Worship

“Come Again” by Elevation Worship and Maverick City Music

Scripture

“Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.” -Psalm 86:11, ESV

“I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.” -Ezekiel 11:19, ESV

“I am trying to help you and make things easier for you and not make things difficult, but so that you would have undistracted devotion, serving the Lord constantly with an undivided heart.” -1 Corinthians 7:35, ESV

As I was sitting with the Lord one morning this week, I pulled out my communion cup and bread to just worship the Lord through communion. I was bringing Him all of my heart, asking Him to search the deep places. As I asked what He wanted to say, the words “undivided heart” dropped into my spirit. I looked up the definition of these words, and they mean: “not divided, separated or broken into parts; concentrated on or devoted completely to one object.”

I have found the Lord scouring the affections of my heart. I have so many affections—my family, my Arise team, you, my best friends, my Jesus, the Word, my Smooch (my dog), my trips to go share the gospel, etc. Those aren’t in a specific order of affection, but they are affections in my life. And when I look at the list, I think they are marvelous things. But the Lord prompted this question on my heart in this hour:

Can I have all of the affections of your life? Will you place them in my hands?

I think of the picture of a pie divided into segments. He doesn’t want some of the pieces; He wants the whole pie!

David knew that in order to walk in truth, the Lord had to have his whole heart united. A divided heart could not wholeheartedly follow God. It was something only God could do, but it took David asking Him to do it.

“Our minds are apt to be divided between a variety of objects, like trickling streamlets which waste their force in a hundred runnels; our great desire should be to have all our life floods poured into one channel and to have that channel directed towards the Lord alone.” -Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 86 commentary

How much of your heart is yielded to God in order to bring you into unity with His love and purposes for you? Are you withholding anything from Him that you view as off limits?

Remember the story of Noah who stood in the face of a culture of unrighteousness and God asked him to devote his life and his reputation to radical obedience so his family could be saved? Remember the three guys in the fire, and no matter what the King said they would not bow down and worship anyone but the One True God? Do remember Daniel refusing to blend into the culture of Babylon? And what about Joseph—in all his years of trial—who chose to persevere to the end of his promise? Look at Esther, who didn’t waver and saw the deliverance of her people. Something kept them walking in truth. Their hearts had to be united to God’s heart in order to endure. From my estimation, God had given them undivided hearts in order to fulfill not only His purpose for them personally but for the people and nations they impacted.

The Lord said to Ezekiel that He would replace his heart. It was a promise of the coming New Covenant that would be established at the cross. Therefore, since it has already been given to us at salvation, we can confidently ask the Lord to do this unifying work in our hearts. It’s a prayer He is longing to fulfill! And what comes forth is a life lived from a place of intimacy and surrender and hunger and worship and a glorious fear of the Lord.

I must share a personal testimony of this very thing happening before our very eyes! Many of you have prayed for many months for Lewis. He is the student athlete from London who lived with us during the lockdown when the students were sent back home and schools were closed. He wanted nothing to do with God, but he and I engaged in many spiritual conversations. We loved him. We pointed him to Jesus, and many prayed. A few weeks ago over Zoom, AnnMarie (my daughter) and I shared the gospel with Lewis, and he gave his life to Jesus! In a conversation with my daughter this week, she shared how his very life is being transformed from the inside out. God is changing his language and his desires and his very person. Lewis asked Jesus to exchange his life with the life of Christ and fill him with the Holy Spirit, and the miracle we are seeing is the greatest miracle of all. His heart is becoming undivided unto God!

There’s one group of sisters I want to specifically speak to in reference to the 1 Corinthians passage above. In this portion of Scripture, Paul is unwrapping the tension between singleness and marriage and serving Christ. And he gets right down to the fact of the matter that being unmarried for him meant fewer distractions in his desire to follow and partner with the Lord. I have several people in my life who are deeply longing for the companionship of marriage and understandably so. But even in singleness, this moment and season with just you and your Bridegroom, Jesus, can be the most fulfilling and intimate and marked time in your life. You can partner with Him and long for Him without distraction or the affections of another vying for your time or attention! I pray for my sisters right now who are not married, that in your longing for marriage, you will be undistracted and undivided in your heart as you pursue Jesus. I pray that Christ settles, establishes, and fills you so full that your longing and desire for intimacy with another is found solely in Christ alone. He wants to be your most faithful and intimate husband. And He will do it, precious Bride of His.

“A true revival means nothing less than a revolution, casting out the spirit of worldliness and selfishness, and making God and His love triumph in the heart and life.” -Andrew Murray

In this revival time where God is awakening both His Bride and the lost, I pray that our hearts become more and more undivided and more and more united to His! May He do the following deep within you today:

• Shift your worship from anything of the world to entirely of Him alone
• Heal the wounds of your heart
• Bridge the gap between knowledge of Him in your mind and the affection of Him in your heart
• Sanctify the longings of your heart
• Shift your gaze to the very Lover of your soul
• Bring revival to the places of your heart that need the breath of God

Move and breathe on my sisters today, Lord! Call dead things to live. Give them an undivided heart, that they may walk with you all the days of their lives, in Jesus’ name!

A Few Key Notes

• If you are reading though my latest book “Revivalist Arise” join other Arise women for a weekly Zoom call to discuss the book. We will not have a Zoom call this Friday, October 1, but please still join us for our last call on October 8th at 10 a.m. CST to close out our 40 day journey together!
• This is your last chance to register for the Arise fall luncheon! Join us October 1 at the Hope Center to hear from speaker and author Christina McCracken. The cost to attend will go toward launching new Arise cities as the Lord brings them on. You can RSVP today! If you are interested in hosting a six-person table for $125, please contact Stacy Riddick at [email protected] or 214.514.3351.We will gather in person and over zoom.
• Join us October 22-23 in Midland, Texas, as we share the hope of the gospel for Harvest Day. Email me at [email protected] for more details.