“I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who will do according to what is in my heart and mind.” 1 Samuel 2:35

God is not interested in outward displays of piety but in His Spirit indwelling in the hearts of holy men and women. That is why Apostle Paul warned in 2 Timothy 3:5, “Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.”

This is never clearer than in the Books of 1 Samuel 3 and 4. The sons of Eli carried the Ark of the Covenant to the battlefield, thinking it would give them victory over their enemies but the impurity of their hearts could not carry God’s presence and they suffered a great defeat and were themselves killed.

Even the ark of the covenant was captured but the purity, glory, and holiness of God’s presence cannot suffer corruption. Knowing God is not just to see His works but to learn His ways and God’s ways are not our ways. We cannot instruct God in the way He should go or try to bring God to our minds. Rather, when we pray, we are to bring ourselves to His mind, His heart, and His purpose. God’s plan and purpose was and is to bring us to repentance and faith, not to use His name as a charm or a symbol.

Today, we are no longer conscious of our sins, limitation, and shortcomings. That is why we dare God’s holiness and come to His presence only to ask for healing, deliverance, prosperity, and blessing. We must believe that Jesus knows who we are, even as we come with our petitions.

As Jesus knows you, He loves you and desires to dwell in your heart by faith through His Spirit (Ephesians 3:17). We must be led by the power of the Holy Spirit so that we will not ask wrongly in order to manipulate God into giving approval to our selfish, classic and material motives. It is our heart that is His dwelling place, not any symbol on the outside.