Pray the Word with David Platt is a resource from Radical.net.

Jeremiah chapter 24, verse 7, I will give them a heart to know that I am the Lord,

and they shall be my people, and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole

heart. Did you hear the emphasis in this verse on the heart, on returning to God with a whole heart. And God's saying at the beginning

of this verse, I will give them a heart. Do you see the picture here that is being promised in the

Old Testament that becomes a reality in the New Testament through the new covenant, through what we

call regeneration, the change of heart

that happens inside of us by the power of the Holy Spirit. When we want to know the Lord,

when we want to walk in obedience to him, we want to obey his commands, and we return to God with our hearts.

Oh, see the picture here. Following Jesus, Christianity is not about following a set of rules and

regulations on the outside, devoid of total supernatural change in the inside, it actually all starts, following Jesus starts

with God by His grace, giving us a new heart, putting a new spirit in us, opening our eyes to

our sin and our need for Jesus as our Savior, and giving us a want, a desire to follow him, to trust in him, to

turn from sin and return to him with our whole hearts. And then to realize that once this

miracle of regeneration happens in our lives, that there is a process, what we call sanctification, of our hearts continually

being renewed, our hearts continually being softened, so that we follow God every single day

with our whole hearts. Isn't this the great commandment that Jesus has told us? You shall love

the Lord your God with all your heart

and all your soul and all your mind and all your strength. So we pray, God, we want this to be

reality in each of our hearts. God, please keep us from cold, in many senses, dead, lifeless,

attempts to obey you, to walk with you. God, we want to be in relationship with you. We want to grow every single day in our love for you and our understanding of your

love for us. God, I pray this over my own life and the lives of every single person listening

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