Flowing with the Spirit, Our Hearts Enlarged

By Ps Navin Ong, Centre of New Life

Enlarging our hearts in three ways: Endurance, Trouble and Heritage.

As we gathered for our final 2TiP (Togetherness in Training and Prayer) session for the year, guest speaker Rev Yang Tuck Yoong of Cornerstone Community Church, delivered a poignant and timely prophetic word for our season, ‘Enlarge’.

Through the Scriptures in 1 Kings 4:29, Rev Yang challenged us to ask God for a ‘largeness of heart’.

Explaining that just God gave King Solomon a largeness of heart to accompany his wisdom, we need an enlarged heart to shore up and hold the grief that comes with much wisdom (Ecclesiastes 1:18).

He defined an enlarged heart as one “that’s been expanded by God to carry His wisdom, His knowledge and His understanding. It’s a heart that has been so stretched and strengthened that it’s able to bear the burdens of others without succumbing to the weight put on it.”

Emphasizing in no uncertain terms that “The larger your heart, the greater the burdens you’re able to carry, the more people He’s able to entrust to you,” Rev Yang admonished that if the pastor is on fire, the church will be on fire. On the contrary, if the pastor is dead, the church is dead. It’s all about the heart. When we ask God for an increase or an enlargement of ministry, He brings challenges and problems, strife and testing of life to grow us. By stretching us, He strengthens our hearts.

Expounding further, Rev Yang continued by stating that God enlarges our hearts in three ways – through Endurance, Trouble and Heritage.

Illustrating with a story about a racehorse ‘Secretariat’ who had both speed and endurance due to his enlarged heart, Rev Yang shared the necessity of an enlarged heart for the season.

Then anchoring his sharing on trouble, he drew from 1 Samuel 23 to elaborate on how David’s strong and large heart came from the stretching that came through trials. Explaining that while still being hunted by Saul, King David enquired of the Lord as to whether he should save the town of Keilah from the marauding Philistines, eventually pursuing and defeating them and rescuing the inhabitants of the village.

Touching on King Solomon’s heritage of possessing a large heart like his father, David, Rev Yang reiterated his challenge to us to ‘enlarge our hearts’ as he closed with a strong prayer of intercession and blessing for us and our churches.

Flowing perfectly into the next segment of our meeting, Rev Tan Hock Cheng, led us forward into corporate prayer over the nation, where we could immediately exercise prayer with enlarged hearts.

Kicking-off the prayer with Philippians 4:6-7, Rev Tan reminded us that thanksgiving is both a command and a mighty weapon of warfare. Then in unison, we confessed Psalm 124 over the COVID-19 situation in the nation, after which he continued to elaborate on prayer pointers for intercession over our government, healthcare workers and country.

Rev Bernadette Fan of Harvest Force led us in prayer over the multi-ministry task force, followed by Ps Eileen Leong of Thrive Church who directed our prayers over Healthcare workers and finally Rev Jason Tan of Zion Full-Gospel took the helm and we asked for God’s healing and blessing over our land.

With refreshed and enlarged hearts, and in our break-out prayer groups, our final session for the year came to a fitting close as we spurred one another on in prayer for a revival of leaders and believers throughout our churches, according to Hebrews 10:24-25.

May we boldly enter 2022, with revived and enlarged hearts, seeking and overflowing with all that the Lord desires to pour out into and through us.