Spiritual Posture for Total Restoration
In this powerful message, Pastor Mary Ash draws from Proverbs 4:23 to explore the intentional spiritual posture required to position ourselves for God’s complete and total restoration. With wisdom and grace, she guides us through the importance of guarding our hearts as the foundation from which all of life flows. We invite you to open your heart to this transformative word and discover how aligning yourself with God’s truth can usher in the healing and wholeness He has promised.
Overview
In this message, Pastor Mary Ash calls the congregation to examine and align their spiritual posture—the inward disposition of the heart that determines whether believers experience the full restoration God has promised. Anchoring her teaching in Proverbs 4:23, she argues that the heart is the nucleus of the Christian life and must be actively guarded, filled with faith, integrity, and love. True restoration in 2025 (the theme their church community is pursuing) flows not from external religious activity alone but from a heart that is genuinely positioned toward God and obedient to His principles.
Key Scripture Passages
- Proverbs 4:23 — "Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life"; the sermon's anchor text, establishing the heart as the source-point of spiritual posture.
- Psalm 119:65–67 — "Do good to your servant according to your word, O Lord … Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey your word"; cited to illustrate David's heart-alignment with God's word after discipline.
- Psalm 119:72 — "The law from your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold"; used to show that God's law should be treasured above material wealth.
- Psalm 19:1 — Referenced briefly alongside David passages to underscore God's revelation and David's responsive heart of worship.
- Romans 10:17 — "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God"; used to explain that true hearing involves lining up with what is heard, not merely receiving it intellectually.
- Proverbs 10:9 — "The man of integrity walks securely, but he who takes crooked paths will be found out"; cited as the scriptural basis for integrity as a core component of the heart.
- Proverbs 12:1 — "Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid"; used to ground the third heart-component, love expressed through discipline and correction.
- Philippians 4:19 (implied) — "God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus"; quoted by the preacher to anchor the tithe-and-obedience section on God's faithful provision.
Sermon Outline
- Introduction: What Is Spiritual Posture?
- Posture is defined as the position, attitude, and frame of mind that shapes behavior.
- Spiritual posture is the intentional inward positioning that enables a believer to receive God's restoration.
- The church's 2025 theme of restoration requires more than declaration; it requires deliberate spiritual alignment.
- Posture and Obedience: Tithing as a Case Study
- The preacher uses tithing as a practical illustration of how spiritual posture is tested in real life.
- Mental framing matters: the believer who decides God will provide has already positioned themselves for blessing; the one who mentally refuses has blocked the flow.
- Practical counsel: act quickly on tithes to avoid the temptation the enemy sends immediately after income arrives.
- Personal testimony: being wrongly removed from a class but restored the following week as fruit of faithful tithing and prayer.
- The Heart as the Starting Point of Spiritual Posture (Proverbs 4:23)
- Spiritual posture begins in the heart, not in external activity.
- The heart must not be contaminated by the cares of life, relational offenses, financial anxiety, or sickness.
- We guard the heart with the word of God — the primary defensive weapon.
- The heart is the catalyst for restoration; prophecy, fasting, and giving cannot substitute for a heart aligned with God.
- Serving God should produce freedom and joy, not feel like a burdensome task; when the heart is right, liberty follows.
- God engages each believer according to their unique personality; believers should cultivate their own personal engagement with Him (prayer, conversation, creation-watching).
- David as a Model of Heart-Alignment
- Despite his failures, David was called "a man after God's own heart" because his heart remained oriented toward God.
- Psalm 119:65–67: David acknowledged affliction, acknowledged straying, and returned to obedience — the cycle of guarding the heart.
- Psalm 119:72: David valued God's law above silver and gold — the heart's right ordering of priorities.
- God's Way Is the Best Way
- Many believers testify they wish they had known God's ways earlier in life.
- Chaos in culture (confusion about identity, marriage, family) is traced back to departure from God's designed order.
- Aligning with God's principles brings personal peace, benefits one's family, and even affects those in close proximity (the "rub-off" principle of carrying God's greatness).
- The preacher's personal testimony: declared medically unable to walk, talk, learn — yet by God's grace now in a doctoral program.
- Three Centers (Components) of the Guarded Heart
- Faith (Romans 10:17) — Faith is cultivated by hearing the word, and hearing means aligning with what is heard, not merely receiving information. The word must not be lost before leaving the sanctuary.
- Integrity (Proverbs 10:9) — Integrity means doing right even when no one is watching; it is the secure path. Crooked paths always lead to eventual exposure.
- Love (Proverbs 12:1) — Love is not permissiveness but discipline and correction. Parents who love correct; believers who love God receive correction without bitterness. Rejecting correction is, in the Bible's own language, foolishness.
Theological Insights
- The Heart in Hebrew Anthropology: The Hebrew word rendered "heart" in Proverbs 4:23 is lēb (לֵב) or its extended form lēbāb. In Old Testament thought, the heart is not merely the emotional center but the seat of intellect, will, and moral character — the total inner person. This is why the preacher is correct to link "heart" to thoughts, frame of mind, attitude, and behavior simultaneously.
- "Wellspring of Life" (Proverbs 4:23b): The Hebrew tôtsā'ôt ḥayyîm literally means "the outgoings of life" or "the issues of life" — everything that flows out into one's existence originates from the heart's condition. The image is of a spring: what flows out of a person's life is determined by the quality of what is within. This supports the preacher's claim that the heart is the nucleus of everything.
- Covenant Obedience and Blessing: The connection the preacher draws between obeying God's principles (including tithing, per Malachi 3:10) and receiving restoration reflects the biblical theology of covenant: blessings flow within the relationship of obedience. This is not mechanical transaction but relational alignment — God's character is to be generous to those who trust Him.
- David as a Man After God's Own Heart (1 Samuel 13:14; Acts 13:22): The designation does not mean David was sinless, but that his heart's fundamental orientation, its posture, was toward God. Even after failure he returned — demonstrating that spiritual posture is less about perfection and more about consistent, repentant return. This is a powerful pastoral point in the sermon.
- Faith as Alignment, Not Mere Reception (Romans 10:17): The preacher makes a homiletically sharp distinction: hearing the word and hearing so as to obey are different things. This mirrors the New Testament concept of hypakoē (ὑπακοή) — "obedient hearing" — which underlies Paul's phrase "the obedience of faith" (Romans 1:5; 16:26). James makes the same point: be doers of the word and not hearers only (James 1:22).
- Integrity as a Theological Category: Proverbs 10:9 belongs to the broader wisdom tradition that equates righteousness with structural soundness. The Hebrew word for "integrity" here, tōm (תֹּם), carries the sense of completeness, wholeness, blamelessness — the same root used of Job ("blameless and upright," Job 1:1) and of walking before God with a whole heart (1 Kings 9:4).
- Love as Discipline — Reflecting the Character of God: Proverbs 12:1's linkage of love with discipline resonates with Proverbs 3:11–12 and Hebrews 12:6: "The Lord disciplines the one he loves." The preacher's illustration from her mother's discipline is a living parable of how divine love operates — corrective, not permissive, and ultimately producing security rather than resentment.
- Spiritual Reality as Primary: The preacher's insistence that "you are more spiritual than you are physical" aligns with Paul's anthropology in 1 Corinthians 15 and 2 Corinthians 4:18, where the unseen is declared eternal while the seen is temporary. The spiritual realm's continuous operation (her "24/7" language) reflects the biblical teaching on the unceasing activity of God's Spirit and the ongoing spiritual warfare described in Ephesians 6:12.
Word & Context Study
- "Guard" (Proverbs 4:23) — Hebrew nāṣar (נָצַר): This verb means to watch, keep, guard, or preserve — often used in military contexts of guarding a city or post. It implies active, vigilant protection, not passive neglect. The command is imperative: guarding the heart is not optional and is not a one-time act but an ongoing discipline. The same root appears in Isaiah 42:6, where God says He will "keep" His servant. The believer is called to exercise toward the heart the same watchful care God exercises toward His people.
- "Spiritual Posture" — Conceptual and Cultural Background: The word "posture" comes from the Latin positura (position, arrangement). In physical therapy and athletics, posture determines function — a body wrongly aligned cannot perform optimally. The preacher brilliantly applies this to the inner life: a believer whose heart is wrongly positioned toward fear, unbelief, or bitterness cannot receive or operate in the fullness of God's provision. The concept echoes Paul's language of "standing firm" (stēkete, Galatians 5:1; Philippians 4:1) — a military term for holding one's assigned position.
- "Man after God's own heart" (1 Samuel 13:14) — Historical and Textual Context: This phrase was first spoken by the prophet Samuel to King Saul, explaining why God was seeking a replacement for him. The contrast is between Saul, who obeyed partially and self-servingly, and David, whose will was fundamentally aligned with God's will. Rabbinical commentary has noted that David's psalms of confession (Psalms 32, 51) are themselves evidence of this heart-orientation — he ran toward God even in his guilt rather than away from Him.
- "Wellspring" / "Issues of Life" (Proverbs 4:23b) — Ancient Near Eastern Context: In the ancient world, a spring or water source was a matter of life and death for a city or village. Controlling the water source meant controlling the vitality of the community (cf. Jacob's well, John 4; Hezekiah's tunnel, 2 Kings 20:20). Proverbs uses this image to say the heart is the water source of the entire human life. To contaminate or neglect it is as catastrophic as poisoning a city's water supply. Jesus later extends this metaphor: "Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries…" (Matthew 15:19) and "Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks" (Luke 6:45).
Application
- Audit your heart posture regularly. Ask yourself honestly: Is my heart contaminated by unresolved bitterness, financial anxiety, or relational offense? Use Psalm 139:23–24 as a prayer practice: "Search me, O God, and know my heart."
- Act on obedience before temptation arrives. The preacher's tithe testimony illustrates a principle: obedience delayed is obedience endangered. Identify areas where you consistently delay obedience and establish systems or accountability structures that help you act immediately.
- Develop a personal, authentic engagement with God. Do not merely adopt religious rhetoric or copy others' spiritual language. Discover the specific ways God engages you — through creation, music, scripture, quiet conversation — and intentionally cultivate that exchange daily.
- Guard the word you hear before it leaves your environment. Based on Romans 10:17 and the parable of the sower (Matthew 13), make a practice of journaling, meditating on, or discussing the word you receive in sermon or personal study so it moves from the ear to the will.
- Choose integrity in small, unobserved moments. Proverbs 10:9 promises security for the person of integrity. Practice the habit of doing right when no one is watching — in finances, speech, relationships — knowing that the character formed in secret becomes the foundation of public fruitfulness.
- Welcome correction as a mark of wisdom, not weakness. When a pastor, mentor, or God's word corrects you, resist the fleshly "ouch" response that causes retreat or resentment. Receive it, process it, and grow. Proverbs 12:1 and Hebrews 12:11 both promise that discipline produces a harvest of righteousness for those who are trained by it.
- Position yourself as a carrier of God's greatness for others. Your spiritual posture does not only benefit you — those around you are affected by your alignment with God. Live with the awareness that your peace, joy, and integrity are themselves a witness and a blessing to your household and community.
Reflection & Discussion Questions
- Pastor Mary Ash defines spiritual posture as "the position, attitude, and frame of mind affecting your thoughts and behavior." In what specific area of your life right now — finances, relationships, health
Tap any point to jump there — notes highlight as the message plays.
Full transcript — tap a timestamp to jump in the video.
When pastor called me up and she says, you know how she does sometimes, she can be real sharp, she just says, prepare yourself.
You're going to preach, prepare yourself.
But I had began to hear the spirit of the Lord before she even called.
I heard the spirit of the Lord.
I kept hearing.
God's way is the best way and spiritual posture.
So pastor had been talking to us about restoration.
She said that 2025 is the year of restoration.
But restoration can only come about when we spiritually position ourselves.
That's what she's telling you about the tithes and the offerings.
We have to position ourselves to experience full restoration of God.
If you don't obey the principles and the precepts of God, there is no way you're going to get the benefits.
Amen.
So what is my objective here today?
I come to define to you what is spiritual posture.
Posture means the position of the body.
It's your attitude.
It's your frame of mind affecting your thoughts.
it's your behavior that's what posture is it's a position so if you come and says well i can't pay
my tithes because um i i need to to do something else or i need to buy this you have already
framed your mind you have already framed your mind that you that you can't do it but if you do
do it you also framed your mind you framed your mind that god is going to supply all of my needs
according to his riches in glory through Christ Jesus.
And I can't worry about the bill
because I know that somehow, someway,
God is going to make a way.
He's going to make a way.
Amen?
And let me tell you, we've been on the line.
We've been praying.
We've been praying.
Listen, when you get your tithe offering,
don't wait.
The temptation will come.
The temptation will come.
The enemy will say,
As soon as you get your thing in the bank, something will pop up on your phone.
Trust me, I know.
I've been there, done that.
It still happens to me.
I don't wait.
I get right on the phone, and I get it right out of my hands so that the temptation won't be there.
But guess what?
God works in mysterious ways.
Whatever you need, he will provide it.
I was telling pastor, I said, pastor, how do you get put out of a class?
you did all the work and you get a notification saying that you put out how how does that happen
but you know what I didn't cave in I didn't get upset about it but guess what I I just make sure
I stayed on that prayer line I made sure those tides are given and guess what I knew God was
going to work it out and they call me and says we are so sorry we we made a mistake you'll be
you'll be reinstated by next week amen so let me tell you something that posture
spiritual posture let me tell you where it begins it begins in your heart your heart is the center
of everything your heart cannot be contaminated with care with the cares of this life with people
money or anything if your heart is contaminated you can't move in your spiritual posture the spirit
realm is real people it's real you are more passive and saying it over and over you're more spiritual
than you are physical the spiritual realm does not stop it operates 24 7. it operates when you walk in
it operates when you sleep it operates when you eat there is no time that the spirit realm is not
working so you have to understand that your heart your spiritual posture start in your heart
proverbs 4 and 23 it says above all else it says guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life
if we don't guard our hearts we are already in trouble because things happen people gonna get
on your nerves they're gonna do things to you but guess what if you got your
heart you can forgive them if you guard your heart even let me tell you something
some people are difficult no mistake and some people will come and do something
to you come back another day do something to you you'll forgive them so
okay I'm gonna forgive him this time I'm gonna forgive him this time by the time
they get to the third and fourth time you like wait a minute wait a minute God
then listen you know what you that when you need to start crying out for help father I need you to help me with this Help me Jesus Help me It may be your children
Keep doing things over and over, costing you money, costing this, that, and the other.
It could be sickness, anything.
But you've got to guard it.
How do we guard it?
We guard it with the word of God.
Our heart is the catalyst for restoration.
Your heart is.
an apostle can she can prophesy to you great things speak the word we can fast 24 7.
We can do all those things we can give thousands but the heart has to line up with the word of God
if their heart isn't there if the heart your heart have to be in it your heart have to be in the
sanctuary your heart have to be with the things of God your heart has to be in it if your heart is
not in it, you, it becomes a task to you and serving God should not be a task to us.
Serving the Lord, we're supposed to feel freedom. We're supposed to have liberty.
We're supposed to, you know what? That's the only way you can be free.
Serving the Lord should not be, I'm not going to say you're not going to be challenged. You're
not going to have difficulty. That's not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is you should find the joy
and serving the Lord.
I love to talk to God.
I don't have to be here to talk to him.
I don't have to be here.
I can be in the garden.
I can be at work.
I can walk to the supermarket anywhere.
I can see him in everything.
Everything.
I can see God in everything.
He wants you to engage with him.
He doesn't want you to just sit there
and go through rhetorics.
We like to do spiritual rhetorics.
they come up with one phrase and the whole body of Christ kind of like flow with it you know it
should not be like that the reason why I said that is because we are all different in personality
because we're different in personality and God made us that way he knows how to engage you he
knows what you like he knows what you don't like and so he engaged with you accordingly
you need to engage with him it's nothing wrong don't let anybody make you fearful about engaging
with your God how do you engage with him you give you pray to him sometimes I'll pray I just talk I
just talk to him I said daddy you know what this today this is what I want to happen
and sometimes I don't always get that but me and we have a little thing God and I had this little
thing about rainbows yeah a little thing is some days I get those bad days I get those days where
things just don't quite go right and now you know I go like oh daddy why you know what what is
happening today what's going on I just happen to do this in the sky a rainbow what do you think I
do. I, you know, I just throw my hands up and I said, daddy, thank you. I don't have my answer
right here. It's not manifested, but thank you. I know you answered me. You heard me because why?
That's our engagement. You need to engage with him. However you, you, whatever you establish
that with him, not me, not apostle. You establish the engagement. Amen. So our heart
it's very important in lining up with the principles of god the bible tells us about david
david did all kinds of things he just was david but the bible declared that he was a man after his
own heart why he says in psalms 19 1 19 65 he said do good to your servant according to your
word. Oh Lord, teach me knowledge and good judgment for I believe in your commandments.
Before I was afflicted, he said, I went astray, but now I obey your word. The word of God
is our life.
It's our safety.
It's our protection.
It's our spiritual posture.
That's what helps you.
You don't always know what to do,
but if you read the word of God,
it'll kind of like put you in line
with your spiritual posture
so that you can get the benefits that you need.
Amen?
His ways are the best ways.
You know, God's way is the best way.
His ways are the best way I have heard so many believers including myself saying I wish I had known this about God I wish I was filled with the Holy Spirit when I was a kid I wish that I just had that relationship with him Why Because his ways are the best ways When God ways are the best ways there are things in life that won happen to you when you line up Why do
you think we have so much chaos? Kids are confused. Kids are confused. They're confused about who they
are because nobody told
them that they were children
of the most high God.
Nobody raised them up in the fear
and in the admonition of the Lord. So they don't even
know. They already
five and six years old saying I don't
want to get married. That used to be a girl's dream.
They're saying I don't
want to get married. Why?
Because people chose another
way. They didn't want to go
God's way.
We want to do everything in the sanctuary
the way we want to do it. I'm
talking i'm speaking about the body of christ you know what now they just taking their blasphemy
just straight blasphemy how do you get two men sitting in the pulpit and one talking about he
the first man or the first lady or something how does that happen that's not god's way
he said he made male and female and i don't care how much they tried to dress it up and
fix it up and you know and try to justify it forget it it's not his way and you're not going
to get the benefit of marriage i don't care if you you you marry you still not going to get the
benefit of marriage he's not going to bless it how amen this is only one week that's the only regret
that that I wish I had known about him that I really could engage with him well that's the only
regret regret I have in life nothing else just that because I know where it can take you I know
the path that when God puts you on a path of righteousness the peace that you feel I'm not
talking about what goes on around you I'm talking about the peace and the freedom that you feel
someone i go to work and people will say why are you you always happy you just smile at everybody
you know they look at that as a sign of weakness i've heard them say it oh you know how she is
you know how she is she's always happy she's just you know she's all over the place that's
that's what they say about me but guess what guess what i love the word i love god i know where he
he bought me from. I know what God did. I wasn't even supposed to be alive. I wasn't
even supposed to be alive. I wasn't supposed to be able to walk. I wasn't supposed to be
able to talk or have hair. I wasn't supposed to be able to do any of those things. But
look at me. I was never supposed to go to school and learn. Never. And God has graced
me. I'm in a doctoria program. Only God can do it. Only God can do it. So please, God
position your life for greatness. He positioned you for greatness. When we're talking about
spiritual posture and lining up and doing the things of God, it's for your benefit.
it benefits your family it benefits those around you guess what just you know people could just
kind of like hang out with you and stuff could just work for them they don't even have to come
they don't even have to come in the door they just around you why because you carry such greatness
that it just rubs off on people and when people tell you i don't know what it is but i like being
with you. That's what it is. That's the greatness that God has put on you. That's the greatness he
put on your life. Your life is spiritual. Your life is real. It's real. Everything about you,
God has already divinely orchestrated it. All we have to do is take our spiritual posture.
David says the law from your mouth, he said, is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold.
His law.
His law is precious.
So when we begin to line up with the word of God, and you know what?
I have gotten to the place, I don't know whether it's my age, I don't know what it is.
But you know what?
When people come with foolishness, guess what?
I can easily reject them.
I'm like, I'm not doing that,
because I know who I am.
No, I don't want that.
I don't live like that,
and I don have a problem saying it You know what You can think what you want You can say what you want But I know my God I know where he has taken me from
I know he's still with me.
He doesn't leave me.
Even in the midnight hour, he's there.
Amen?
Hallelujah.
The heart is the center.
is the nucleus of everything about you, your heart.
In that nucleus, faith has to be there.
The word of God says in Romans 10, 17,
faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.
Faith comes by hearing and hearing.
Listen to this, hearing by the word of God.
So that means that you're sitting here today and you're hearing the word of God about spiritual posture.
But the hearing by the word means that you will line up with it.
It's a difference.
You're not just hearing, hearing.
Okay, understand that you're not just hearing, hearing.
It says that faith comes by hearing and hearing comes by the word of God.
so that means that you line up with the what you heard you don't leave you don't do the same thing
you hear it and then you know some people hear if they don't guard themselves by the time they get
out the door is gone amen but we're not going to do that amen another center in our in our um
heart is our integrity proverbs 10 9 the man of integrity walks securely but he who
takes crooked paths will be found out integrity is something that they used to teach in school
they used to teach that was that was like um what do they call it a uh social development
they want to develop kids so they they graded you on things like integrity citizenship and all those
kinds of things now they could care less about that piece but it's required according to the word
of god integrity we can't be and do what everyone else does amen we need to keep that at the center
of our heart even when no one's looking at us we need to do right let me tell you something the
enemy would challenge you just like that but then you but you got that split second where you can
think no i i'm a child the most high i keep my integrity let it mean something to you amen
it doesn't work that way of course for other people who decide to take crooked crooked paths
because they are always being found out you ever see people they do things and they look like they're
moving about they look like they're prosperous and everybody think they're prosperous but then
all of a sudden they get found out about something crazy that they did well you know they was kind of
like selling stuff on the side drugs or something that's why the word of God is
true take the secured way keep integrity in your heart the next center of your
heart should be loved the next position is love now this is this is kind of a
big component but Proverbs 12 and 1 says whoever loves discipline loves
knowledge but he who hates correction and this is not my word is stupid that's
the word of God you have to love to this you have to love discipline you have to
love knowledge does it always feel nice absolutely not I wouldn't even sit up
here and try to pretend there's some things that pastor can preach some
things she say it may not feel good to your flesh but say ouch and keep it moving say ouch and just
keep it moving amen but let that but love but love is discipline you can't you can't raise your
children let them do what they want to do and then tell them oh i love you you are lying if you tell
you that to your child my mom used to tell us all the time when we got in trouble she was like okay
come on in here bring the strap with you and i'm like oh my god mom she was like no no she said i
love you and i'm saying to myself how this lady's getting ready to beat the life out of me but she
says she loved me how but guess what i found out and today i bless her for it amen so let me tell
you love is discipline love is correction love is knowledge some people don't want to be disciplined
Some people don't want correction.
The Bible said only a fool doesn't want correction.
You have to, if you want correction, guess what?
You'll get knowledge.
You'll get understanding.
If you receive correction, you'll grow far.