I knew nothing about guarding the heart for more than half my Christian life. Today it is my constant quest and greatest challenge to guard the heart. I do this by obeying the words of Paul that we should take thoughts captive and cast down imaginations. To be continually alert for movement in the spirit so that I do not lose the presence of the Holy Spirit.
2 Cor 10:5: “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.”
The understanding that the Spirit of God is there in the imaginations and thoughts of the heart if we guard the heart against the things of the flesh is so simple to understand that even a child can do this. As we know the Kingdom of God belongs to children. A child can discern the things we allow in the heart. God has written His laws on our hearts. We know right from wrong because we have a conscience. I am making it the subject of this month’s letter because guarding the heart should be the main thing we do for God.
What could be better than to have a clear conscience? Without it, we will never receive instruction and revelation from God. We cannot expect to have our prayers answered. The heart should be like a well-kept garden. We should be a fountain of gardens a well of living water. (Isa 57)
The Spirit of Christ is our gardener. He will tell us when certain parts of the garden need to be replanted. We should know when certain parts of the garden are blooming and bringing forth a sweet fragrance because that part of your prayer life has more authority. We feel strong in that area and the river of life is flowing as we speak the word boldly and causing changes in our lives and the lives of others. I have once again been made aware of this on a recent prayer holiday. The Holy Spirit taught me how to pray a long time ago by compartmentalization. Most of us pray in only one place, and we keep forgetting different subjects and people or situations we should bring before the Lord in prayer. There was no order in my prayers. For this reason, we must follow the pattern of the Old Testament Tabernacle. We are God’s Tabernacle after all.
We are the temple of God and the very least we can do for God is to have an orderly prayer life. Jesus is the one who cleared the physical temple three times getting rid of the money changers and the importance we have for money. If the conscience is clear God provides all we need. To clear the conscience of the people of Israel the blood of animals was sacrificed. Jesus became the Lamb of God by whose blood all our sins are taken away. Today we no longer have a physical Tabernacle because we go to the outer court following Jesus who laid down his life for us. The first room of the imaginations and thoughts of the heart (Gen 6;5) is the Outer court. We remain on the subject of the outer court dealing with things in the thought life that were not from the Lord. We die to the flesh and we rise in the spirit. We eat the flesh of Christ and we drink the blood of Christ as He sprinkles our thoughts from an evil conscience and washes us in pure water.
Heb 10;22, WE NEED THIS SPRINKLING AND WASHING DAILY. It is for the conscience! It is the only way to have confidence when we pray. We are now in Christ; we wear the full armor of God. After this, we go to the Holy Place to honor the Holy Spirit. Learn to spend time with the same Spirit who rose Jesus from the dead who now lives in you. After this go to the Holy of Holies and give God the Father praise and honor with thanksgiving. After this, we can make different rooms in which we pray about important subjects. Like Security, Family, Finances, and Health. In this way every subject that you always pray about is now compartmentalized. Always know where you are and stay on the subject of that room. Never forget that rooms have doors and they must be sealed with the blood in the same way they sprinkled the blood on the doorposts of their houses in Egypt.
To understand more of this place where we pray on the mountain of God read Hebrews 12.
Most of us waste our prayers by shooting up little “help me please” prayers. That was alright when we were little children of the Lord, but we must grow up and become like Jesus. We are now to do what Jesus did. We must talk to the problem mountains and they must throw themselves into the sea. We must lay hands on the sick and they must heal. It is time for our authority in Christ to start changing the earth.
Here is the link to the Free Twelve Room Prayer that will help you to start praying organized.
What do you think about having an organized prayer life?