Strengthen My Faith, Soften My Heart and Sharpen My Mind

Strengthen My Faith, Soften My Heart and Sharpen My Mind. 

“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;  Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;”

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭6:10-18

It’s a long set of verses and a long devotion this morning.  Endurance and pace wins the race. 

These three short phrases (strengthen my faith, soften my heart and sharpen my mind) are often in my prayers. I struggle with each of these things, so I recognize the importance of needing Gods help. Strong, soft and sharp sounds like a great combination for a tool that could be used for almost any task. Please read on. 

I’ll always need a little help some days and a lot of encouragement most days.  My faith is stronger than it has ever been. Some people, like my wife, says she has seen a huge change in my life.  Inside though, I feel at times, that my faith is weak and unsubstantial. These are the valleys as I’m walking through the plains. I feel like I walk on flat ground for a long time. 

Encouraging as her words are, I have a ways to go and I know it. It’s easy to put your faith in God when things are going well. As I near closer to certain things in my life that are a struggle, my faith seems to lose its grip. It’s important to me to pray this way, to strengthen my faith. To turn to God when my faith feels weaker than normal. We all struggle, realizing when to turn to God for help in an area of our life is important. I didn’t have that before.  When my faith feels slippery in my hands it’s important to turn to people in my life with strong faith for encouragement. Turning to just anyone is not the best idea. Turning to Godly people with strong and encouraging faith will help tremendously. 

There are surely days when my heart is not as soft as I’d like it to be. Most days it’s like a stick of butter when I’d like it to be more like a tub of butter. Easy to get into without a lot of work and a satisfying result. 

Having a soft heart is an area I struggle with the most. My defense is to shut down when things get difficult. To turn off. It’s precisely at this moment when I should stop, turn to God and ask Him to soften my heart. Much like the Bible, our hearts can harden because of experience and history. We can harden our response to people. We can shut things out or turn things off emotionally. 

None of this is healthy and it certainly isn’t a Christian response.  We’ve all watched a hardened heart respond to something. Whether it’s a family members request, an interaction with a spouse or the way we respond without provocation to a stranger.  

In any case, it doesn’t hurt to have Gods help here. It’s a great thing to know that God knows your heart. The more you turn to God in prayer and read His Word, the more you will understand the important of responding appropriately. I have watched great women in my life respond in ways that surprised me. Watching those great examples can influence you in great ways to respond even greater. Isn’t that great?!

Once your faith waivers and your heart hardens it is really difficult to keep a sharp mind. 

The mind controls the body. The heart and soul influence the mind. If the mind can’t keep it together, good luck with the rest of things. 

I’ve gotten better at keeping my mind sharp, although I’m a long ways off still, I’ve made progress. 

My mind is like the knife you’ve had for years that never gets sharpened. You always grab for it out of habit, but you’d rather have something sharper. It cuts, but not nearly as nice as a sharpened knife. Keeping a sharp mind depends on you sharpening it daily.  This is where prayer and reading scripture comes into play. This is your practice. This is your balance and necessity. This is where you develop a great relationship with God. 

Once you develop the habit of turning to God to sharpen your mind, you turn away from the things of the world. It is much easier to fall than it is to get up. Much easier to let go than to grab a hold. Work is harder than rest, so we need to work harder for it to pay off. 

We should work harder to replace the things we used to do that shouldn’t be in our lives with the things that should be there. We each have our own things. Find what shouldn’t be there and replace it with getting in Gods Word and going to church. 

I know I use this phrase a lot, because it’s that important. Pray, Read your Bible, Go To Church and Fellowship with Likeminded Believers. 

This is so important. Much so, that a lot of us still take it for granted. We overcomplicate and super simplify things to the point of either not doing enough or trying to do too much. There is a sweet spot. I’m still trying to find it, but I know it’s there. One thing I can say with certainty, if you take any of these things out of your life, you are asking for trouble. Big trouble. 

Don’t give up. It’s so important to get into a routine of turning to God for help, direction, guidance and support.  Once you develop this routine you won’t be able to live without it. 

God can strengthen your faith, soften your heart and sharpen your mind, if you’ll turn to Him.  I pray to God to stay in His Will. Even when I feel like I fall short, I realize that our God is amazing and without His help, we’d all still be lost. 

Imagine how much worse it would be if we never turned to Him for help. I imagine it daily. 

“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”

‭‭Philippians‬ ‭4:13‬

“Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭4:23‬

“If the iron be blunt, and he do not whet the edge, then must he put to more strength: but wisdom is profitable to direct.”

‭‭Ecclesiastes‬ ‭10:10‬