I find great joy in having a day of life devoted to being able to clean the Byrd house. I have found it to be a form of therapy.
Perhaps it brings such joy because I know exactly what the results will be.
When I place dirty clothes in the washing machine they will come out clean.
When I vacuum the carpet all of the crumbs and dirt are no more.
When I spray cleaner on glass I know that the grime will be wiped away.
Cleaning day ends in massive, visible results.
For me- a clean home is a functional and more comfortable home.
(Please know that my house is not always super clean..I am simply saying that I love love love it when it is! No claims of perfection here!)
I have been intrigued recently with God’s word that speaks of cleanliness..
A clean heart.
Psalm 51:10 says..
Create in me a clean heart O God,
And renew a right spirit within me
The word clean is defined as:
Free from stain and dirt
Free from contamination or disease
To rid of impurities
Goodness- does my heart have stain!
Impurities abundant!
A clean heart.
Certainly Lord- this is something that I desire!
To do this I must first identify and examine the dirt. The contamination.
The sin causing the diseases of my heart.
Today as I was thinking about putting these thoughts into word form I caught myself listening to a song that was perfect for this moment…
It simply said
“I am a sinner. If it’s not one thing it’s another.
Caught up in words. Tangled in lies.
You are a Savior- you take brokenness aside and make it beautiful.”
(Brokenness Aside- All Sons and Daughters)
What truth!
Aren’t we always dealing with some form of sin?
When we deal with one impurity another comes in to take its place…
The stains of each of our hearts will be different.
Some caused by loss, heart break, lust and greed.
Some of us may be very aware of the buildup of dirt on our hearts and others may be blind to how filthy our hearts are.
Either way- We have a God who has the power to purify us and renew us!
Take a look at your life.
What sins linger?
What areas of your life need a true “wiping away” of the bad?
The definition of clean doesn’t say that we lessen the rubbish, the stain, the contamination… it says that we are rid of them.
We can be free of the impurities!
We have the opportunity to have pure hearts and be truly clean –but only through the power of Jesus Christ.
So what is the result of our heart becoming clean?
Picture with me a window in a very old and gloomy home.
No light shines in from the outside . Nothing from the inside can be seen.
Then one day someone walks right up to it and sprays something on it- and wipes away layers upon layers of the dirt.
Then comes the good- light can be seen!
Vision is no longer impaired because of the filth!
This can be true of our hearts.
When we ask the Lord to create in us a pure heart and allow ourselves to be rid of our sin we will begin to see again!
We will no longer be impaired by the impurities of our lives.
Now friends- will this newly cleaned window stay clean on its own?
No.
It must consistently be checked for dirt and purified for it to stay in good shape and in its best form.
In the same way-
We must pray always to be sensitive to the sin in our lives and call on the Lord to equip us to deal with it immediately when we identify it.
Sisters-
How is your heart?
Will you join me in taking a look on the inside and be real about the stains and the filth?
We have a God who looks at us and calls us the apple of His eye.
He longs to set our brokenness aside and make us beautiful.
He loves us in our filth and has the power to make us clean.
Lord, I pray that you make us uncomfortable in our unclean state.
Give us the boldness to rid our lives of the people and places that only layer our hearts with dirt and dust.
Place in us a longing for hearts that are pure and alive for the sake of Your glory.
We cannot do this in our own power- renew our spirits and equip us to be obedient to where you call us to go.
Amen
Below is one of my favorite Puritan Prayers.
Hope that it blesses you as it blesses me.
Purification
Lord Jesus, I sin. Grant that I may never cease grieving because of it, never be content with myself, never think I can reach a point of perfection. Kill my envy, command my tongue, trample down self. Give me grace to be holy, kind, gentle, pure, peaceable, to live for Thee and not for self, to copy Thy words, acts, spirit, to be transformed into Thy likeness, to be consecrated wholly to Thee, to live entirely to Thy glory.
Deliver me from attachment to things unclean, from wrong associations, from the predominance of evil passions, from the sugar of sin as well as its gap; that with self-loathing, deep contrition, earnest heart searching I may come to Thee, cast myself on Thee, trust in Thee, cry to Thee, be delivered by Thee.
O God, the Eternal All, help me to know that all things are shadows, but Thou art substance, all things are quicksands, but Thou art mountain, all things are shifting, but Thou art anchor, all things are ignorance, but Thou art wisdom.
If my life is to be a crucible amid burning heat, so be it, but do Thou sit at the furnace mouth to watch the ore that nothing be lost. If I sin wilfully, grievously, tormentedly, in grace take away my mourning and give me music; remove my sackcloth and clothe me with beauty; still my sighs and fill my mouth with song, then give me summer weather as a Christian.
Monday, April 29, 2013
Monday, April 1, 2013
I Will Pray
Have you ever had an experience that ended with this thought..
“I will never be the same”
So have I.
I had the enormous privilege of traveling to London for 9 days to serve with a team of Hunter Street Students and adults.
I must admit- in so many ways – I was not expecting such a transformation of my heart.
I have seen the hard hearts of London before.
I was expecting to see the Lord at work in the lives of our students and those that they spoke with...
But you see- He was at work in me.
I tear up every time I think of the people that I encountered.- even those that were just for a moment.
I get a knot in my stomach when I realize how far I am away from them now.
{ It is just over 4,300 miles by the way..}
Each time I stood at a tube stop waiting for our train I found myself staring into the faces of the men and women riding by on their trains.
Face after face- a different story.
Almost impossible to comprehend.
So many times since we have returned I have asked myself
“What now?”
What am I to do with this strong burden that I have brought home with me for a people who are half of a world away?
Last night as I was drifting to sleep I found myself repeating three words to myself that soothed me.
“I will pray. I will pray. I will pray.”
For now- the prayer will be my work with the people of London.
Oh- the power that is in prayer!
Our team saw God at work amongst us by answering very specific prayers last week.
We learned what it looked like to pray without ceasing.
Literally.
All day. Each day.
A lifestyle of prayer.
And you know the neat thing about being in this relentless conversation with our Lord?
You see Him work in such detail.
You are paying attention to His leading.
You are focused and you are attuned to His whisper.
In this reminder of the importance of PRAYER I have gone back to find one of my favorite pieces by J.C. Ryle- “ A Call to Prayer”
Several years ago I made myself a sheet that sat on my bedside table that said..
Pray with Faith
“We should endeavor to believe that our prayers are heard, and that if we ask things according to God’s will, we shall be answered.” (Ryle)
We should cultivate the habit of pleading promises in our prayers!
Pray with Boldness
“One who heard Luther praying said, ‘What a spirit., what a confidence was in his very expressions. With such a reverence he sued, as one begging of God, and yet with such hope and assurance, as if he spoke with a loving father or friend” (Ryle)
Pray with Fullness
“The cause of their weakness in prayer is to be found in their own stunted, dwarfish, clipped, contracted, hurried, narrow diminutive prayers. They have not, because they ask not.” (Ryle)
What strong words!
I will ask that the Lord will fill my prayers with humble requests and sweet praises.
I will ask that the Lord will teach me to pray with reverent boldness.
And I will pray with faith- for our God hears and sees and answers.
Our God saves!
Are your prayers filled with faith, boldness and fullness?
So often we carry along burdens and questions without even considering taking them before the Lord in prayer.
I imagine that on many days the burdens that I try to carry on my own make me look like a prisoner- with heavy shackles and chains that I am trying to drag along on my own.
Imprisoned by life because I am too prideful to pray.
How sweet is it that God looks at us in our weakness and removes these weights and woes from us and hears the cries of our hearts.
So- brothers and sisters- I will pray.
For the people of London. For the people of Hoover.
For my worries. For my fears.
For my dreams. For my deepest sins.
Will you join me in running in the direction of a lifestyle of prayer?
He hears. He sees. He answers.
I will pray.
“I will never be the same”
So have I.
I had the enormous privilege of traveling to London for 9 days to serve with a team of Hunter Street Students and adults.
I must admit- in so many ways – I was not expecting such a transformation of my heart.
I have seen the hard hearts of London before.
I was expecting to see the Lord at work in the lives of our students and those that they spoke with...
But you see- He was at work in me.
I tear up every time I think of the people that I encountered.- even those that were just for a moment.
I get a knot in my stomach when I realize how far I am away from them now.
{ It is just over 4,300 miles by the way..}
Each time I stood at a tube stop waiting for our train I found myself staring into the faces of the men and women riding by on their trains.
Face after face- a different story.
Almost impossible to comprehend.
So many times since we have returned I have asked myself
“What now?”
What am I to do with this strong burden that I have brought home with me for a people who are half of a world away?
Last night as I was drifting to sleep I found myself repeating three words to myself that soothed me.
“I will pray. I will pray. I will pray.”
For now- the prayer will be my work with the people of London.
Oh- the power that is in prayer!
Our team saw God at work amongst us by answering very specific prayers last week.
We learned what it looked like to pray without ceasing.
Literally.
All day. Each day.
A lifestyle of prayer.
And you know the neat thing about being in this relentless conversation with our Lord?
You see Him work in such detail.
You are paying attention to His leading.
You are focused and you are attuned to His whisper.
In this reminder of the importance of PRAYER I have gone back to find one of my favorite pieces by J.C. Ryle- “ A Call to Prayer”
Several years ago I made myself a sheet that sat on my bedside table that said..
Pray with Faith
“We should endeavor to believe that our prayers are heard, and that if we ask things according to God’s will, we shall be answered.” (Ryle)
We should cultivate the habit of pleading promises in our prayers!
Pray with Boldness
“One who heard Luther praying said, ‘What a spirit., what a confidence was in his very expressions. With such a reverence he sued, as one begging of God, and yet with such hope and assurance, as if he spoke with a loving father or friend” (Ryle)
Pray with Fullness
“The cause of their weakness in prayer is to be found in their own stunted, dwarfish, clipped, contracted, hurried, narrow diminutive prayers. They have not, because they ask not.” (Ryle)
What strong words!
I will ask that the Lord will fill my prayers with humble requests and sweet praises.
I will ask that the Lord will teach me to pray with reverent boldness.
And I will pray with faith- for our God hears and sees and answers.
Our God saves!
Are your prayers filled with faith, boldness and fullness?
So often we carry along burdens and questions without even considering taking them before the Lord in prayer.
I imagine that on many days the burdens that I try to carry on my own make me look like a prisoner- with heavy shackles and chains that I am trying to drag along on my own.
Imprisoned by life because I am too prideful to pray.
How sweet is it that God looks at us in our weakness and removes these weights and woes from us and hears the cries of our hearts.
So- brothers and sisters- I will pray.
For the people of London. For the people of Hoover.
For my worries. For my fears.
For my dreams. For my deepest sins.
Will you join me in running in the direction of a lifestyle of prayer?
He hears. He sees. He answers.
I will pray.
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