"I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” Ezekiel 36:26 

I was praying this verse over myself during the second month of my race in Romania. 

Romania is a spiritually heavy and dark place. While living in the midst of people who have hearts of stones towards the Lord and the world, I wanted my heart to be crushed and be built back up by the Lord. 

In addition, I also wanted to see the hearts of man become broken by the love of the Lord. This led me to paint this painting one evening before going to ministry the next day. 

At ministry we went to the market to pass out bibles and love on people. In the end, I found myself staring into the eyes of an older man. You could see in his eyes the hatred he had, and the pain he experienced. He was mad at me and my friend for talking to him. But the Lord told us to press on. To pursue despite getting rejected. This man needed love. So we talked and we shared with him who Jesus is and at the very end of the conversation, a little smile appeared. Not once had I seen any hope or glimpse of joy in this man until the end. 

The Lord had gotten to his heart. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t push the love of Jesus away from his heart. As we were speaking I was praying that verse. “Lord turn this heart of stone into a heart of flesh” over and over and over again. And as I walked away the Lord told me. “I am working on this man's heart. His heart of stone is being broken down and my light and love are seeping into the cracked black heart of his.”

So I went home and I drew the second heart to represent the beauty and the work that Jesus did and is doing In that Romanian man's heart.

Now ask yourself, who in your life has a heart of stone? 

When those names come to mind, pray, and intercede for the Lord to come into their hearts and turn their heart of stone into a heart of flesh.