From Perception to Perfection

Scripture Reading: 2 Chronicles 16:9

“For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him.”

From Perception to Perfection

Today, I would like us to pray that God in His mercy will give us a perfect heart towards Him. Lord touch our hearts and cause them to be perfect towards you and show yourself strong in our lives.

In Luke 22:24–30, the Word of God says, “And there was also a strife among them, which of them should be accounted the greatest. And he said unto them, the kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors.  But ye shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve. For whether is greater, he that sitteth at meat, or he that serveth? is not he that sitteth at meat? But I am among you as he that serveth. Ye are they which have continued with me in my temptations. And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me; that ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”

The greatest challenge we all have in our carnal state is pride. It hides in us in different ways. Even the disciples, the disciplined followers of Jesus, had strife over who would be accounted the greatest. Where does pride come from? We learn from the Word of God that it is from the heart of man; the heart of man is deceitful above all else and desperately wicked. It is the heart that makes the disciples look at one another and ask who is considered the greatest among them.

They are not talking about who is the greatest, but who is being considered or accounted the greatest.

Consideration and accounting come from the perception of others. In the hearts of each of those disciples the issue was, “do people think Peter is the greatest or did they think I am? Do they think John is the greatest or do they think James is the greatest? They were not talking about who really had the greatest anointing or the greatest gifting. No, they were talking about who was perceived as the greatest.  Beloved, all of us face challenges with how we are perceived. Who do people think I am?  When things happen to you do you ask yourself if it really hurts you inside or does it hurt because of how you think people will see you? Most of the time we worry about things that are happening externally; how people see us.

Beloved, I pray that God will convert our hearts to think the way His heart thinks.

There is a saying that when you are in your twenties you are young and your total concern is what other people think of you; how you are perceived. When you are in your thirties, you begin to care a little less.  In your forties you realize people were never thinking about you anyway. Today, I pray that God will deliver us from the pressure of other people’s perceptions. It is not what men think but what God sees in your heart that matters. We need to pray about our hearts because God wants to show Himself strong in us. As God searches to and fro, wouldn’t it be nice for Him to find your heart perfect towards Him so that He could be shown strong on your behalf?

Prayer Points:

Dear Lord, show yourself strong and be magnified to the glory of your holy name in our lives.  Have mercy upon us and deliver us from our concerns for the external labeling instead of the internal content of the heart.  Deliver us from every way we have been diverted by our concerns for labeling. Lord, we know that man looks outside but you look inside.  Today, I pray in the name of Jesus that you will take hold of our hearts and turn them towards you in perfection. You made us, O living God; our hearts are in your hands. Father, remove from our hearts the things that we ought not to think about, in Jesus’ name. Everything that is contrary to your perfection in our hearts today, Lord, remove it.  O Lord, come and show yourself strong in our families, in our relationships, in our professions, in our ministries. Lord, we want to value our relationship with you above all, but what we wish and what we do are not always the same. Help us who are oppressed by deeds undone. Lord Jesus, you were able to do all that was in your heart towards God when you were here.  Touch our hearts; turn our hearts to perfection towards our Father, in Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

If you have never given your life to Jesus pray with me, “Lord, touch my heart. I surrender my heart to you. In the name of Jesus accept me as your child. I accept you as my personal Lord and Saviour.”