Recently, I had a dream that has remained with me, and as I have continued to pray over it, I have felt the weight of the Lord’s heart for His people.

I believe this dream was drawing my attention to the condition of the heart—the place from which we minister, lead, and serve God.

As I continued to pray, I sensed the Lord saying that He is opening doors of destiny for His people. However, before many step through them, He is extending an invitation to come to His table so that He can deal with the issues of the heart. He made it clear that these areas may have remained hidden from the world, but nothing is hidden from His sight.

I heard the Lord say, “Come and lay it all down at the table.” There was such tenderness in His voice—a loving invitation to bring everything before Him. I sensed His deep desire to search the hidden places of the heart, to uncover whatever has remained buried, and to set His people free.

“The heart is deceitful above all things And it is extremely sick; Who can understand it fully and know its secret motives? ‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭17‬:‭9‬ ‭

Many are standing on the threshold of their Kingdom purpose and their next assignment from the Lord. Yet before many step fully into what He has prepared, He is drawing attention to the condition of the heart and asking, “Who are you truly living for? The will of your heart or the will of God?”

This is not a word of condemnation. This is a word of awakening!

As David prayed
“God, I invite your searching gaze into my heart. Examine me through and through; find out everything that may be hidden within me. Put me to the test and sift through all my anxious cares. See if there is any path of pain I’m walking on, and lead me back to your glorious, everlasting way— the path that brings me back to you.” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭139‬:‭23‬-‭24‬.

I believe that same invitation is going out to the Body of Christ in this hour. The Lord is highlighting that there are still areas of the heart He desires to sift through, exposing the lies we have believed and revealing every place where the flesh has been ruling instead of His Spirit. Whether through fear, pride, control, self-reliance, or hidden desires, He is calling His people to lay down the will of the flesh and surrender fully to His will.

Many have formed a picture of what their calling or purpose will look like. They have imagined the path they will walk, the doors that will open and the way God’s promises will unfold.

Yet I believe the Lord is gently inviting His people not to become so attached to their expectations that they miss His invitation and fall to the will of the heart instead of the will of God.

Sometimes we become so focused on the destination we have imagined that we struggle to recognise the path God has actually prepared for us.

I believe the Lord is encouraging His people to remain open to His voice, especially when He leads them in a direction they were not expecting or hoping for.

Perhaps some of you are waiting for your purpose to unfold in a particular way. But what if His invitation looks different? What if the very door He is opening is one you have overlooked because it doesn’t match the picture you have carried in your heart? His ways are often different from our own.

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8–9

His invitation is not always comfortable, but it is always good. His plans are not always easy—but they are always better.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5–6

When we push against the will of God in an attempt to establish our own will, even with sincere intentions, it can lead to unnecessary striving, delay, disappointment and consequences He never intended for us to carry. The safest place we can ever be is in complete surrender to Him.

Sometimes what we are hoping for isn’t obvious sin. It may even seem wise or beneficial. Yet if it is preventing us from embracing God’s greater call or purpose then it has become something He is lovingly asking us to lay down.

As you surrender your expectations, your spiritual vision becomes clearer. You begin to see His plan instead of your own.

God is not withholding your future from you. He is revealing it step by step, preparing you as He prepares the way before you. He only asks that you be willing to say, “Not my will, but yours be done, Lord.”
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“Father, if You are willing, take this cup from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” Luke 22:42

He is revealing the hidden motives of the heart because He loves His people. He is cleansing the vessels because He intends to fill them. He is refining His sons and daughters because He has already prepared the doors for them to walk through.

The Lord was not speaking of obvious sin— He is searching the hidden motives of the heart.

I hear the Lord asking,
“Who are you truly living for?”

Many of us sincerely confess with our mouths that we live for the Lord, yet He is revealing where hearts may have slowly drifted toward seeking personal recognition rather than His glory alone.

He is not calling a people who simply desire promotion. He is raising up a people who will walk through those doors carrying His heart, seeking His glory rather than their own.

We live in a time when it is easy to become focused on platforms, money and influence. Yet the Lord is reminding His people that He has never been impressed by such things.

He is searching for hearts that are fully surrendered to His will—hearts that seek His glory above their own.

The Lord is not looking for those who simply confess faith with their lips, but for those whose lives are surrendered to Him and whose greatest desire is to bring Him glory and honor.

“He will give eternal life to those who keep on doing good, seeking after the glory and honor and immortality that God offers. But he will pour out his anger and wrath on those who live for THEMSELVES, who refuse to obey the truth and instead live lives of wickedness.” ‭‭Romans‬ ‭2‬:‭7‬-‭8

Your greatest purpose is not the assignment, but to faithfully glorify Him in whatever He has called you to.

Will you cling to your own expectations, or will you surrender to the will of God?

May the cry of our hearts in this hour be: “Not my will, but Yours be done, Lord!”

— Kaylie Hollins