Inclining Our Hearts

I've been reading 1 Kings 1-11 for a few weeks now. As the Word has seeped into my soul, deep truths are emerging. Sharp insights are being revealed. There is value in soaking in the segments of God's Word for weeks at a time. I firmly believe that Jesus wants to build His Church and that it will be so powerful that the gates of hell will not prevail against her (the churches) advances (Matt. 16:18). For powerful churches to exist, they must be made up of powerful or strong disciples. Jesus' last words to His followers was to lead people to become disciples of Jesus everywhere we go (Matt. 28:16-20). When disciples are formed, churches will naturally, even automatically emerge (Mark 4:26-29). So in 1 Kings 8, I found these two truth: a. King Solomon prayed that "...He (God) may incline our hearts to Himself to walk in all His ways and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His ordinances, which He commanded our fathers." (1 Kings 8:58). This teaches me that God must turn our hearts towards the proper direction of Christ. b. King Solomon ended that prayer with these words; "Let your heart therefore be wholly devoted to the Lord our God, to walk in His statures and to keep His commandments, as at this day." (1 Kings 8:61). Individuals (you and I) have a responsibility to choose to have our hearts wholly devoted to the Lord our God. So I am understanding that God is inclining or turning our hearts towards the right direction of following Jesus in everything we do. We must choose to abandon our direction and turn to follow His directions. As our hearts become wholly devoted to the Lord, we will be transformed into powerful disciples for the rest of our lives. This will then cause powerful churches to emerge out the pool of powerful disciples. Because they are powerful and wholly devoted to the Lord, they will be reproducing and expanding their influence to bend the communities we live towards Jesus. Then the life cycle of Christ's command to make disciples for the following generations will continue. This is the way of the Lord. We would do well to be wholly devoted to His leadings.