Heart Matters

Ezekiel 36:²⁶ “And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.”

There are things that cause sound to be put off, and as we journey in restoration, it is important for us to know them and avoid such villages. For sound to be off in hearing, it is called deafness. There are a few causes of deafness. For sound to be off in vocals, it is called muteness or dumbness. And there are causes of that as well. So what are the causes of deafness? The first is Hardness of Heart. Hardness of Heart is a case of rebellion (disobedience). When God is leading you to do something, and you are disobedient. He is leading you to respond in a certain way, but you are rebellious. What happens is that the heart begins to harden, and you begin to lose hearing. Eventually, such people become deaf spiritually—their sound has been turned off. It is not that there is no sound, but they cannot hear.

And that is why you have to always maintain a posture of obedience. When God speaks to you, your first response is, “Yes, Lord.” By the grace of God, that is how I was trained, and that is how I operate. My first response when God speaks is, “Yes, Lord”. If you think you want to negotiate, you may try later. But my position is, “Yes, Lord”. And that posture puts you in a place of something called the expressway of hearing. Hebrews 3:^7-8 “Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness” (ESV). A hardened heart leads to deafness.

Another cause of deafness, of people’s sound being turned off, is Pride. Self-sufficiency says I don’t need God. Why do I need God? I am a self-made millionaire. Have you heard people make such statements? Listen, there is nothing like being self-made. You were not even a self-made human being. You had zero input in your existence. Two people did something at night, or maybe it was during the day. Maybe in the car or in the toilet, they did something and boom, you came to be. So, you are not a self-made anything. Everything you have was given to you, including your existence. Nothing can be more than your existence. If your existence is a gift, then you are not a self-made anything. Your name was given to you; you may change it, but it was given to you. The air you breathe was given to you. Everything was given to you—everything!

Proverbs 28:⁹ “If anyone turns a deaf ear to my instruction, even their prayers are detestable.” (NIV). Don’t do it because if you do, you eventually become spiritually deaf.

Prayer: Father, please give me a new heart and put a new spirit in me. Take out my stony, stubborn heart and give me a tender, responsive heart void of pride, in Jesus Name. Amen!