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Heart-training!  

Tools for Directing

Our Heart Toward God!

(Click here to go directly to the Heart-training Index)

The Heart-training is available by purchase only. But don't skip this section because there are very helpful things here. You will find a few examples of what you get in the ebook. 

An Introduction 

Heart-training is a process of giving your heart reasons to turn from earthly sources, turn to God, draw near, and drink from Him. 

Heart-training is a powerfully effective way of way of using thanks and praise as tools for helping to remove the obstacles so that you can turn from earthly dependencies and to God. Heart-training helps you turn from the glory of earthly sources and to the glory of God. The Psalmists were experts at heart-training. Think of Heart-training as a practical way to direct the affections of your heart toward God. 

Heart-training! is the continuing result of about 12 years of effort to develop tools for repentance -- after about 10-12 previous years of study about what the Bible says about how to repent and change. 

Please note that heart-training is NOT a way to more effectively condemn yourself into righteous living. It doesn't work that way. It is repetition and a determination to listen and hear that are the most important elements determining your effectiveness at heart-training. You have to learn to rest into change. The Heart-training helps you to do that.    

On this site, you will find three different types of heart-training tools in order to fit a broader range preferences in people. I like the shorter version with diagrams because it helps me to address a lot of issues more quickly. I find that being able to go faster seems to help me turn more effectively. 

My family members and the small groups I work with use the longer version spoken about on the page called, "Heart-training Index." I myself have used the longer version in the past, but only when I am trying to address a specific issue. You will need to try both in order to find which works for you. Some people are using both versions effectively.   

"Level II" is the third type of Heart-training. "Level II" is based on the "Come and Drink" section on this web. You will find Level II H-t in the Heart-training eBook. 

Don't Settle for Just Being Encouraged!!!

Heart-training is effective for encouraging you in your walk with God. Even so, please don't confuse being encouraged with repentance. Encouragement is good. Repentance is more. 

In order for you to move beyond being encouraged, you have to use these tools wisely. Like any tool, Heart-training has to be used as it is intended or it won't accomplish what it was designed to do. The "How to Repent" gives the principles that you need in order to be effective in your Heart-training. 

You are welcome to use the tools here even if you haven't read about how to repent yet. Just remember that more is possible.  

About Heart-training...

Think of Heart-training as Preventative

Heart-training gives you a practical way to direct your heart toward God the moment you have a thought or feeling that puts the pressure on you in order to achieve refuge, strength, or glory apart from God. It also a way of directing your heart toward God the moment you are tempted in an area of weakness.

But even more important than these! Heart-training is preventative! It must be used that way in order to be effective.

It works far better to take steps to direct your heart toward God before you are hit with temptation, or thoughts and feelings to glorify yourself. Doing so, also helps you be much more aware and able to catch yourself in those times when you are having unwanted thoughts and being tempted. Using Heart-training as a preventative approach to repentance, will help you to be more effective at using unwanted thoughts, feelings, and temptations, as powerful opportunities to turn your heart toward God. 

An Important Review What We are Repenting From 

God defines idolatry as the ways we find refuge, strength, and glory apart from Him. The substitutions we make for God's presence give us a sense of having glory humanly speaking that is directly related to the attributes of God. Other times, the glory we "drink" from is related to His exact opposite. 

Our repentance has to change us from subtle forms of praise toward ourselves because our human glory. It also has to change us so that we find freedom to turn and draw near to God. We have to do that so we can replace what we are drinking from with God. Our repentance needs to change us so that we find freedom to feast on God by allowing Him to draw near to us and praising His attributes rather than our own.  

Heart-training is most effective when it is used to to turn your heart from these things before they occur. Then during those times when you do catch yourself doing these things, you will be much better able to use delight and joy to help turn your heart toward God.

Heart-training Helps You Get to the Heart of the Problem!

Our disease is a systemic commitment to self-effort—it runs all through us and affects everything. Therefore, the cure must address the problem as a whole. We have to change from faith in our self-effort to faith in the grace of God. 

Our problem is not just the surface symptoms like finding security from eating too much, or finding confidence from what you know. Surface symptoms like these are important because they can be used as springboards to change the bigger problem.

The goal of Heart-training is to help you to set your heart on staying near to God and drinking from Him as the one and only way you quench your thirst, and that you do so, 24 hours-a-day. 

That means you have to change from strong underlying commitment to quenching your thirst by what you achieve and earn. And, you have to change to quenching your thirst by what you receive from God--freely because of His grace. 

When turning your heart toward God, you have to think of your problem as a whole. It is not just that one specific problem you are trying to address. By that I mean directing your heart toward God won’t happen if you only focus on one or two areas; security, or reassurance for example. Re-training you heart in those area is important! But for any one symptom of misdirected pursuit there are likely many related issues that also need to be addressed. 

It will help greatly if your focus is to change from works to grace in terms of how you quench your thirst. Addressing the bigger works to grace problem will help you to repent more effectively in the more specific areas you want to change.

Note: Re-train your heart in any area that might be related to the symptom you are experiencing. Don’t try to hit the "bulls eye" of why your you don’t want to draw near to God at the moment. Instead, the entire target needs to be eliminated. Each ring around the "bulls-eye" should also be considered as a target in and of itself. 

For example, if you are having a problem in the area of lust don't just focus on that one area. It is likely you will also have to do the sections on reassurance, adequacy, exalting God, and possibly also the section on sabotage. In your case there may be other areas also. It may have been more than that for me. 

Ask God to help you to know where to focus and trust Him to help you. If the answer doesn't come right away, take one section at a time. Go through that and then go to the next. But don't get bogged down thinking you have to change that one area before you can move on. Remind yourself that the problem is bigger than that one particular symptom. 

Don't Feed on Your Spiritual Achievements! 

Every time you grow to some new level with God you should expect to have to fight against turning from God and feeding yourself with the "achievement" rather than with God Himself. This too is a "works" approach to life rather than resting in His grace. Be careful about this one because I have been at this for many years and I still struggle on this point. 

For as long as you feed yourself with the new "heights" you have "achieved" you will plateau and stop growing. Remind your heart over and over that it is only by standing before the Lord and looking at Him that He is able to "author and perfect" your faith (Heb. 12:2).       

Email me if you want the ebooks and can't pay for them, or especially if you are outside the USA - I would be happy to give them to you.

For you who are inside the USA I would really appreciate your support for this ministry. I am averaging over 5,000 hits / day to this website. But during 2002/2003 I didn't come close to selling enough ebooks to cover the related costs. Thanks.

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I am praying for the Lord's abundant blessing on your efforts to direct your heart toward Him.

Barry.

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(C) Barry Hall 1999

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