Probe my mind and test my heart Lord, I trust in you. If you are new to mental prayer, we invite you to visit our page on the ways of mental prayer, Don’t know how to pray to God, to learn more.
We begin Day 13 of our Lenten Challenge with this opening prayer:
TRUST AND BELIEVE...
Lord Jesus,
Probe my mind, Lord Jesus. If my thoughts are impure then convict my heart of it. If you find any attachments that lead me from you, give me the grace to let go of them. Test my heart Lord Jesus; it belongs to you. My heart and my mind are willing to go all the way to Jerusalem with you. Lord give me the grace to overcome all obstacles. Please increase my faith in you.
Jesus Christ, you are my beloved Savior and I love you.
AMEN.
Thursday of the 2nd Week of Lent (Liturgical Year II)
Probe my Mind and Test my Heart Lord
A Reflection for Prayerful Meditation
Join me in a prayerful meditation for your Lenten journey, a probing of the heart.
Probe my Mind and Test my Heart Lord
Prayer to the Holy Spirit
TRUST AND BELIEVE...
Holy Spirit,
I believe you are truly here and present to me right now. I desire to be present to you.
Test my heart and probe my mind and convict my heart of anything that draws me away from my relationship with you.
Probe my heart, the deepest layers, and show me how my attachments draw me away from you.
I know that you love me with infinite love. I struggle to recognize when you are guiding my heart and mind. Holy Spirit, help me listen to your counsel. Probe my mind and help me better trust you.
Breath on me as I spend these next 15 minutes fixated on today’s Mass readings. Holy Spirit, help me pray with humility, honesty, love and affection. I want to a pure heart full of love for you.
Thank you, Holy Spirit, for every consolation, desolation, time of silence, difficult trial, and temptation of the evil one. I understand that you love me and that everything in my life happens by God’s holy will, whether it be divine providence or God’s permissive will due to my sin and negligence.
Please humble me as you probe my mind and test my heart, Lord.
AMEN.
Say Nothing Just Take Him In
Spend 1-3 minutes in silence gazing at the Lord with love and gratitude, in a prayer of silent contemplation.
Make a Movie in Your Mind...
Now we will contemplate the first reading. Slowly imagine this scene in your mind as you read. Take your time. Pause over a moment that really tugs at your heart. Reread the passage again, this time imagine yourself physically there in the scene. What do you hear? See? Feel? Sense?
Probe my Mind and Test my Heart Lord
The Cursed Man and the Blessed Man
Jeremiah 17:5-10
Thus says the LORD: Cursed is the man who trusts in human beings, who seeks his strength in flesh, whose heart turns away from the LORD.
He is like a barren bush in the desert that enjoys no change of season, But stands in a lava waste, a salt and empty earth.
Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose hope is the LORD.
He is like a tree planted beside the waters that stretches out its roots to the stream: It fears not the heat when it comes, its leaves stay green; In the year of drought it shows no distress, but still bears fruit.
More tortuous than all else is the human heart, beyond remedy; who can understand it?
I, the LORD, alone probe the mind and test the heart, To reward everyone according to his ways, according to the merit of his deeds.
Reflection:
Let us take a moment to reflect on the message in the first reading.
What part of this passage from Jeremiah sticks out to you?
“Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose hope is the LORD.”
Let the Lord probe your mind for a moment, test your heart…
Now let’s personalize this passage from our first reading…
Ask the Holy Spirit to show you where you put your trust. Is it in human beings, or is it in the Lord? When you are in difficulty, where do you first turn?
Take a few moments to be in silence with the Lord. What is the Holy Spirit speaking to your heart?
Let’s Pray:
Jesus, let me put all my hope in you. In every decision, large or small, let me seek your will and not put my trust in those whose hearts are away from the Lord’s. Jesus, I trust in you. AMEN.
Be Completely Real...
Has the Holy Spirit pricked your conscience about a particular situation or person in your life? Remain with the Lord for a while, asking him questions and listening with your heart. What is he telling you in your conscience?
Now we will contemplate the Lord by listening to him speak to us in the Gospels.
Visualize Christ
We are in Perea, a region ruled by Herod Antipas, east of the Jordan River. It is a rugged terrain near the Dead Sea at the start of spring, during the last three months of Jesus’ life.
The road Jesus is on is a popular path for pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem, and as you walk with him and the disciples you come upon a spring where other travelers are gathered and taking a rest from their journey for a time.
Jesus begins speaking to his disciples while resting at this spring, and you are among them. As Jesus begins to speak you notice Pharisees eavesdropping. Then they begin to create tension by ridiculing Jesus amongst themselves, and this troubles you.
They are wealthy men of prominence who are known by the people to exploit loopholes to benefit themselves financially. People do not seek to enter into conflict with Pharisees because of their status. You are anxious about this and you have fear of them.
Jesus is calm and confident. He has no anxiety at all. You watch as he begins to address their mockery with authority and charity by telling a parable….
Probe my Mind and Test my Heart Lord
If they will not Listen
Luke 16:19-31
Jesus said to the Pharisees: “There was a rich man who dressed in purple garments and fine linen and dined sumptuously each day. And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps that fell from the rich man’s table. Dogs even used to come and lick his sores.
When the poor man died, he was carried away by angels to the bosom of Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried, and from the netherworld, where he was in torment, he raised his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side.
And he cried out, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me. Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am suffering torment in these flames.’
Abraham replied, ‘My child, remember that you received what was good during your lifetime while Lazarus likewise received what was bad; but now he is comforted here, whereas you are tormented.
Moreover, between us and you a great chasm is established to prevent anyone from crossing who might wish to go from our side to yours or from your side to ours.’
He said, ‘Then I beg you, father, send him to my father’s house, for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they too come to this place of torment.’
But Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them.’
He said, ‘Oh no, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’
Then Abraham said, ‘If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead.'”
Reflection:
Let us meditate on what Jesus means when he says, “If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead.”
Do you remember a moment in your life when you lacked faith in God and made a wrong choice? Maybe you were afraid, or you were uncertain that it was the voice of God that was calling you to act in a certain way. Even if you made a wrong decision with full knowledge it was wrong, if you have repented of it, God has forgiven you.
If you haven’t repented, take a few moments with Jesus. Let him probe your mind and test your heart.
Give the Holy Spirit time to respond. Wait on the Lord.
Let us continue our mental prayer with a meditation from Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska.
Probe my Mind and Test my Heart Lord
Living in the Spirit of Faith
By Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska (Notebook V, abridged 1548-1550)
I want to live in the spirit of faith. I accept everything that comes my way as given me by the loving will of God, who sincerely desires my happiness. And so I will accept with submission and gratitude everything that God sends me. I will pay no attention to the voice of nature and to the promptings of self-love.
Before each important action, I will stop to consider for a moment what relationship it has to eternal life and what may be the main reason for my undertaking it: is it for the glory of God, or for the good of my own soul, or for the good of the souls of others? If my heart says yes, then I will not swerve from carrying out the given action, unmindful of either obstacles or sacrifices. I will not be frightened into abandoning my intention. It is enough for me to know that it is pleasing to God.
Reflection:
For Saint Faustina, Jesus was the source and summit of her daily life. As she grew in virtue and holiness, Saint Faustina learned to bring Jesus into her thoughts, words, and actions.
She models for us how to live humbly and obediently while also practicing a great love for the Lord. God knows your heart and your intention. Ask him to probe your mind and test your heart. Are you lacking faith? Ask the Lord to give you the faith to serve him with a pure heart and mind in the special calling that he has for you.
Maybe you are aware, or maybe you don’t yet know what it is. It’s okay to not know where you are going. What matters is knowing that Jesus will take you there if you ask him to.
Let’s Pray:
Jesus, may I learn to follow you in the same way Saint Faustina did, by bringing you into my daily activities and seeking to please you. AMEN.
Are You Listening?
Spend a moment contemplating whether you identify more with the cursed man or the blessed man. Jesus knows your heart and your mind. Nothing escapes him, so be honest and share with him how the words of Jeremiah 17 have pricked your conscience.
If in the past you did not trust in the Lord, but now you want to turn toward him and bear fruit, tell him.
Let yourself be vulnerable with God and do not be afraid. Seek his face and ask for the grace to live your calling. He will give you what you need.
Pray the next Lenten Meditation
Day 14 Mental Prayer Meditation
Jesus My Cornerstone: the Stone that the Builders Rejected
Jesus my cornerstone, you are the stone that the builders rejected, yet all things came into being through you. In you is life.