mar03prayer

A Prayer

for

A Clean Heart

March 2003

Lord Jesus, tell us what we need to hear. Show us what we need to do.

Lord Jesus, you said, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God" (Matt. 5:8).

This is a demand that we stop and think and examine ourselves. This beatitude demands that we should be washed clean of our sins, that we should be purged of all our unwillingness and our discontent and our cowardliness. It means that we should be uncontaminated with anything that is not of you, dear sweet Lord. It means that we should serve you completely with nothing else mixed in.

It is very seldom indeed that we do even our finest actions from unmixed motives.

If we give generously and liberally to some good cause, it may be that there lingers in the depths of our hearts some desire to bask in our own self-approval, some pleasure in the praise of others. If we do something that demands some sacrifice from us, it may be that we are not altogether free from the feeling that people will see something heroic in us. Even the preacher, at his most sincere, is not free from the danger of pride in his preaching.

This beatitude demands from us the most exacting self-examination. Do we serve from selfless motives or from motives of self-display?

Is the work we do even in church done for Christ or for our own prestige? Is our church-going an attempt to meet God or an attempt to make people think that we are respectable? Do we pray, do we read the Bible, because we desire the presence of God or because we desire a feeling of superiority to other people?

Lord, it is a daunting thing to examine our motives. We are ashamed that we are not "pure in heart."

Lord Jesus, you went on to say that only the pure in heart "shall see God." Cleanse us then of our sins, O Lord, fill us with your Holy Spirit. Fill us with a desire to be completely and entirely your people, that we may see God. This we pray, in your holy and precious name. Amen.

If you have questions or comments, email Tony Grant

Last Modified: 01/10/03