By Lisa S. Tarno

I just heard a great message from our pastor on training the heart. He highlighted two verses that are important to understand why we act the way we act and what to focus on to improve. The situations are when we are provoked what our reactions are and what they say about us. The first verse was, “The mouth speaks out of the overflow of the heart.” Matt 15:18 This is the understanding of where the source of the issue is. What is in our heart will spill for out for the worse especially in times of provocation.

I have learned from other teachers about the HALT acronym which identifies areas of vulnerability within each of us. It stands for hungry, angry, lonely and tired. These are proven pressure points in which we need to take heed to how we may respond/react in a given situation. I have also learned from other teachers in the faith about “What happens when your fruit (of the Spirit) is squeezed?” “Is it bitter or sweet that comes out of you?” Fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. See Galatians 5:22-23.

At the core, our mouths do speak out of the overflow of our hearts. There’s no getting around it. What’s inside of us will come out of us. What that means is whatever we listen to, watch on tv or in movies, the people we hang out with are sources of input into our lives. Whether good or bad, positive or negative, godly or ungodly, right or wrong it is true that what we surround ourselves with gets inside of us in some way. They influence us. So in a moment of provocation or weakness, our filters for good behavior come down and our true selves emerge. Our true selves betray our filters in these moments and whatever comes out of our mouths identifies what is really in our hearts.

My current pastor was encouraging all of us to live our lives without filters and be authentic. It is the filters, after all, that give Christians a bad name with hypocrisy. So how do we fix the problem? How exactly do we fight the urge to flip off someone in traffic….fly off the handle in reaction to some provocation….yell out belligerent words? (There are plenty of unsavory behaviors to choose from!) His second verse of choice was found in Proverbs 4:23 which says, “Above all else guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life.” 

Enter in, heart training. There is an element of taking inventory of what we consume and what influences us and making changes for the better. But I would add identifying the tension that is there when trying to make these changes in our lives. There is a tension just with change of any kind that forces us to improve ourselves. Take for instance trying to get into better shape. Industries and products abound in this area to help people lose weight and get into shape. The struggle is real. 

The same dynamic is true when we work on our mindsets and behaviors and our mouths in particular. Take note that there is a tension. 

In the faith world we are taught what this tension is. As a Christian, we are born-again, new and restored and have been given the Holy Spirit within us to live more victoriously against our old natures. This is referred to as the flesh (old nature) and the spirit (the new nature within us). The flesh nature is what we default to. The flesh nature is selfish, lazy, craves only pleasure and comfort and minimal effort. Living by the Spirit requires a conscious about face to our default way of living. Therein lies the tension. It’s a battle.

The heart is mentioned nearly 1000 times in the Bible. It represents the seat of where our desires and feelings come from. We must lead our hearts! We first do the ACTION and then the heart will follow. Heart training begins with an honest prayer to God, like King David’s in Psalm 51:10, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” Additionally, the next honest step is to find out what “it” was that created the adverse reaction in us by praying Psalm 139:23-24, “Search me [thoroughly], O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.”

God will reveal truth to the one who asks for it sincerely. Then the next course of action is to start finding scriptures that deal with the area in life we are struggling with. It could be:

Wrong Thoughts: 2 Corinthians 10:5 says, “Take every thought captive and bring it to obedience to Christ.” Phil. 4:8 says, “Fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”

Your prayer could be: “God, please help me take every thought captive and to mind my mind. Help me to think only on good and true things and the positive. When bad thoughts come in help me to shut them down. When impure thoughts circle around, help me to think on something pure. I need your help in this area of my life.”

Anger: “Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words and slander as well as all types of evil behavior.” Ephesians 4:31

Your prayer could be: “God, I have an anger problem. What happened was not right. I am filled with anger towards this person. Help me to be free of this anger and trust that You will deal with this situation. Help me to forgive. Help me to release this anger to you and give me your peace.

Unforgiveness: “Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.” Ephesians 4:32

Your prayer could be: “God, I struggle with forgiving someone because I don’t want them to get away with the terrible things they have done. Help me to forgive this person so I can be free of the anger. My forgiving doesn’t mean that what was done was okay. My forgiving doesn’t mean that I forget. It means that I want to live free of anger towards this person and trust that you will deal with them. Heal my heart where this person hurt me. Only You have the power to heal me.”

Words: “Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.” Ephesians 4:29

Your prayer could be: “God help me control my mouth and speak only what is encouraging and beneficial. Help me to think the right things so then I speak the right things. Help my words be uplifting and not abusive or full of swearing. I need your help each day.”

Combatting life’s issues with praying scripture is like adding dynamite. God’s word is powerful and alive and active. There will be tension with heart training but there will be victory as well to the one who knows how to pray God’s word over their lives!