How to Prayerfully Evaluate our Life

We are all familiar with performance evaluations. Good behaviors are rewarded, and bad behaviors are punished. This is how society evaluates employees, individuals, and even businesses. This is also how we were trained at home and in school as children—good behaviors are favored, and bad behaviors have unfavorable consequences.

However, God does not judge us merely by whether we display good or bad outward behavior. He goes much deeper than that— He looks at the heart.

We prayerfully evaluate our lives by examining our hearts. It is truly God who shows us the real condition of our hearts.

Examine our hearts and test our ways

God sees our hearts. The Lord is an expert at exposing what is hidden. He wants us to see ourselves as He sees us. He desires that we become aware not only of our behavior, but also of our thoughts, hidden motives, and the attitudes within our hearts.

All a man’s ways seem right to him, but the LORD weighs the heart.
Proverbs 21:2 NIV

Test me, O LORD, and try me; examine my heart and mind.
Psalm 26:2 NIV

God’s word is the standard. God wants us to examine our ways according to His Word.

• Are there commands in the Bible that we need to obey?

• Are there truths that we need to believe?

• Are there corrections that we need to heed?

• Are we doing His will?

• Are we living our lives according to the principles of the Bible?

Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the LORD.
Lamentations 3:40 NIV

Observe the commands of the Lord your God, walking in obedience to him and revering him. Deuteronomy 8:6

Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Jesus Christ is in you—unless you fail the test?
2 Corinthians 13:5 NIV

We are not to trust our emotions. The prophet Jeremiah explains that our own thoughts and emotions can deceive us. Emotions and feelings are fleeting, and sometimes they defy God’s will or make us believe a lie. If we do not stop and assess ourselves by the standards of Scripture, we can deceive ourselves.

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? Jeremiah 17:9 ESV

We need to change our ways. At times, we may believe our motives are right, but God alone can search a person’s heart and reveal our true attitude. When He rebukes us, we should humbly submit to Him, quickly repent, and change our ways.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9

Let the Scripture speak to us

Before reading the bible, come to God in prayer, ask the Holy Spirit to speak, and be open to correction, instruction, and encouragement. The Bible is the inspired, infallible, and authoritative Word of God.

If we let the God’s word speak to us and we are ready and willing to listen, He will reveal what’s hidden in our hearts and show us what to do.

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.
2 Timothy 3:16 ESV

For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it pierces even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight; everything is uncovered and exposed before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. Hebrews 4:12-13 NIV

After knowing the true state of our heart, what are we going to do about it? It is my prayer that we would obey and take God at His word. That we would daily seek Him and His righteousness.

Here’s a prayer from the Psalms:

I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands.
I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. Psalm 119:10-11

Finally, this Self Evaluation Checklist might be helpful in prayerfully evaluating our life.

Ask the Lord:

• Is there anything You want me to STOP doing?

• Is there anything You want me to START doing?

• Where are You leading me in this next season?