Psalm 86 contains one of the wisest prayers a person can pray: teach me Your way, LORD, that I may rely on Your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear Your name.

An undivided heart, one loyalty, one center, one treasure. A rich ruler in Luke discovers today how divided his is. Let the psalm's request become yours before you find out the hard way.

The ruler's heart was divided exactly in half: sincerely drawn to eternal life, sincerely welded to his wealth, and when Jesus made him choose, the sadness told the truth. Contrast Aksah, who simply asked her father for springs, and the beggar, who asked for sight and then followed down the road, praising. Undivided hearts ask freely and follow immediately.

The psalm gives you the honest starting point: you cannot un-divide your own heart, so request it, teach me, unite my heart, gather my loyalties. God answers that prayer, sometimes by touching the welded place. Let Him. What is impossible with man, a rich man through a needle's eye, a scattered heart made single, is possible with God.