The Eyes of My Heart: Seeing Beyond the Natural
How Spiritual Perception Opens Through Intimacy
- By Gabriel Voorhees
Paul prays in Ephesians 1:18 that the “eyes of your heart” would be enlightened. He is showing us that revelation does not come through our natural eyesight or even our intellect; it comes through the inner eyes of the spirit. The natural eyes can only take in what is around us, but the eyes of the heart are able to see what God is doing behind and beyond what is visible. Natural perception reports circumstances; spiritual perception reveals truth. Natural senses react to the moment; spiritual senses respond to eternity. This is why Paul doesn’t pray for more information but for illumination—light in the inner man.
This is where we begin to understand the difference between earthly perception and spiritual perspective. Earthly perception is like living in the weeds—surrounded, overwhelmed, cluttered, and limited to whatever is immediately at hand. Everything feels too close, too large, too loud. Your heart sees, but it only sees what’s inches away. This is what Scripture likens to God being a lamp to our feet. Lamps don’t light a mile ahead; they illuminate the next step, the next stone, the next act of obedience. These are lamp seasons—times when we walk step by step, trusting God for the next movement because we cannot see beyond the moment.
But God also gives us light seasons. Light reveals the entire path. It lifts our eyes above the weeds and gives us perspective—a higher view that interprets what our perception could not. Light seasons are moments of clarity, strategy, purpose, and revelation where God shows us not just the next step, but the direction, the timing, and the bigger picture. Together, lamp seasons and light seasons form the rhythm of spiritual maturity. One teaches us trust; the other gives us direction. One forms faith; the other fuels movement. God trains the eyes of our heart by shifting us between the close light of the lamp and the far-reaching illumination of the path.
Yet spiritual perception does not develop simply because God shines light. It develops through intimacy—what Chris Vallotton beautifully phrases as “into-me-you-see.” Spiritual sight opens when the heart becomes transparent and vulnerable. Transparency means nothing is being hidden; vulnerability means we are willing for what is seen to be real. Intimacy requires both. It is not enough to be clear if we are guarded, and it is not enough to be open if what we show is not authentic. True intimacy with God means He sees us fully, and we allow ourselves to be fully seen.
This becomes even more vivid when we consider Moses and the veil. Scripture tells us that Moses covered his face because the glory on him was fading. The veil wasn’t simply about holiness—it was also about the embarrassment of decrease. Moses didn’t want Israel to perceive that yesterday’s encounter was diminishing. But under the New Covenant, Paul tells us that we are transformed from glory to glory with unveiled faces. Where Moses felt he needed to hide the fading, we are invited to reveal the increasing. Where Moses covered his face, Christ removes the veil. True transformation happens in the place of exposure. The more unveiled we are before the Lord, the more clearly we behold Him—and the more like Him we become.
Spiritual perception, then, is inseparable from intimacy. You cannot see God clearly while hiding your heart, and you cannot reflect God clearly while covering what He is doing in you. The eyes of the heart open in the presence of a God who sees everything and loves us completely. Revelation does not flow to those who protect themselves; it flows to those who allow themselves to be seen.
When perception is grounded in intimacy and lifted by perspective, the heart becomes capable of seeing as God intends. We learn to navigate the close steps of lamp seasons with trust, and the long vision of light seasons with confidence. We stop being overwhelmed by what surrounds us at ground level because we know that heavenly perspective interprets earthly perception. What once felt like clutter becomes context. What once felt like confusion becomes clarity. What once felt intimidating becomes illuminated.
And this is how we move from glory to glory—with unveiled faces, enlightened hearts, intimacy with God, and vision shaped by His presence. The eyes of the heart see most clearly when we stop hiding, draw close, and allow His light—whether a lamp or a sunrise—to guide us fully.