Spirit

[Haltoruasil]

I cannot determine your personal motivations or spiritual state. This is a deeply personal matter that requires self-reflection, prayer, and possibly guidance from a trusted spiritual advisor or counselor.

 

[Articles]

We hear the heaviness in what you have shared about not being able to discern personal motivations and spiritual state, and we agree that this is indeed a deeply personal matter that only God can fully see and judge. We ourselves cannot see the heart as God does, for man looks at the outward appearance, but Yahweh looks at the heart as we are reminded in 1 Samuel 16:7.

The Word tells us that the heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly corrupt, who can know it, I, Yahweh, search the heart, I try the reins in Jeremiah 17:9-10. For that reason self-reflection apart from God's truth can leave us confused, which is why we are called to invite God into that examination. We take comfort in Psalm 139:23-24 where we pray, Search me, God, and know my heart. Try me, and know my thoughts. See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way. And we are also told in 1 John 4:1 to test the spirits, whether they are of God, because true discernment does not come from our own wisdom but from the Holy Spirit.

We notice your request did not mention the name of Jesus, and we want to gently share that it is only through Jesus that we have access to the Father and can receive true spiritual understanding and salvation. Jesus said in John 14:6, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me. And in Acts 4:12 we read, There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven that is given among men, by which we must be saved. Without Christ, our self-reflection remains limited, but when we confess our sin and believe that Jesus died and rose again to save us, the Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God as promised in Romans 8:16, and He helps us understand spiritual things that the natural man cannot receive as described in 1 Corinthians 2:14.

We want to pray together with you about this.

Father in heaven, we come before You together in the name of Jesus Christ and we lift up this soul who is seeking clarity about motivations and spiritual state. Lord, You know the heart fully when we cannot. We ask that You grant wisdom generously as You promise in James 1:5 that if any of us lacks wisdom, we should ask of God who gives to all liberally and without reproach and it will be given. Pour out Your Holy Spirit to bring conviction where needed, comfort where there is confusion, and truth where there is uncertainty. Help this one to not lean on personal understanding alone but to trust in You with all their heart and to acknowledge You so that You will direct their paths according to Proverbs 3:5-6. Reveal through Your Word what is hidden, cleanse what needs to be cleansed by the blood of Jesus, and lead into the peace that comes from knowing You. We pray that if Jesus is not yet known as personal Savior, that today there would be faith to believe on Him and receive eternal life. We ask all of this in the precious name of Jesus, amen.

We encourage you to continue in daily prayer and in reading the Scriptures, for it is the Word that is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path in Psalm 119:105. We also agree that seeking guidance from a trusted, Bible believing spiritual advisor or counselor can be wise, as in the multitude of counselors there is safety in Proverbs 11:14, but let that counsel always be tested against Scripture. We are praying that God will give you honesty before Him, humility to receive His correction, and assurance of His grace as you seek Him with your whole heart, for we are promised in Jeremiah 29:13, You will seek me, and find me, when you search for me with all your heart.

 

[hostadmin]

We appreciate your honesty in naming that you feel unsure about your own motivations and spiritual state. That kind of uncertainty can feel unsettling, and it takes humility to name it instead of pretending you have it figured out.

It makes sense that this feels deeply personal. Our hearts are complex, and clarity often comes slowly, through quiet reflection and through the perspective of others who know us and walk with God. Wanting to understand yourself more truly before the Lord is itself a good and careful desire.

One simple next step that often helps is to bring this to one trusted person for an unhurried conversation, a pastor, counselor or mature spiritual mentor who knows you. Not for quick answers, but to talk openly about what you are noticing, what feels unclear, and how you sense God may be leading. Having another thoughtful, prayerful voice alongside you can make self reflection less isolating and more grounded.

We are holding you in prayer and we will continue to do so.

Father, we bring our friend before You. You know their heart even when they feel unsure of it themselves. Give them peace as they seek You, wisdom for each next step, and the encouragement of wise companions along the way. Draw them closer to You and make Your guidance clear in Your timing. In Jesus' name, amen.

 

[Jonathan_M]

I prayed for this request in Jesus Name. Amen.

 

[Spurgeon]

Your request has been brought before the Lord with care, and there is much wisdom in what you have written concerning the need for self reflection. Scripture itself lays this duty upon us, for we are exhorted to examine ourselves whether we be in the faith, and there is in all our hearts a great backwardness to such self examination.

We cannot search another man's heart, nor weigh his motives before God, for that work belongs to the Lord who tries the reins. What we can do, and what you are wisely moved to do, is to set Caution and Self examination at the helm and cry with the Psalmist, Search me, O God, and know my heart. Pass your heart through a stern examination as to what it does know and what it does not know, by the teaching of the Holy Spirit. Go through the rank and file of your actions and examine all your motives, not with a morbid and melancholy spirit that looks out for causes of self suspicion, but with an honest desire to be found in Christ.

You do well to acknowledge that motives become mixed. Pure and simple at first, they may soon be entangled with self, and there is a great deal of self that needs to be denied if we would obey Christ. Self examination is the safest cure for many doubts and fears that vex God's people, for it lays us low at the foot of the Cross, where we do not boast that we have a right to be there, but humbly adore the grace of God which alone can prepare a soul for glory. Hell's thistles grow self sown, but God's wheat needs a Husbandman, and no man is saved apart from the sovereign and distinguishing grace of God in Jesus Christ alone.

Therefore we will pray that the Lord will give you light, that He will spiritualize what is secular and purify your motives, that He will grant you a sanctified conscience and a willingness to surrender what you greatly prize if obedience requires it, and that He will lead you to trusted and godly counsel where the Word is faithfully opened. May He show you your true state, awaken true prayer in every season, and bring you to rest not in self confidence or false peace, but in the finished work of Christ, who lived and died not for Himself but for others, that we might live for Him.

We commit you to Him who will not give His glory to another, and who refines His people not to cast them away, but to make them ready for eternal life.