Live & Pray with Your Whole Heart
Jovie Rush
Return to Me with Your Whole Heart
Jovie, our two-year-old Australian Shepherd, trots around the kitchen island hoping for another chance at the open dishwasher. Prevented yet again from licking the dirty silverware, she trots around the opposite direction of the island, again hoping to have another go. Unrelenting and determined, Jovie doesn’t give up her pursuit until the dishwasher door closes. She returns, time and time again, to the possibility of more food. Likewise, every morning after going outside, Jovie enters the house and searches straightaway for a tennis ball to begin the morning ritual of playing our version of indoor catch. She plants herself on the same rug and “throws” the ball with her mouth, we kick it back and she uses her nose to bop it back. She tracks the ball and its path with such intense concentration, ever ready to go after it. She is all in with this game. In fact, Jovie is all in with any activity she does. Not only is Jovie all in, she wants everyone around her to act with similar purposefulness. She is fully present and she could definitely be described as “all heart.”
If someone were to describe you as “all heart,” you would take it as a compliment. It brings to mind someone who is all in and who has given her all toward something. Mary, Jesus’ mother, wholeheartedly accepted the will of God when she became pregnant by the power of the Holy Spirit. This was not a passive decision on her part, but a profound one that changed the course of her life. According to theologian Elizabeth A. Johnson, Mary’s ‘yes’ to God, “sets her life off on an adventure into the unknown future. The divine presence will be with her through good times and bad, and ultimately the community will remember her life with gratitude …. [I]t is a prophetic vocation story of a Jewish girl and her God, set within the traditions of her people struggling for freedom.”* In response to God’s call, Mary was “all heart.”
Contrast Mary’s response with the reaction of the Rich Man who knelt before Jesus, seeking guidance. “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” (Mark 10:18) After Jesus replies that he should follow the commandments, the man assures him that he has done so since he was young. “Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, ‘You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” (Mark 10:21) Jesus was asking this man to go all in, to give his entire heart to God. The man, though, cannot fathom such a move. He walks away confused and sad. Did you notice that Jesus looked at him and still loved him? Jesus knew his heart, just as he knows yours and mine.
When we hear the Lenten words, return to me with your whole heart, are we able to fathom it? Rather, I think sometimes the Word of God can remain outside of us at a comfortable distance where we really don’t have to engage. One might ask, does hearing God’s word gradually change me? In the following reflection, I hope to look at what it means to turn toward God with our whole hearts.
Let’s first ask ourselves, to whom or what have we already given our whole hearts? Toward whom or what have we completely turned? We have to look at our lives in an honest way in order to answer these questions. Maybe, for you, it was in childhood that you unreservedly gave your whole heart. Or, quite possibly your first love. This was the case for me.
At 7:30 p.m. on December 28, 1996, I gave my whole heart, my whole being, all of me, to Doug. I said, “I do,” thereby saying yes to today, tomorrow and all the rest. I remember the buzz of excitement in the center of my gut that radiated out to my fingertips. I was ready and I was all in. I didn’t want to just walk down the aisle. Rather, I wanted to run because my soulmate waited for me, with bright eyes and a big smile.
One of the most important wholehearted times of my life, though, has certainly revolved around our children, Jake and Samantha. From the moment I gave birth to these two, my womb opened to a whole new life of joys, sorrows, ups and downs and everything in-between. I could write a book on receiving the gift of our twins. My heart was ripped out of my chest for love of them. And now, outside my body, my whole heart lives. Such events as this can bring all of us to a place of uninhibitedness toward life.
An Exploration of ‘Whole Heart’
It’s hard to comprehend what God asks of us – to give our whole hearts, our whole being to God in this life. What does that mean? The Prophet Jeremiah proclaims, “I will give them a heart to know Me, for I am the Lord; and they will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with their whole heart” (Jeremiah 24:7). First, let’s consider the Hebrew word and definition of “heart” (leb/lebab) which appears 860 times in the Old Testament. Remember, Jesus was a Jew and knew the Hebrew Scriptures well (Old Testament readings). He knew, for example, that “heart” referred to the intellect, emotions, and will. It encompassed a person’s whole inner life. “Heart” and “mind” were interchangeable. It was the source of wit, understanding, love, courage, grief and pleasure.** So, while we today in the 21st century do not consider “heart” to include one’s mind or intellect along with emotions and will, it’s important to know that the Hebrew people of the early centuries did, in fact, do so. More than simply an emotional decision to follow Jesus, the ancient Hebrews and disciples literally made decisions with every fiber of their being: their intellect, emotions and will. Today, we can consider our own decision and commitment to follow Christ in a similar, comprehensive way.
According to Biblical scholar Bruce Malina, the first-century Palestine human being was seen metaphorically as having three zones. “Human beings consist of three mutually interpenetrating yet distinguishable zones of interacting with persons and things in the human environment: the zone of emotion-fused thought, the zone of self-expressive speech, and the zone of purposeful action.”*** From this standpoint, we can approach our relationship with God keeping in mind the many facets of our identities. Prayer then becomes more than just emotional words we might say or simply repeating rote prayers. Prayer, like life, requires us to be all in. In addition, considering these zones helps us to understand that returning to God with our whole hearts is an intentional decision that we make, not a passive half-hearted act that leaves it to fate.
More so, when we consider the moment(s) in our lives when we have entered into something wholeheartedly, it takes courage, intention and a willingness to be vulnerable. Brené Brown, research professor at the University of Houston, author, and expert on courage and vulnerability, said, “I think our capacity for wholeheartedness can never be greater than our willingness to be broken-hearted. It means engaging with the world from a place of vulnerability and worthiness.” I would add that prayer must also come from a similar place. By trusting God and engaging in prayer, our vulnerability will be safeguarded in love and our inner worthiness will be transformed.
Giving our Whole Hearts to God
How do we do this? In order to learn to open and give our whole hearts to God, we must ground our wholehearted response intentionally with space and time for God. If we aren’t listening to God’s word and giving the time to hear God’s voice (in whatever form that takes), then we really can’t say that we are being whole-hearted.
Thich Nat Hanh (d. 2022), Buddhist activist and teacher of mindfulness, said, “When you love someone, you have to offer that person the best you have. The best thing we can offer another person is our true presence.” Might we offer God our “true presence,” even as part of our daily lives? We can do this through prayer.
First of all, know that there are countless ways to pray. If our goal is to be present to God, knowing that God is always present to us, then the ball is always in our court! Rather than letting this reality shame you, allow it to prompt you joyfully to take the time each day to be present to God. I am offering a method of prayer – contemplative prayer – that has redefined my life.
A Method of Whole-Hearted Contemplative Prayer
This method of contemplative prayer is called by different names: the Prayer of the Heart, Prayer of Silence or Centering Prayer.
Purposefully dedicate time, 5, 10, 15, 20 minutes a day (or more) for this prayer.
Begin with reading scripture or a walk in nature, gazing at something beautiful or that brings you peace of mind. Or listen to music that can put you into a prayerful frame of heart and mind. You can also go for a run, or do any other type of exercise, to focus your thoughts.
Then you have a quiet sit, a prayer of the heart with your eyes closed in a chair that won’t lull you to sleep.
Set your phone to silent and set a timer on low volume.
Breathe slowly while allowing your thoughts to come and go. In the beginning and throughout as you need, you focus on your slow, steady breathing.
You can choose a word that can become your focal point, your mantra or sacred word, that you slowly and gently call to mind to bring you back to your center. It could be a word or phrase like Jesus or thank you or peace.
The key is not to allow your thoughts to completely take over. (I imagine small boats slowly floating by and I place my thoughts in those boats as they pass, always returning to my breathing and God’s quiet presence.)
Sitting in this quiet space, you may feel antsy at first and you may wonder if it’s doing any good. It is about your intention, your desire to be with God and to hear God’s voice that settles quietly in your soul over time.
What matters to God is that you return to this place, return to your sacred word (mantra) and return to the stillness of your heart.
This type of quiet prayer has been with our Church from at least the fourth century, possibly before. Monks in the Egyptian desert practiced this type of prayer as did the monks in the monasteries. John Cassian (360-435 AD), a Christian monk and theologian, traveled throughout the desert of Scete in Egypt to learn from the lives of Christian monastics. He wrote his Conferences that shed light on the prayer and ascetic practices of the Desert Fathers, as they are known in the Church today. It is partly from his writings that we have a sense of this life-giving contemplative prayer.
In contemplative prayer, we look or gaze at the God of love, without words. In order to practice it, we quiet our inner dialogue while we give room and consent to the Spirit of God who moves and shapes our hearts. Anyone can practice this prayer. The Buddhist idea of mindfulness emphasizes our absolute presence with the here and now, mindful of our breathing. Christian contemplative prayer then says that God’s Spirit is part of our breathing, part of the present moment and awakens our true, inner self to God’s ever-flowing love and healing.
Prayer doesn’t have to be complicated. God speaks in the quiet places of our hearts. In order to reach that place, we must intentionally give that inner part of ourselves to God through prayer. It will help to bring clarity, peace of heart and mind and a sense of the bigger picture over time.
Undoubtedly, we have all given our whole hearts to a relationship, a mission, a ministry or an important task. Only we can determine if we’ve also given our whole hearts to God. It is giving my whole heart to God in the prayer of the heart that has sustained all things in my life. I encourage you to find a way and a space in your everyday lives to spend time in prayer. Start with five minutes. Over time, you may find that increasing it seems like the most natural thing to do. And be like Jovie who never tires of returning. Return time and time again to prayer without hesitation to spend time with a God who loves you unreservedly.
To this day, as best I can I continue to give my whole heart to my marriage and to my children. Now, I am giving my whole heart to this blog as a form of ministry. Each and every day, though, I wish to live in the present moment, as Thich Nat Hanh emphasized many times throughout his walk on this earth. I have found that the fruits of the prayer of the heart come in the form of presence and wholeness, both in me and as I see the world. In my next blog, I will take a look at a divided heart, what obstacles keep us from entering into our relationships and lives with a whole heart. For it is the returning to God that must endure.
Song for contemplation: “Your Heart (David)” sung by Chris Tomlin, written by Bernie Herms, Nichole Nordeman. This song is about King David but the refrain is a powerful exhortation about desiring to have God’s heart.
Call to Action: In the comments below, share how prayer has helped you in your own life. Do you have a form of prayer that you especially love?
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Blog Notes:
*For a unique and comprehensive perspective on Mary, I recommend Elizabeth A. Johnson’s book, Truly our Sister: A Theology of Mary in the Communion of Saints, Continuum Publishing, New York, 2003. Quote can be found on p. 251.
**See www.preceptaustin.org/heart_leb for information regarding the Hebrew word for “heart”.
***For those wanting to learn more about the cultural anthropology of Jesus’ world, I recommend Bruce J. Malina’s book, The New Testament World: Insights from Cultural Anthropology, Westminster/John Knox Press, Louisville, 1993. Quote can be found on p. 74.
Contemplative Prayer: For more information, visit https://www.contemplativeoutreach.org/
Also, search “Thomas Keating” for videos and a listing of his books on Centering Prayer and the contemplative life.
