A Concord Pastor Comments: Praying 10 Minutes a Day: Thursday/Week One

Image source

Psalm 51 is the greatest of the seven penitential psalms. One lyricist offers this version of verse 12:

Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and put a new and steadfast spirit in my soul...

Lent is a time for "spring cleaning" in my heart: a time for airing out, dusting, washing, polishing, straightening up, ordering my heart - and for clearing out anything that doesn't belong there, whatever keeps my heart from its best, purest and healthiest desires.

I need to remember that most of the spring cleaning my heart needs is God's work! Left to my own devices, that cleaning might never get done. It's so easy for me to forget that... It's so easy to think that I have to do it all, when what I really need to do is just get out of the way and let God do what God does best...

And what God does best is to create, nurture, heal, refresh and renew the life of his grace within me...

As I go to prayer today, even for just 10 minutes, I'll ask:

Lord, create a new heart, a clean heart within me...

Help me get out of your way
   that you might do in my heart
      what you want to do this Lent...

Restore my heart, refresh my heart,
   renew my heart, replenish my heart,
      recreate my heart and make it again
         as you first made it to be...

Nourish everything that makes my heart strong
    and where my heart's grown weak and shaky,
       make it steadfast and strong...

Lord, heal my heart's brokenness
   and refresh within whatever has gone stale...

Remind me of blessings past, Lord,
   and help me trust in blessings yet to come...

Create in me a clean heart, O God,

   and put a new and steadfast spirit in my soul...

Are you new to "Praying 10 Minutes a Day in Lent" - or are you having trouble getting started? The first installment offers some thoughts on getting started, as do the subsequent posts in the series. So take a look and join us!