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Above All Else, Guard Your Heart 2: What Does The Heart Journey Look Like In Practice?
- Wendy Mann
- May 18
- 6 min read
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In the previous episode, we spent time looking at the importance of the heart journey and why it’s crucial for us to prioritise it as we follow Jesus—for the sake of our relationship with Him, our relationship with ourselves, and our relationship with others.
In this episode, I want to get more practical. I want to talk about what the heart journey looks like in practice and how we can intentionally pursue greater healing and freedom as we go about our everyday lives.
There are many things I could talk about that would be helpful, but I just want to focus on four. So, how do we go on the heart journey?
How to go on the heart journey?
1) Pay attention to your speech, thoughts, and behaviour.
We already talked in the last episode about Luke 6:45, where Jesus tells His followers, ‘out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.’ The truth is that everything we think, say, and do flows out of what’s going on in our hearts. So, a great way to identify what’s really going on inside us—and to discover where we need healing and freedom—is to pay attention to these things.
When you notice there’s an edge to the way you speak to someone, or that you’re reacting to situations rather than responding to them; when you’re aware that you’re saying or thinking negative things about yourself, or you realise you’re on your fourth night of back-to-back episodes on Netflix; when you find yourself feeling uncharacteristically angry, or you’re on the verge of tears for no obvious reason—notice these things. Not in an unkind or critical way—notice them with kindness and compassion.
Then, when you can, take time to talk to God and trusted friends about them so that you can work out what’s really going on in your heart and how to take steps towards greater healing and freedom.
Illustration – I remember having a conversation with someone who asked me for feedback about a particular situation. I shared very honestly with him, and we had a good conversation off the back of it. When I went home, though, I realised that I was feeling nervous about the fact that I’d been so direct and spoken so honestly. I noticed I was thinking things like, ‘I overstepped the mark’ and ‘Who am I to have shared like that? I shouldn’t have said all those things.’
My thinking—and the rising fear I was feeling—was revealing something in my heart that God wanted to bring healing to. I could have tried to ignore what was going on and get busy doing something else to distract myself, but instead I decided to lean into what God was revealing. This is the process I went through:
I paid attention to my thoughts and feelings and recognised that these weren’t free responses.
I chose to be vulnerable with my friend and sent him a text message explaining what I was feeling and asking for his help in knowing the truth. Had I overstepped the mark? He sent me a very kind response back, which was reassuring and brought a measure of peace and healing (reaching out to others as we do the heart journey is so important).
I sat with Jesus and spent time reflecting with Him on where this fear of overstepping the mark had come from, and I asked Him to show me the truth.
Some of this thinking and these fears are very deep-rooted, and I’m still working through them with my counsellor—but leaning into what Jesus showed me that day, and choosing to be vulnerable with my friend and hear truth from him, was a significant step towards greater healing and freedom.
2) Intentionally ask God to search you and know you.
Psalm 139:23–24: ‘Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.’
God longs to bring wholeness to our hearts, so another way to pursue the heart journey is to intentionally ask Him to search your heart and invite Him to bring healing and freedom.
As we do this, it’s really important that we prioritise times of silence and solitude. These are the times when all distractions are stripped away and it’s just us and our hearts before God. The reality is that it’s very easy to avoid the heart journey—there are so many ways to numb our feelings, keep busy, and live at a surface level; to deny, distract, minimise, or simply ignore what’s going on inside us.
Solitude and silence are crucial spiritual practices that give God space to speak to us about our hearts.
With distractions dialled down, what’s really going on begins to surface—and then the process of healing can begin. Carving out these times is a battle, but they are a game-changer when it comes to the heart journey.
How are you incorporating times of solitude and silence into your life?
I also want to encourage you to go on a similar journey when it comes to your emotions. Jesus is our role model for emotional health. He experienced the full range of emotions—joy, grief, anger, fear—but He was never ruled by them.
I want to urge you not to settle for an emotional flatline in your life. Emotions are a gift from God—they help us connect with His heart and feel what He feels. They help us process pain and navigate suffering in a healthy way so that our hearts stay tender. They help us grow in empathy and demonstrate God’s heart to others. They also enable us to experience the fullness of joy that Scripture promises is found in God’s presence.
Emotions are a gift. I wonder if that’s how you would describe them.
3) Take off your mask with God and with others.
It’s very difficult to step into freedom and receive healing in our hearts if we keep them hidden and are not honest with God or others about our struggles, pain, fears, or past. In order to go on the heart journey, we have to be intentional about vulnerability and say yes to authenticity.
1 John 1:7: ‘But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.’
Walking in the light means coming out of hiding, being seen, choosing vulnerability, and showing God and others who we really are.
Why walk in the light?
It’s where God is—we enjoy deeper intimacy with Him.
It enables genuine fellowship. Being fully seen and fully loved is a game-changer. It brings deep healing.
We experience God’s grace tangibly—His forgiveness, comfort, and kindness—not just as ideas, but as lived reality.
4) Heal in community
The last thing I want to mention is the importance of community. You can’t do the heart journey alone.
There’s something powerful about having people who really know us and love us. When you show someone what’s going on in your heart and they stay present with you and respond with kindness—that is deeply healing.
We need people who ask good questions, who encourage and challenge us, who sit with us in pain and celebrate our breakthroughs.
I’m not talking about sharing everything with everyone—but having two or three trusted people to walk with. These relationships take time, vulnerability, and intentionality, but they are worth it.
Final thoughts
The heart journey is lifelong. We never reach the end this side of heaven. Keep the vision in mind—greater intimacy with God, deeper self-awareness, and increased capacity to love others.
Two tracks run together. The heart journey and your calling happen simultaneously. You don’t wait until you’re “fully healed” to step out—God disciples and heals us as we go.
Lastly, as things come up, you may need extra help—prayer, counselling, support. That’s completely normal. Please reach out to people.
And be kind to yourself.
‘A year of kindness toward your own heart will take you further on the healing journey than a year of weekly therapy with your dream therapist.’ — Adam Young
The Father’s posture towards you is kindness—and it’s His kindness that leads to transformation.
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Wendy Mann Equip | www.wendymannequip.com
'Equipping disciples of Jesus to live wholeheartedly and prioritise God's presence'.
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