How do you change your heart?

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ProdglArchitect

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We often hear that God knows our hearts, and will judge us on if our hearts are turned to Him.

So my question is, how do we make this turn? How do we change the orientation of our hearts?

I don’t know how to judge the state of my heart, or to see if it is really oriented the way God wants it to be, so I’m not really sure how to figure out what I need to work on.

In my case I frequently feel like, while my brain is oriented towards God (I want to know God, I know to avoid sin, I study the teachings of the Church, etc.), my heart isn’t along for the ride. I know that intellectual knowledge of God is not sufficient, I need to develop that relationship with Him, but I don’t really know how to do that. I don’t really know how to move my heart to want that deeper relationship.

For people who have developed that relationship, how did you do it, and how do you move your heart to want to do it?
 
By living up to the standards of the New Covenant; believe in Christ, Love your enemy, your neighbor, one another as Jesus loves us, repent, be obedient, forgive, and living your life by Christ virtues…you will know you’re heart has change.
 
Make this… your prayer

Ephesians 1:15-20

For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms….
 
ProdglArchitect said:
I know that intellectual knowledge of God is not sufficient, I need to develop that relationship with Him, but I don’t really know how to do that. I don’t really know how to move my heart to want that deeper relationship.
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I’m with you all the way on this @ProdglArchitect .

I’ve been trying and failing all my life to establish this relationship .

My big mistake has been to think that i could do it but I can’t.

God alone can do this .

He alone is the Holy One .

Only in Christ can this be brought about .

Through Baptism I have been placed in Christ , and in Christ alone can I absorb the love , the life , the truth , the Holy Spirit …and all I need to live out my new existence as a new creation , a son/daughter of the Father .

It is not easy to get rid of the habits of a lifetime , but it’s necessary to do so .

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. (Ezekiel 36:26) God says I will give and I will remove . It’s not our job . It’s God’s .

God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:5) God does this through the Holy Spirit and does the pouring . It’s not our work . It’s God’s .

In Eucharistic Prayer 3 we pray , " Through your Son our Lord Jesus Christ, by the power and working of the Holy Spirit, you give life to all things and make them holy."

How does the Father do this ?

through your Son our Lord Jesus Christ

And by the power and working of the Holy Spirit

Like you @ProdglArchitect it’s all in my head , but it needs to make that essential journey from my head to my heart .
 
A late Benedictine monk , Father Ian Petit OSB spent a lifetime trying to accept what I have posted above .

In the end he said that had been granted his heart’s desire .

He had accepted the Good News .

 
I would say if you go to Adoration frequently and receive the Eucharist frequently (probably more than once a week) and keep asking God to send his Holy Spirit and Jesus to come into your heart and show you how to love him, then it will eventually happen, probably little by little.

It’s like falling in love with somebody, you would spend a lot of time with them and fall in love a little bit more each encounter you have.

I don’t really get intellectual-only Christianity/ Catholicism because I was brought up to love God, Jesus, Mary and the saints like they were family members, so it might be a matter of learning to love more or love better or pay more attention to them and less to myself, etc but it’s never been a purely intellectual thing for me. That would be like having my love for my mom, dad, spouse, grandma, best friend be a purely intellectual thing…just doesn’t work.
 
Tis_Bearself said:
That would be like having my love for my mom, dad, spouse, grandma, best friend be a purely intellectual thing…just doesn’t work.
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I agree it doesn’t work, that’s why I’m trying to correct it. I just have trouble developing and “experiencing” relationships.
 
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ProdglArchitect said:
I know that intellectual knowledge of God is not sufficient, I need to develop that relationship with Him, but I don’t really know how to do that. I don’t really know how to move my heart to want that deeper relationship.
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Someone once told me, “You fall in love with what you focus on.” Start your day by focusing on Him and through out the day refocus on Him through prayer, reading the Bible, your conversations with others about Him, nature reminds you He created it all, Eucharistic Adoration, Mass, Rosary… all these things bring your focus onto God.
 
laylow said:
The Mayo does heart transplants I believe…😉
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I tried, but the doctors didn’t react well. Turns out they don’t like it when I cut the hearts out in the waiting room…

To everyone else, thank you for the guidance.
 
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If you’ve had a good, healthy love relationship with somebody (parent, close friend etc) then that was a small taste of experiencing a relationship with God. That’s why he presents himself as our father, it’s a concept that if we have a good parent or are a good parent ourselves, we can relate to without needing to know anything intellectually. So just picture God instead of your parent or friend and treat God the same way you would treat your parent or friend.
 
Tis_Bearself said:
If you’ve had a good, healthy love relationship with somebody (parent, close friend etc) then that was a small taste of experiencing a relationship with God
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I am fortunate that nearly every relationship in my life is a positive one. My parents are both amazing, as is my wife, and my son is just awesome, I love being a dad.

I know that all of that is an echo of God’s love for us, but for some reason, despite knowing it, I can’t seem to step into the role of the loving son. I want to, there’s just a disconnect that I need to move past.
 
This book might help. The meditations are super short (Couple sentences a day). I’m using it now. For me it seems obvious but maybe for you it might not be?

You can try it for a dollar

 
I just picked it up, thank you for the suggestion.

I am so thankful for my kindle. As much as I like physical books, the fact that I can own this work for a dollar is amazing. I have a whole library of religious works that I can carry around in my pocket.
 
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To me, I vowed to follow the teachings of
the RCC TO THE BEST OF my ability, and
that was good enough to enter the Church!!
As long as I am TRYING my BEST to adhere
to the CCC and Magisterium, I think that the
Lord knows our hearts are in the right place!!
 
I love this question thank you. I have recently been asking God to please create a pure heart in me, to change my heart. I just pray for it. I believe He puts it in our hearts to want that.
I love the suggestions here and hope I could go to Adoration soon too.
God bless you.
 
I am fortunate, there is a chapel downtown near my work that has adoration in Fridays. During lent they are also doing the Stations of the Cross in conjunction with adoration.
 
By recognizing your weakness and allowing the action of the Holy Spirit to enter in where and when He is invited.
 
‘Try, moreover, to turn your heart from the love of things visible and bring yourself to things invisible.’ - The Imitation of Christ.
I try to practice that and be open to the Holy Spirit.
 
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