Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit.
Psalm 51:10-12
Have you ever tried to change something about yourself? ....break a habit...try a new routine...practice a better way...shift your mindset... Every once in a while we encounter something that seems to point to a "new" way that offers life-enhancing possibilities. Something "out there" will improve our life....so we reach for it, attempting to incorporate it (embody it). Although it seems foreign or awkward for awhile, if we can try this new thing for a while (some folks say that it takes 30 days) that "new thing" will be actually become natural for us.
However, unless we are open to a shift that is, literally, INTERNAL, we will probably return to our former ways....over time. Our deepest desires (embedded in our hearts) have the capacity to influence our actions, sometimes, even when our minds are trying to guide is in another direction.
Psalm 51 draws us into the prayer for total transformation.... Not only do we pray to be recreated in the center of our being...we also pray to be sustained in joy and in a WILLING spirit. To be WILLING is to consent to the directives of God ... teachings that will open our eyes and our minds to new life. We begin to move in different directions because our hearts have been cleansed of desires that obscure our understanding of God's loving voice.
When change unfolds as a result of God's power to work in our hearts, new "ways" emerge ... much like shoots burst forth from the heart of seeds germinating in spring soil that has been moistened by rain and warmed by sun.
How is your heart praying these days? What needs to be made new? Even if you don't "know" the answer to those questions, trust that God does!!
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