HARDNESS OF HEARTPsalm 95:8-11

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Being unforgiving, bitter, malevolent and being unable to let go can be a demonstration of  hardness of heart. Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, was a good example among those whose heart was hardened in the Bible. After he had given the children of Israel freedom by virtue of the miracles in the hand of Moses through God, he could not let go because of the hardness of his heart. Exodus 14:8, ÒÉAnd the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the children of IsraelÉÓ (Exodus 14:8) In this pursuit, Pharaoh lost everything that he put out to pursue the children of Israel. The Lord was responsible for the hardness of his heart. It is worthy to pray to God and ask God not to let this be your portion as you continue in the wilderness journey of life in JesusÕ Name. Ask God to deny in your life all that could cause a man to operate or to be available as a vessel of dishonor. God encouraged us to ask, seek, and knock. The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh and he was marked for destruction to the glory of God. The situation of Pharaoh calls for prayer by using the Psalm of David. David stated in Psalm 141:4, Do not incline my heart to any evil thing, to practice wicked works with men who work iniquityÉÓ The children of Israel, before their failure, became evidence in the physical, but it all started in the heart. God testified, ÒFor forty years I was grieved with that generation, and said, ÔIt is a people who go astray in their hearts, and they do not know my ways.Õ  11 So I swore in My wrath, ÔThey shall not enter My rest.ÕÓ(Psalm 95:10-11) A heart that goes astray will not see the warning signal against destruction when it comes. It will fail not to stop when there is a need to stop; it will not find its way back to where it started when he wants to go back and correct it self. Indeed a heart needs to focus on God in prayer against forces that can easily be filtered into the heart for destruction. Have you been holding on to bitterness, anger, and malice against any of your colleagues or brethren? Are you finding it difficult to let go of what has been called off? Could it be that you are operating a hardness of heart? It could also be that your heart is on the verge of going astray. All care needs to be taken by learning from what has been documented in the pages of Bible in regard to how destructive hardness or a strayed heart could be. Also, prayer is the key that can deliver every man from becoming a victim of a vulnerable heart to any of the life terminating forces.  Psalm 139:23-24, ÒSearch me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; 24 and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.Ó Prayer is the ÒcheapestÓ way that will enable you to keep your heart with all diligence. Our Lord God will have mercy in Jesus name.