How Does Your Heart Flow?
Daily Devotional—Monday, October 5, 2026
“Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.” Proverbs 4:23 (NKJV)
Heart Change Insight
Have you ever heard yourself say something and thought, Where did that come from?
Maybe your answer was sharper than the question called for. Maybe someone thanked you, and you brushed it off before you could receive their kindness. Or perhaps a friend took longer than usual to reply, and suddenly you felt forgotten.
It’s easy to focus on what we said or did. We tell ourselves to choose better words next time. That may be needed. Still, if we want to understand the response, it helps to ask what was flowing through our hearts before the words came out.
Where Is Your Spirit Right Now?
In our ministry, we often ask a question that can sound unusual at first: “Where is your spirit right now?”
We aren’t asking someone to come up with a perfect answer. We’re inviting them to pause and notice. Is fear rising? Is there peace? Am I carrying bitterness into this conversation? Am I able to receive love, or am I pushing it away?
Sometimes the answer surprises us. We thought we were just annoyed by an interruption. When we slow down, we realize we’ve felt hurried and unseen all morning. We thought we were simply being careful, but fear has been making every decision feel urgent.
What flows through us in a given moment is part of what I call our spiritual presence. It is what we are carrying and expressing right now. That response may also reveal a pattern that has been taking shape within us over time. I call those more settled patterns our spiritual substance. One reaction cannot tell us the whole story, but it can help us notice where to look.
Chapter 2 of Releasing God’s Life Through the Hearts of Men explores that difference more deeply.
What Flows Through Us Sticks to Us
There is a simple saying we use in Heart Change: “What flows through me sticks to me.”
If I keep returning to resentment when I feel overlooked, bitterness becomes easier to reach for the next time. If I keep making room for gratitude, that also begins to shape how I meet the day. What passes through my heart touches me on its way through, and it reaches other people through my words and actions. The Heart Change Handbook gives us room to examine those heart flows and the patterns they create.
That could sound discouraging if all we see is a problem to get rid of. Yet noticing a negative spiritual flow can also help us see something worth caring for underneath it.
There is another saying we use in our ministry: “You can only be hurt by what you care about.” When a response feels bigger than the moment, it may be worth asking what mattered so much. Perhaps I felt hurt when a friend didn’t call because I value our friendship. Perhaps I grew frustrated when a plan fell apart because I care about the people depending on it.
Caring is not the problem. I’m still responsible for how I respond. I can bring both the hurt and the thing I value to God: Lord, this matters to me. Help me express that care without trying to force an outcome.
Suppose I’m frustrated because a plan keeps falling apart. I may need to take responsibility for the way I spoke. As I look deeper, I might also discover that I care about helping people and bringing some order to a challenging situation. That desire can be good. The question is whether I am letting God guide how I express it, or whether I am trying to force the outcome myself.
We don’t have to call frustration or control justified in order to recognize the concern beneath it. We can bring both to God: Lord, I care about this. Please help me release my grip on it and respond with love.
How Does Your Heart Flow?
Proverbs 4 tells us to keep our hearts with diligence because the issues of life spring from there. That doesn’t mean anxiously inspecting and correcting every thought. It means caring about what is flowing through us and inviting God into the place where our responses begin.
The next time a reaction catches you off guard, try pausing before you explain it away or scold yourself for it. Ask, Where is my spirit right now? What matters to me in this moment? How am I expressing it?
You may need to apologize. You may need to tell someone honestly that you were hurt. You may discover that you need rest before continuing the conversation.
Change often starts there, in an ordinary moment when we notice what has been flowing and welcome God into it. He can help us express a God-given desire in a life-giving way. As we keep receiving from Him, something different begins to flow through us and stick to us.
Reflection Question
Where have I felt hurt lately? What does that hurt show me I care about, and how can I bring both to God?
Prayer
Father, help me notice where my spirit is today. Show me what I am carrying into my conversations and decisions. Give me the courage to take responsibility for a harmful response without overlooking what matters beneath it. Where I have been trying to force an outcome, help me receive Your peace and direction. Let Your life shape what flows through me to others. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Today's Step of Obedience
When a strong response rises today, pause and ask: “Where is my spirit right now?” Then ask, “What do I care about beneath this response, and how can I express that with God’s help?”
Grow Deeper
WATCH
Where Is Your Spirit Right Now?
Learn how to recognize what is flowing through your heart and make room for God to meet you there.
LISTEN
Audiobook Chapter 2
Releasing God's Life Through the Hearts of Men
Explore the difference between a visible snapshot and the deeper activity of the heart.
READ
The Heart Change Handbook
Explore The Heart Change Handbook for practical questions and exercises that help you recognize your heart flows and cooperate with God as He changes them.
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