The Necessity of Preparing Your Heart Part 1
Pastor J.D. Link
Abundant Grace Fellowship Church, Blanco, TX
Ezra 7:10- For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel
statutes and judgments. There are four things I would like to point out in this verse of Scripture: 1. Ezra
prepared his heart. 2. Ezra sought the law (or word) of God. 3. Ezra did the word of God. 4. Ezra taught
the word of God. I do not believe it is an accident or coincidence, that these four things are given in the order
that they are. I believe they are purposely given in this order by The Holy Spirit. Let’s look more closely at the
first thing.
First, we see that Ezra prepared his heart. This is an absolute necessity. We must prepare our heart. We
must get our hearts ready to seek God (Ps 27:8). We must fix our hearts; we must establish our hearts to give
praise to the Most High God (Ps 57:7). Only you can prepare your heart: it cannot be done for you. However,
when you humble yourself to seek God’s face, He will surely meet you (Ps 10:17). James 4:8 says “Draw
near to God, and He will draw near to you”. Praise God for that wonderful promise! God’s not holding back on
you; you’re holding back on Him! But do you know what’s great? Although you can’t change God, you can
sure change you! Prepare your heart to draw near to God!
Did you know, that even when you mess up; God will commend you and hear your prayer, if you have
prepared your heart to seek Him (2Ch 19:2-3, 30:17-20)? You see folks, man is the one who looks on
outward appearance; but God looks on our hearts (1Sam 16:7). Did not Jesus come, dealing with man’s
heart? He said adultery and murder were not just physical acts; they were conditions of the heart (Mt 5:21-22,
27-28). He also said that out of the heart proceed evil things (Mk 7:20-23). This is why we must first prepare
our hearts. Here’s some Bible trivia: Why did God choose David to be king of Israel? Answer: David was a
man after God’s own heart (1Sam 13:14, Acts 13:22). That’s what God Himself said He liked about David.
That’s what He commended David for. Wouldn’t you love your Heavenly Father to say that about you? Man, I
want to be a God-chaser! I want to be a man after the very heart of God!
Psalm 78 is a brief history lesson on Israel. In verse 8 and 37, it tells us exactly why the children of Israel
sinned against God at various times: their hearts were not right. In other words, they did not prepare their
hearts to seek God. In fact, this is the very reason God’s Word says that king Rehoboam did evil: He did evil
because he didn’t prepare his heart to seek The Lord (2Ch 12:13-14). You see, when you don’t prepare your
heart to seek God, the imaginations of your heart can take you anywhere, except where you need to be (Jer
18:12). A heart that is not submitted to God is desperately wicked; and God hates it (Jer 17:9, Prv 6:18). Like
Rehoboam, if you don’t prepare your heart to seek God, then you will do evil.
The word prepare here means to make ready; to fix; to establish: and, by definition, to do these things
beforehand. Before what? Before the battle; the temptation; the trial; the tribulation. Brothers and Sisters, do
you want to know why you’re always losing the battle? Because you’re not prepared for the battle. Don’t wait
until you’re in the midst of the trial to start preparing your heart. Prepare your heart now. Seek God’s face
now. Get into God’s Word now. Get the junk that the Holy Spirit is dealing with you about out of your life
now. Make time for God now. This is all part of preparing your heart. If you have been putting this off; I
encourage you to not put it off any longer. God desires such closeness with you, you cannot fathom the
relationship He wants with you. I dare you to prepare your heart, and hunger and thirst after Him. Taste and
see, that the Lord is good (Ps 34:8)!
Until next time, rejoice in the Lord!