🎥 Video 4C: Bringing the Heart to Christ

Hi, I am Haley Steiner, a CLI presenter.

This course is taught by Professor Brian DeCook.

Once we begin to see the desires beneath conflict, we have a choice.

We can defend them.

We can hide them.

We can blame someone else for them.

Or we can bring them to Christ.

Psalm 139 gives us a prayer for this moment: “Search me, God, and know my heart. Try me, and know my thoughts. See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way.”

That is a Peacefire prayer.

It does not say, “Lord, search the other person first.”

It says, “Lord, search me.”

This does not mean the other person has done nothing wrong.

It does not mean we excuse sin.

It does not mean we ignore harm.

It means we refuse to let someone else’s behavior become lord over our heart.

We belong to Jesus.

So we bring the heart to Him.

One simple way to do this is to slow down and ask four questions.

First, what happened?

Name the event without exaggeration.

Second, what did I want?

Name the desire honestly.

Third, what did I do when I did not get what I wanted?

Name the response.

Fourth, what is Jesus inviting me to surrender, confess, or practice?

This moves us from reaction to discipleship.

For example, someone may say, “My teammate dismissed my idea.”

That is what happened.

“I wanted to be respected.”

That is the desire.

“When I felt dismissed, I became sarcastic and later complained to someone else.”

That is the response.

“Jesus is inviting me to surrender my demand for recognition, confess my sarcasm, and speak honestly instead of gossiping.”

That is a Peacefire step.

Notice what this does.

It does not deny the pain.

It does not excuse the teammate.

It does not pretend the relationship is fixed.

But it brings the learner back under the lordship of Christ.

Philippians 2 calls us away from selfish ambition and empty conceit. It calls us to humility and to consider the interests of others, not only our own.

That is impossible in our own strength.

We need Jesus.

We need the Holy Spirit.

We need grace.

The goal is not to become perfectly calm people who never feel hurt, anger, fear, or disappointment.

The goal is to become people who return to Christ with what is happening inside us.

Again and again.

In the Peacefire, Jesus meets us with truth and mercy.

He corrects without crushing.

He exposes without abandoning.

He leads us into the everlasting way.

Before moving on, take one current conflict and pray through these four questions: What happened? What did I want? What did I do? What is Jesus inviting me to surrender, confess, or practice?

Last modified: Friday, June 19, 2026, 2:25 PM