposes, these are forces for great relationships and much creativity.  Interfered with by the wrong choices of ourselves or others and they can be deadly to ourselves and others around us.  Mental health professionals are regularly reporting how many people are struggling with these roller-coaster emotional swings and sensitivity to things during these times that might have rolled off our backs under normal circumstances. 

To live well with God and others, particularly in this season of the pandemic with all its frustrations and challenges,  we must bring all of who we are, body, soul, and spirit to God and allow God’s truth to make clear what is going on in us and why and how we need to respond. 

We’re a bit like an iceberg, you know – what we see above the water is about 10% and 90% is below the surface.  What we are doing when we pray is bringing the 90 + 10 % of our lives before the God who understands all of it.  As we’re told in God’s Word:

God’s word is alive and working. It is sharper than the sharpest sword and cuts all the way into us. It cuts deep to the place where the soul and the spirit are joined.

God’s word cuts to the center of our joints and our bones. It judges the thoughts and feelings in our hearts.

Hebrews 4:12

Let’s pray and allow God to sort out our thoughts and feelings, the things in our conscious, our sub-conscious, and our unconscious.  Let’s pray

Heavenly Father, We need Your expertise and Your knowledge of who we are.  You are the kind and honest God we can turn to for the precise and proper help we need in everyday situations and in those times where things are sensitive and require “just the right touch.” 

We do it often, but we want to thank you once again today for the gift of Your Word, the Bible, and all the truth that is there for us every day as we read and pray and invite Your Holy Spirit to speak to us.  Help us to sort out what we think, believe, and do based on what Your word says rather than on what our emotions or the media or others tell us today.

We do want to do what we read earlier and guard our hearts.  We want to be alive emotionally but always filter our thoughts and emotions by what You tell us.  Particularly during the up and down days of this pandemic we know how crucial it is to guard our hearts and set our minds on those things that are true and right and lovely. 

My brothers and sisters, always think about what is true. Think about what is noble, right and pure. Think about what is lovely and worthy of respect. If anything is excellent or worthy of praise, think about those kinds of things.

Philippians 4:8

Keep us from falling into the trap of responding as we see on the media where it seems people are only out to get one another and tear them down.  We want to be those who love as You love, who encourage as You encourage, when see the good and work for it to come alive even when many other forces are working in another way.

Search our hearts today, we pray – our thoughts and feelings, our longings and our motivations.  Forgive us for how we fall short of the mark in these areas and pride ourselves in how we cover up our true thoughts and feelings with other words and expressions.  We want to be true from the inside out and honouring You in all things.  Help us to do that.  Amen