Psalm 86: The Altar of the Heart
Scripture
Psalm 86:11
“Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.”
Scripture Reflection
The altar of the heart is where revival begins. Long before a city is changed, a church renewed, or a family restored, God looks for surrendered hearts — people willing to give Him their full yes. The psalmist cries out for an undivided heart — a heart free of competing loves, fully devoted to the Lord.
Paul describes this altar in Romans 12:1–2 as becoming living sacrifices, offered fully to God, holy and pleasing. It is a posture of ongoing surrender, where we climb back on the altar day after day, saying: “My life is Yours. My desires are Yours. My dreams are Yours.”
This is what Gypsy Smith meant when he famously said the way to pray for revival was to go into your closet, draw a circle on the floor, stand inside the circle, and ask God to send revival in that circle first. Revival will never bypass the heart to get to a region. God is after our first love, our deepest devotion, our radical obedience.
In a distracted, divided world, the altar of the heart is costly. But it is the place where God’s fire falls. In every generation, God has found a people willing to yield everything — and through them, He has changed history.
May we become those living sacrifices, letting our hearts burn bright with love, laying down our lives again for the One who gave His life for us.
Praying it UP / IN / OUT
UP: Worship God for His faithfulness, goodness, and worthiness of your wholehearted love.
IN: Pray for an undivided heart — ask God to show you anything competing with first love devotion. Surrender afresh on the altar of your own heart, saying your full yes to Him.
OUT: Intercede for believers across New England to build the altar of the heart, that personal revival would spark corporate revival and transform entire communities.
Closing Prayer
Faithful God,
You are worthy of all our devotion, all our love, all our lives. We praise You for Your patience and kindness as You draw us back to first love again and again.
Teach us to build the altar of the heart — an undivided heart, fully surrendered, willing to say yes no matter the cost.
Help us, like living sacrifices, to climb on the altar day after day, trusting You to shape and consume us in Your holy love.
Let revival begin with me, Lord. Let it start in my circle, in my closet, in my own soul. Then spread from there to churches, to cities, to the nations.
Amen.