“The mirror of the monastic is prayer. Just as it is impossible for one to see himself in muddy water, so it is impossible, too, for the soul which is not cleansed of evil thoughts and passions to pray to God.”
The Effect of a Watchful Heart
As you train your heart in Godliness (1 Timothy 4:7) through silence, solitude, fasting and remembrance, you will begin to cultivate a watchful heart. Watchfulness is integral to growing in godliness. When you begin bending your heart towards God, an interesting change starts to occur, your heart moves through stages of sensitivity.
God, called the “Knower of the Hearts” (Acts 1:24 & 15:8), moves through our inner life and awakens our spirit to the knowledge of a loving God abiding within. The practice of spiritual disciplines causes the heart to flower to His abiding presence, and He begins to push into our conscious awareness our broken systems of belief and ways of thinking.
Absent this inner formation, we remain dimly aware of the thoughts that assail us. When God moves on our inner life, our spirit comes alive to His presence, and we begin to know Him and ourselves. Watchfulness captures this awareness and guards the heart against all that would send us fleeing away from God.
“One day someone asked Abba Silvanus, ‘How have you lived, father, in order to become so wise?’ He replied, ‘I have never let a thought that would bring the anger of God upon me enter my heart,’”
When we are aware of our inner influences, we can take steps to mitigate those influences. While silence, solitude, and fasting expose the heart, remembrance softens the heart, then watchfulness keeps the heart trained towards the things of God.
All these disciplines dovetail into a mature expression of the Godhead within our hearts. The goal of the spiritual life is always that we become more loving people, willing to give and sacrifice on behalf of others.
This brings us to Day 10 and that means we’ve reached the end of our devotional. I really hope you’ve enjoyed it because I just can’t say goodbye yet. As a thank you for participating in Discovering Your Spiritual Rhythm, I’ve got one more BONUS day for you with some special resources to help you continue on with this ever deepening journey of life with God.
I’ll be back in your inbox (one last time) tomorrow!
Blessings,
Joshua Hoffert
REFLECTION QUESTIONS
How have you trained yourself to become continually aware of God’s presence? Have you ever considered what it may mean to “pray unceasingly”? (1 Thessalonians 5:17)
In what ways do you respond to God’s presence?
The fruit of the Spirit and God’s presence cannot be divided. How has His presence and this fruit increased in your life? How do you think this may relate to His will for you?
What has God been doing in your life and speaking to you recently (the past 3-6 months)? What themes have emerged, and how do you plan on attending to them?