Last week I wrote about having a calloused heart. If you haven’t already done so, you can read that post here. I want to briefly follow up so that we don’t get stuck. God doesn’t just want to identify the problems in our lives. He wants to heal us. So, let’s take a look at what we can practically do if we are struggling with a calloused heart.

1) Ask God for help

If you’re not used to doing it, the idea of praying can seem very overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be. God doesn’t only listen or respond when we pray for an hour or say all the right things. In fact, he already knows what we need before we ever open our mouths.

Sometimes when we’re struggling with something, it can be hard to go to God with that thing because we feel like he’s disappointed in us. That is exactly the time when we should go to God in prayer. He’s not looking for fancy words. He’s looking for a sincere heart. Sometimes I say, “God, I don’t want to be praying right now, but I need help and I know that you’re the One who can help me. Please change my heart and help me to want to be the person you’re calling me to be.”

We can all change but not on our own. The Holy Spirit is the one who empowers us to obey the Word of God and to turn away from our sin. Acknowledge that your heart is calloused and ask him to soften it.

2) Be intentional

When my heart has become hard, the last thing I want to do is to read the Bible. Yet, that is precisely what I need. Most of the time, I don’t even want to hear the word ‘intentional’. If we wait until we feel like spending time with the Lord again, we could be waiting for a long time. Instead, let’s recognize that we can’t afford to be led solely by our emotions. With our mind and will we can choose to go and sin no more.

When you do what you know to do, you are giving the Holy Spirit permission to change your heart. It definitely takes effort, but we can pray, give thanks and worship even when we don’t feel like it. We can choose to meditate on the Bible so that the soil of our hearts becomes supple and the seeds of God’s Word start to take root in our lives.

3) Make a change

When we’re in a rut, it’s important to take time to think about how we got there. We need to examine our lives so that we don’t keep doing the same things that caused the callouses to begin with. For example, did you recently take a high paying job to have more money, but now you feel like you are scattered and have less time for the Lord? Have you stopped attending your local Bible study, worship night or prayer group? Have you refused to forgive someone who did you wrong?

We may need to make a series of small changes to get back to where we need to be or it may take a drastic life change. Either way, we will only succeed if we are led by the Holy Spirit and make the changes he asks us to.

4) Open up

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective (James 5:16, NIV).

I find that when I first try to make a change, my initial desire is often drowned out by all my responsibilities and the comforts of life. That is why it is so important to make yourself accountable to someone. Sometimes we don’t want anyone to know that we are struggling in a particular area or we want to wait until we’ve overcome it to share. Do you have a pastor, teacher or believing friend that you can share with and confide in? Ask the Holy Spirit for wisdom to know who you can trust.

Have you been struggling with a calloused heart? What are some of the practical steps you are taking to break free?

 

I’ve been doing a lot of walking now that the weather is warmer. As a result, my foot started to hurt. I wasn’t sure what to do about the problem and felt like I didn’t have time to deal with it. I even tried switching to new shoes, but nothing helped. So, I decided to ignore the issue and keep walking.

Not long ago, I went for another walk and was thrilled. My foot didn’t hurt anymore. I felt way better and was able to walk with confidence.

This may seem like a happy ending to a somewhat trivial story. Maybe it is a testament to my endurance and faith to be able to press through something difficult and still accomplish what I needed to in the end. That sounds great, but that’s definitely not it.

When I go walking now, I don’t feel anything, but when I look at my feet with a critical eye, I see that the callous is still there. Just because I stopped feeling it doesn’t mean the issue went away. My foot stopped hurting because my callous grew harder.

Do you have any areas of your heart that have grown dull? Have you stopped hearing the Holy Spirit speak to you about a particular sin, or just in general? Just because you don’t hear or feel conviction anymore doesn’t mean that the problem is no longer there. Actually, it’s probably gotten worse.

I haven’t been spending time with the Lord like before. There used to be times when I would rush home and go straight to my room to pray and worship. I used to want to dance before the Lord and never thought of getting up early as a chore. I used to listen to Christian music all the time so that my heart would be sensitive to the Holy Spirit. Lately, I haven’t felt that same desire. At first, it bothered me, but lately, I’ve been feeling very indifferent about it. “I live a busy life,” I say to myself. “I don’t have the time or inclination to do the things I did before.” In other words, I have backslidden.

Backslide

1. Relapse into bad habits, sinful behaviour or undesirable activities (Dictionary.com)
2. To start doing something bad after you have stopped it (Merriam Webster)

Are there any areas of your heart that have become calloused? Maybe you feel fine, but is that because your past issues have been dealt with or have you ignored them for so long that the pain has simply been repressed?

Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world (James 4:8, NLT)

Let’s take time to really look at our lives. We may not feel as though anything is misaligned, but let’s ask the Holy Spirit to shed light on the different areas of our soul and to bring to mind issues that need to be addressed.

The beauty of the Lord is that He loves us enough to bring these things to our attention. Even if we don’t feel the distance, He does. He longs for deeper communion and fellowship with us even when we don’t want it from him.