Many times, when you think of your relationship with God, you think firstly about the outward-facing part that people see. The raising of hands in worship, the fervency in prayer, the consistency of church attendance, and knowing the right things to say at the right time. And while all of these are great and have a place in your devotion to God, there is something that God is far more concerned with than any of them. It determines the actual quality of everything else you do in His name.
He is looking at your heart.

1 Samuel 16:7
New King James Version
7 Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.

When Samuel went to anoint the next king of Israel, he did what any of us would have done; he looked at the options in front of him and started making assessments based on what he could see.

Eliab walked in, and Samuel was convinced. Tall, striking, looked every inch like a king. But God stopped him immediately.  Then the second son came. Then the third. Then the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh. God passed over seven sons that day and chose David, the one no one had even thought to call into the room. Because God saw something in David’s heart that no outward presentation could communicate.

This is the God you are dealing with. And this is the lens through which He sees you. Not how put-together your spiritual life appears to the people around you. He is looking at your heart, the part no one else has access to.

What does God see when He looks at your heart? Because it is easy to stay busy, stay active, stay visible in your devotion, and never actually stop to examine what is going on underneath all of it.

Worship can become its own kind of routine, and routines are very easy to maintain without your heart being truly present in them. You can show up to every service, give generously, pray consistently, and still be carrying something inside that you have never honestly brought before God. But God is not interested in only the surface.

The Pharisees were men who had the outward devotion perfected. They fasted, they tithed, they prayed in public, they knew the law inside and out, all of it visible and meticulous. Jesus looked at them, and He said in Matthew 23:25
New King James Version
25 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence.

It is possible to be outwardly consistent and inwardly far. It is possible to look devoted and feel nothing. It is possible to do all the right things while still holding onto wrong ones, like bitterness, pride, areas you have decided God does not need access to. And the longer those things stay unexamined, the more distance they create between you and God, even while your external devotion continues. And He cannot work deeply in what you will not open honestly to Him.

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭4‬:‭23‬ ‭
New King James Version
23 Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life.

Everything flows from the heart. Your words come from it, your decisions come from it, the way you treat people comes from it, your capacity to trust God in a hard season, to hold onto faith when things are not making sense, to love people who seem difficult to love, the quality of your relationships. It all originates there. Which means an unexamined heart is not a private issue. It has consequences in every area of your life.

Today, let God examine what is actually going on inside. Bring the parts you have been avoiding. Bring the areas that have grown cold or dishonest. 

He is not waiting to condemn you. That is not the posture of God in scripture. He does not examine your heart to find reasons to reject you. He examines it because He loves you too much to leave things in you that are working against you. The same way a good doctor does not avoid telling you what is wrong, God is not afraid to show you what needs attention. He brings it to the light not to shame you but to heal you. 

David, the same man God chose because of his heart, wrote this prayer in Psalm 139:23-24 
New King James Version
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me, and know my anxieties;
24 And see if there is any wicked way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting. 

That is the posture God is looking for from you today. A heart that says, come in, look around, correct what is wrong, lead me right. That prayer takes courage because it is an invitation for God to go into the places you might have been avoiding yourself. But it is also the prayer that leaves you transformed, that changes you.

Come before God today with that kind of honesty. He is looking to correct you, refine you, and bring you into alignment with Him.

Prayer Point 
Father, I come before You today with an honest heart. I invite You to search my heart, show me the places that have grown cold, and the areas where I have kept You at a distance. Help me to make corrections and align myself with You.