Hard-heartedness

Hard-Heartedness

My Question for God

What are the signs of a hard heart?

A Moment with God

Pharaoh’s heart, however, remained hard. He still refused to listen, just as the LORD had predicted.

Exodus 7:13

“Oh no, sir!” [Hannah] replied. “I haven’t been drinking wine or anything stronger. But I am very discouraged, and I was pouring out my heart to the LORD.”

1 Samuel 1:15

The older brother was angry and wouldn’t go in. His father came out and begged him, but he replied, “All these years I’ve slaved for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to. And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends. Yet when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the fattened calf!” His father said to him, “Look, dear son, you have always stayed by me, and everything I have is yours. We had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is found!”

Luke 15:28-32

Pharaoh had a hard, stubborn heart. No matter how much he heard about God or how many miracles he saw, he refused to believe. The older brother of the Prodigal Son also struggled with a hard heart; he was more eager to punish than to forgive. Hannah, however, continued to pray to God even when nothing seemed to happen. As you evaluate the condition of your heart, you must always ask whether it is becoming more hard and stubborn or more soft and pliable, reaching out to God whatever your circumstances. If you find it hard to forgive others when they ask for it, or if you struggle to see God in your daily life, then your heart may be hardening. If you let it continue, you cut yourself off from God, your lifeline to the only One who can really help you. A hard heart rejects the only thing that can save it—God’s love. A soft heart will seek God’s help and notice his perfectly timed responses.

Divine Promise

I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.

Ezekiel 36:26