Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. (Jeremiah 29:12 ESV)

Day 8- Overcoming Temptations

Day 9- A Clean Heart

• Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully. (Psalm 24:3-4 ESV)

In His Word, the Lord emphasizes the importance of a clean heart. 

• Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. (Psalm 51:10 ESV)

In many ways, the last six days of prayer scrubbed my heart clean. Thankfulness shone the light of gratitude, and brought the brightness of Jesus to every dark corner. Removing concerns and worries from where I had packed them away, lightened the load. Forgiving past wrongs, kicked bitterness to the curb, like last week’s garbage. Confession lifted the ugly stain of hidden sins. Giving my current problems to Jesus, reduced their burden on my emotions. And finally, yesterday, I eliminated the grip temptations hold on me by bring them into the light of Jesus. I may still deal with the temptations, but they cannot place a stranglehold me when I drag them into the Light.

Now I am ready, today, to ask the Lord to invade the cleaned rooms of my heart and fill the with His Spirit.

• For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him.  (2 Chronicles 16:9a ESV)

To think that the Lord DESIRES to support me as I present my washed heart to Him, fills me with courage and determination. Support from the Lord is super-natural in ability and the supply is endless.

• let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. (Hebrews 10:22 ESV)

My job is to draw near, to come close, to fall in His arms, to rest in His embrace. Jesus doesn’t need my sacrifice, He sacrificed Himself for me. He doesn’t need proof of my devotion, He proved His devotion on Calvary.

• ..."Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 18:3b-4 ESV)

Jesus desires we come to Him as children: humble, open, not full of our own good ideas or self-importance. Look how He responded to children:

• …"Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it." And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them. (Mark 10:14b-16 ESV)

So today, like a little child, I run to my Abba, my Daddy, and climb in His lap. Instead of bringing my plans, I will let Him fill me with His. I desire my cleaned-out heart to be so filled with His heart, that it doesn’t even look the same!

Day 9 Prayer

• I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. (Ezekiel 36:25-27 ESV)

Dear Lord,

Today, I offer You my heart. I desire it to be pure, blameless, and sprinkled clean. You are the One that can create this clean heart in me, and so I ask You to do that.

I confess to You the temptation to just give You part of my heart- the part that gives me trouble, or that I won’t want back. I fear giving You ALL of me. It is scary to lose control. Please forgive my lack of trust in Your will and intent, and help me loosen my hold on what I am trying to keep for myself.

I know Lord that the only way for me to walk in Your will is for there to be more of You and less of me. So I ask You to invade every nook and cranny of my heart, soul, will, and emotions. Replace my heart of stone with a heart of flesh that beats for You and desires Your will.

Thank You that You desire for me to come to You as a child. I need You, as much as any small child ever need his or her parent, to guide, direct, protect, lead, and teach me. And like a child, sometimes I stubbornly resist what is good and best. Today I crawl into Your lap, rest on Your chest, and let You be in charge. 

Thank You also that You promise to support me. I need Your support so that I do not fall back on bad habits or fear. Here is my heart, Jesus. Fill it with You, dear Jesus.

Amen

• "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." (Matthew 5:8 ESV)

Tomorrow we will start praying over the issues of our heart- giving them day by day to our Savior.  If you would like to receive these prayers in email form daily, sign up below.

I am praying for you today. If you have a specific prayer request, put it in the comments below.

Day 10- Wisdom and Knowledge