“Create in me a
clean heart O God, and renew a right spirit within me”. -Psalm 51:10
I can remember chuckling when my
mother asked my brother if he had washed his hands. She always asked
us that. What made me chuckle in that instance was that my brother
was 35 years old at the time, with children of his own. He rolled
his eyes a bit at my mother’s question, but he reassured her that,
yes, he had washed his hands. He understood that she was just doing
her job. My Sunday School class shared cookies this week. To be
sure, before eating those delicious cookies, everyone got a dose of
hand sanitizer, just in case. Mom trained me.
What I need more help with is not hand-washing, but heart-
cleansing. Precisely the same as what the Psalmist asks: “Create in
me a clean heart, O God.” A clean heart and a right spirit are a
much tougher challenge. This is why the Psalmist asks for help. This
is a prayer. This is my prayer. Is this your prayer?
"Create in me a
clean heart, O God. A clean heart...
one that doesn't judge so quickly;
doesn’t insist on having its own way;
is not encrusted by self-centeredness;
is not bent on blaming the dirt on everyone else;
is not stained by fear.
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Is there
anyone out there reading this column who is praying for a clean
heart? Maybe we will pray for one another and for all of us, for
clean hearts, renewed spirits, for a grateful acceptance of
forgiveness, and a willingness to forgive. Maybe you would pray with
me?
Loving Lord God, will you take my heart and cleanse it, and cleanse
it your way…inside out, through and through. I know that I need to
be willing. I can’t ask you for this and then act as though nothing
is going to change. I ask humbly. I am humbly willing to be
confronted about the dirt and crust around my own heart-- so I don’t
go thinking it is not there. I pray that, with your help, my heart
might be changed the way you want, to be more like Christ. I pray
that my heart might be pliable to your molding. I pray that my heart
might be remade by your love and forgiveness so that I don’t just
ask for that for myself, but share it with others.
Amen. |
