When a picture is not properly focused, you get a blurred image. You are not really sure of much of the detail, but only have a general conception – something like impressionist art can be. A human heart and life can be like that. With the “busy season” starting again after the summer vacations, one’s life can become one big blur unless one is careful. There can be the constant rush to do this or that, to juggle competing responsibilities and to meet all kinds of unrealistic deadlines. People then say “You don’t know whether you’re coming or going.” Such undisciplined hectic activity can easily take place at the cost of an overall unity and focus in life and be quite discouraging.

There is also another (and possibly related) way in which our life can lack focus and unity. That is when we give in to the different competing desires of the heart. Scripture speaks of being double-minded. Such people are wavering, unstable and really do not know what they want and what they live for (cf. James 1:6-8; Psalm 12:2). As a result, there is no coherent centre to their life. Such a heart needs to be purified of double-mindedness (James 4:8) and get a clear focus to the God of life.

There is a prayer which we do well to remind ourselves of as we reflect on these matters. It is the supplication of David when he cried to God: “Give me an undivided heart” (Psalm 86:11). In this psalm David prays for God’s mercy and the joy of life, for he is poor and needy (vv. 1-7). The poet, however, does not continue to dwell on his specific difficulties to which he only returns near the end of the psalm. His real concern in his troubles is a larger, more comprehensive worry, namely, that he in his life not lose the true knowledge of God. He prays:

Teach me your way, O LORD, and I will walk in your truth; Give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.Psalm 86:11

Note, that before David prays for an undivided heart, he beseeches God that he be taught in God’s way, that is in the LORD’s ordinances so that he can concretely obey God (“walk in your truth”). Instruction in God’s revelation is something that we cannot do without. It is the necessary condition before the next petition can be made for an undivided heart.

What exactly does it mean to ask God “give me an undivided heart”? One can also render: “unite my heart” or “make my heart one.” The heart can go into different directions and lead a divided existence. But then one cannot fear God! (Note the connection between the two in David’s prayer.) The reverence of the LORD demands a single-minded heart that is entirely concentrated on God and not distracted by other priorities or desires. And that is precisely David’s prayer. By beseeching God for a “united heart” he asks that his heart not be divided by competing desires, but that his heart be one. Not double-minded, but single-minded.

Surely this is a prayer for us to remember as well as we leave the summer behind and embark on a new season of school and work. Over against the divided existence of modern man with all its competing goals and desires, our life must be characterized by simple-minded purpose aimed towards God and His glory. He is to be the focus of our lives. Over against the competing desires of our heart and the battle against sin and the fallen inclinations of the mind that can merely seek what is pleasurable and convenient, easy and fun, we as Christians ask God that He instruct us in His way and teach us His truth so that we can indeed have an undivided heart that is able to fear the LORD.

When this happens we obey that ancient injunction:

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.Deuteronomy 6:4-5

Notice how this exhortation is prefaced by the description of God who is ONE. The God who is one, must be worshipped and adored by a people of one mind and heart towards God. He is to be everything in our life for He is the only God! Life without Him is meaningless and for nothing!

over against the centrifugal forces that can divide the heart in the busyness of life or in the struggle against sin, we pray that God pull our hearts together in a holy unity. Hard choices may need to be made as we seek to prioritize our time, talents and other resources in a manner pleasing to God. But let us make these difficult choices. However, as we said earlier, we will only be equipped, if we seek God’s guidance in His Word. “Teach me your way, O LORD, and I will walk in your truth.” A Christian life is a life lived with an open Bible that is read, studied and made our own! Only then can we truly beg God for a focused life in His service.

The matter is so important that our Lord God promised salvation to His people in terms of giving them undivided hearts that fear Him. For example, through the prophet Jeremiah the Lord said of His people: “I will give them singleness of heart and action so that they will always fear me for their own good and the good of their children after them” (Jeremiah 32:39; cf. also Ezekiel 11:19). Such promises should encourage us to focus clearly on God in all the struggles and hectic busyness of life. If we make God our everything then we have in focus what should be clear and front and centre in our life. Then God’s priorities become our priorities, His wishes our wishes. Under His blessing, life will then not just be one big multi-directional busy blur, but we will know we are going in the right direction – ultimately to God! – for our lives are focused on Him and He goes along with us by His Word and Spirit!