How do you keep your heart healthy? Proverbs 4: 23 says “Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life.” Bill Johnson believes that a key to heart health is to pray without ceasing (1 Thess 5: 17). In this sermon clip, Bill teaches about the significance of prayer and praying without ceasing, and the impact it has on our lives and the situations we face.
the point is is the heart is a big thing
it’s that seat of emotion it’s the
affection it’s the place of affection
it’s a place of values that are
established from this this place of the
of the human heart where what what we do
with our life is determined in that
place
i i believe that that command to pray
without ceasing is the key to heart
health
heart health how important is that
jesus
dealt with the heart
in many different ways he says
adulteries
uh jealousies
all these things come from the heart and
he brings us as a word of correction
then he also says blessed are the pure
in heart for they shall see god
so he he deals with both ends of the
spectrum the point is is the heart is a
big thing it’s that seat of emotion it’s
the affection it’s the place of
affection it’s a place of values that
are established from this this place of
the of the human heart where what what
we do with our life is determined in
that place
and proverbs 4 verse 23 says watch over
your heart with all diligence because
from it flow the issues of life
the issues all the issues of life
you have a family you have a job you’ve
got your own personal health you’ve got
all these things going on we’ve all got
a
million plates spinning on sticks you
know and and all these issues of life
watching over this one thing it’s like
having one idiot gauge on your dashboard
that you just watch this one thing and
it’s what helps to keep everything else
functioning
this one gauge make sure you’ve got gas
oils right oil pressure is right water
everything is correct when you watch
this one thing and that is the
significance of this one command in
proverbs 4 23 watch over your heart with
all diligence i’ve told you before it’s
it’s the way we we raised our children
our discipline was based on on heart is
on attitude we would if we could correct
something when it was an attitude form
we could prevent bad conduct
and it’s the same with us
i’ve invited my wife on many occasions
honey you know all i want to do is
please jesus that’s all i want to do if
you see i’m careless with my speech or
my attitudes any of those things
i’m not just giving you permission i’m
inviting you please point it out to me
it’s i’m determined to recognize never
paint any of those things that happen
but i invite you please point it out to
me because i don’t want that in my life
watch over your heart with all diligence
put extra effort in this one thing why
because everything it affects every
single area of your life so here is what
i believe to be the command of the lord
that keeps us in the place of great
strength as it pertains to our heart
you know what do we want the adulteries
and
envies and jealousies from the heart or
the pure in heart who see god this is
obviously what we want so he says this
he says pray
without ceasing
in other words
view prayer
as your ongoing primary occupation
if you’re an evangelist you can only
evangelize so
much during the day
if you pray for the sick you can only
pray for the sick so much if you’re a
schoolteacher you’re only in the
classroom so long but pray without
ceasing
i have found that when i create a
momentum throughout my day i actually
wake up in the night praying
and one of the things that’s important
for us to recognize is we don’t know
what we’re doing
with prayer
anybody on this side would agree with me
we don’t really know what we’re doing
that’s why the bible says we don’t know
how to pray as we are that’s the bible
so it’s best to put your bet with the
bible the bible says you don’t know what
you’re doing
but here’s the cool thing
in romans chapter 8 it says
the holy spirit intercedes for us
a few verses later it says jesus
intercedes for us
my uncle pointed this out to me a bunch
of years ago
holy spirit intercedes for me
jesus is interceding for me and right in
the middle of those two verses is the
statement all things work together for
good
i wonder why all things work together
for good i’ve got the holy spirit i’ve
got the son of god they’re both pleading
my case before the father
i may not know what i’m doing but the
holy spirit who lives in me knows
exactly what he’s doing
and many people pray enough to ease
their conscience but not enough to
change any circumstances not enough to
make a difference
and prayer is the
is the full-time responsibility of the
believer
it’s not just that time in the morning
when you get on your knees and you’ve
got your bible open those are wonderful
but it’s more than that
it’s the fact that i’ll drive down the
road i’ll see
a car go by that reminds me of a friend
i went to school with i just take that
as a sign them to pray for them
it’s just automatic reminder
i’ll be i’ll remember
uh a conflict a conversation ahead that
was very uh challenging for me
um that’ll come to mind be driving down
the street it’ll come to mind and as
soon as it comes to mind
within moments
i will say
i lay down my right to be offended at
that
and i pray now for my friend
that you would so touch his life or
whatever it might be but the point is is
we have a full-time occupation
of interacting with god now here’s the
here’s the deal
i would like in the next couple of
minutes if i could somehow paint a
picture for you of the heart of what i
believe is the heart of the father
i believe that the father wants the
earth to be filled
with the fruitfulness
of
of the the fruitfulness in answer to
your prayers
in other words
you were designed
to meet
with the creator of all the life-giver
to meet with him
and to make petition and request to make
decrees in proclamations
and as a result see the course of
history changed and the answers of god
sprinkled all over the earth that there
is to be a fruitfulness i don’t think
it’s yet
come to our heart and mind how much god
looks for fruitfulness
he looks for increase
he looks for increase in the simplest
thing
you know the talents you know
he they used the talents and and
the miners they used the miners got 10
more the guy who didn’t use it buried it
the landowner says why didn’t you put it
in the bank at least you would have got
interest in others i’m looking for
increase
god’s not going to give you insights for
prayer to increase your knowledge
the insights for prayer is to make you
more fruitful
god’s not going to give us insights for
prayer so that we can write a book about
prayer
is to make us fruitful so that the earth
would be filled with the fruitfulness of
the answers to prayer of the saints
that this situation it was impossible
and jesus changed it this family they
were so destroyed they could never
recover but the mercy of god came and
they’ve been healed this business was
past
being lost and god raised it up again
home after home situation after
situation why because somebody who loves
a father is willing to pray until he
shows how to pray
i think
i think the fruitfulness that god wants
for us
from prayer
is he on the other side of us laying
down our offense
for so many things not being answered
amen
prayer is an engagement with a person
where we are changed that’s the whole
point
if i take an hour to pray i don’t leave
that hour changed and i wasn’t praying i
was complaining
it’s an engagement with a person why
because i am learning to think like him
how many you know you can pray the same
prayer a thousand times have nothing
happen you prayed a thousand to one and
a breakthrough takes place it’s that
it’s that moment where jesus says throw
the net to the other side do it again i
know you did it all night but do it one
more time sometimes it’s that one more
time of doing the right thing but this
time you did it in the presence this
time we did it in the command of the
lord this time his hand was on my hand
making the the what we were doing
effective and powerful
that’s prayer
it’s the invitation of god to come into
a place where we actually make a
difference in the course of history
because we pray
so here it is rejoice always
pray
and don’t stop
in everything give thanks
emotional mental health heart health and
the pure in heart will see god