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Clean Heart
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Charon | Dreamstime.com |
Give me a pure heart
to put your law, your love and the needs of others
ahead of my own will and wants and desires...
Give me a heart strong enough
to say the truth when it's mine to speak,
to do what's fair when I'm tempted to cheat,
and to reach out generously and not hold back...
Give me a wise heart
open to your counsel, thirsty for your grace
and hungry for your word...
Give me a hope-filled heart
open to what is good, to what can be,
to all you have in store for me...
Give me a loving heart, Lord,
that gives of itself, on its own
and doesn't count the cost...
Embed in my new heart a steadfast spirit:
faithful to you, faithful to prayer,
faithful to those entrusted to my care,
faithful to what's just and good and worthy
of a heart fashioned by your hand..
As much as I desire this new heart, Lord,
I know I'll yet resist your offering it to me:
my fears, my old ways,
my grudges and resentments,
my anxious holding on to what I know
rather than surrendering to what I don't -
all this makes me slow, wary, even afraid
to welcome even you
into the chambers of my soul...
And so I pray your Spirit will move me
to open what I keep closed,
let go what I jealously cling to,
empty my heart of all its clutter,
and invite you in where you belong,
where I belong to you...
A clean heart create for me, O God,
and a steadfast spirit renew within me:
and please, Lord, begin your work in me today...
In the stillness of my prayer,
help me know that you are near, that you are here,
that you are God:
Lord of my heart, Lord of all my days...
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and put a new and steadfast spirit in my soul...
Amen.
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