Put Your Whole Heart Into It Mark 12:33 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO

I was listening to a sermon preached by Ted Mullins, veteran missionary to Papua New Guinea.  He was preaching about listening to the voice of God as he leads you.  He said, “The voice of God is not audible and he doesn’t write his directions in the sky.  He speaks to you through his words and through the Holy Spirit.  You ask, ‘Lord, what do you want me to do?’”  And here’s what he said, “Just give God your whole heart and he will take it from there.”  That thought really struck me as profound.

You don’t need to struggle and agonize with God about what his will is for your life.  You don’t need to frustrate yourself over whether you are doing enough for God.  You don’t need to press God for answers to perplexing questions about your life.  You just need to give God your whole heart and he’ll take it from there.

Now there are a few things in the Bible that we need to do that are clear.  When you find one of these things, you need to put your whole heart into it.

You need to put your whole heart into:

Loving God – Mk 12:33 – “And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” Loving God starts with reciprocating his love – we love him because he first loved us – put your whole heart into loving God – the value of everything that you do for God is based upon the quality of your love for God [1 Cor 13:1-3] – great demonstrations of love for God were seen in Mary anointing Jesus, the adulterous woman anointing Jesus’ feet and the widow giving her two mites – these were seemingly insignificant things to men but they were great expressions of love to God.

Keeping the Words of God – Ps 119:34 – “Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my wholeheart.” According to Jn 14:23 if you really love Jesus you will keep his words. The words of God are what direct the love of God into faith rather than mere feeling – there are many people who profess to love God but their emotional feelings are without foundation in the words of God – often they are contrary to God – so as you put your whole heart in to loving God put you whole heart into keeping the words of God – these two are the perfect balance for each other and through them the Lord can direct you daily into his will for your life.

Praising God – Ps 9:1 – “I will praise thee, O Lord, with my wholeheart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works.” And more so in church as you can see from Ps 111:1, “Praise ye the Lord. I will praise the Lord with my whole heart, in the assembly of the upright, and in the congregation.” When you sing and praise God, put your whole heart into it. We are so blasé when it comes to praising God – this isn’t a show for people it is a rejoicing for God [Rev 5].

Praying to God – Ps 119:145 – “I cried with my whole heart; hear me, O Lord: I will keep thy statutes.” When you pray to God, put your whole heart into it – many times our prayers are brought before the Lord with no more fervor than a text message – your prayers are to come from the heart not just from a list to your mouth – our prayers are to be effectual and fervent – you see, when your prayers come forth from a heart that wholly loves God, wholly obeys God’s words and wholly praises God you have fervency in your prayers and confidence that you are praying for something that you know God is going to answer.

Repenting to God – Jer 3:10 – “And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her wholeheart, but feignedly, saith the Lord.” Contrast Jer 24:7, “And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the Lord: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart.” When the Lord reveals something in your life or in your heart that needs to change you need to repent – and this isn’t just some lax acknowledgment of sin on your part but a wholehearted departure from your way and turning to God’s way – you need to change in the very depths of your heart.

Seeking God – Ps 119:2 – “Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart.” Look at verse Ps 119:10, “With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments.” 2 Chr 15:15 says, “for they had sworn with all their heart, and sought him with their whole desire; and he was found of them.” If you are sitting here today and you don’t know the Lord you need to seek him – you need to put your whole heart into it – so many people are so negligent when it comes to the things of God – they are ignorant of God because they won’t seek him with their whole heart – you need to seek him wholeheartedly.

Conclusion: If you don’t know the Lord you have the opportunity to know him today – let one of our folks introduce you to the Lord – if you are a saint in need of repentance, turn back to the Lord with your whole heart today – if you are seeking God’s will for your life then love him and keep his words with all your heart and you will be in his will – and when you praise him and pray to him do it with all your heart.