Yes, the heart thinks – this is an area I believe grace teaching sadly misses - and I’d like to describe what this looks like biblically.
First and foremost, according to Hebrews 4:12-13, the word or message of God itself, “discerns the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Yes, the word pierces and divides the soul (the YOU part of you) from the spirit (the God part of you) to bring inner tension and to expose what stuff is hidden deep within the heart.
Yes, the word (or message) of God takes the subconscious and brings it to consciousness. Yes, the written word of God brings what’s hidden within to light – and we choose how we respond to what’s being revealed.
If you’ve read the bible and felt convicted of needing to do something differently, then you know what I’m talking about!
I’d like to add that much of our dream life is God doing the same – speaking to us and taking what is subconscious sitting within the heart, and bringing these thoughts to our awareness (Job 33:14-18).
And yet, “nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” Yes, for these hidden thoughts, attitudes, desires, or purposes of the heart … we will one day give an account (Hebrews 4:12-13; 1 Corinthians 4:5; Romans 10:10).
Remember, in the parable of the sower (Matthew 13:22), a sickly crop came out from WITHIN the heart that had the seed (word) choked out by “the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches.” Yes, these thorns and thistles (thoughts and faulty belief sets) sit INSIDE the heart!!!!
Yes, the good SEED in the HEART is CHOKED out by the LIES within the ground!
Yes, the heart thinks. Perceiving their thoughts, Jesus tells the Pharisees, “Why do you question in your hearts?” Again, knowing their thoughts, Jesus says to the Pharisees, “Why do you think evil in your hearts?” (Luke 5:22 and Matthew 9:4)
Peeps. We even become TROUBLED by the message of God, and we even QUESTION and DOUBT the things of God within our hearts:
- “Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts.” Mark 2:6
- Jesus said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts?" Luke 24:38
But we don’t just think evil thoughts or doubt within our heart (Mark 7:21), we also ponder or meditate about the deep things of God. Like Mary, we even TREASURE the word of God within our heart. After the birth of Jesus and being visited by angels with strong prophetic words, “Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.” Luke 2:19
Lastly. Our "guilty" conscience is the VOICE of the heart. Yes, our conscience brings the subconscious things of the heart to a level of awareness.
The Oxford dictionary describes the conscience as “an inner feeling or voice viewed as acting as a guide to the rightness or wrongness of one's behavior.”
This inner voice is critical, and Paul says that the unsaved shall be JUDGED by their conscience, their version of the law, and conflicting thoughts. “They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them.” Romans 2:15
The heart thinks consciously and subconsciously - and this is a concept that believers MUST understand if we want to fully walk in the ways of God.