Monday, June 27, 2011

21 Days of Prayer Challenge - Day 20 - Heart Change


Encouragement from Brooke


The most foundational thing we can ask God for in the lives of our sons is heart change. The Word says that

what's in the heart eventually comes out. Bad stuff in the heart? Bad stuff comes out. Good stuff in the heart?

Good stuff comes out.

I heard an illustration of this concept once from a pastor friend. He held up a Styrofoam cup with a little water

inside and proceeded to ram his hand against the cup so that the water splattered everywhere. Then he asked this

question:


"Why did water come out of the cup?"


So what do you think? Did the water come out of the cup because he rammed his hand up against it? Certainly a

possible answer. But consider this: could it be that the water came out of the cup because there was water IN the

cup?

Think about it … if the cup had been empty when he rammed it, nothing would have come out.

And so it is with our hearts. Life has a funny way of ramming up against us. People pull out in front of you when

you're in a hurry. The neighbor's dog won't stop yapping through the night when all you need is a few hours of

sleep. Your children pick the day after your favorite relative dies to be little horrors … somehow sensing that

mom is frazzled.


Stuff happens.


We get hit. Probably every day. But our response to the hits comes from what's in our cup...or hearts. Bad stuff in

the heart? Bad stuff comes out. Good stuff in the heart? Good stuff comes out.


"The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure

produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks." ~Luke 6:45

Remember to commit to praying the 10 prayers in this chapter today.

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