Create in me --

A Pure Heart
by Jon Walker

“Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” (Psalm 51:10 NIV)

Oh God, create in me a pure heart ...

A heart that won’t run with lust after physical pleasure,
A heart that obediently refuses what you’ve rightly and wisely fenced away as sin,
A heart of love that never insists on its own way (1 John 2:16).

Oh God, create in me a pure heart ...

A heart that knows no greed when it looks upon worldly treasures,
A heart that thinks of others, and not itself,
A heart that argues for love instead of fairness.

Oh God, create in me a pure heart ...

A heart that never boasts about what it has or what its done,
A heart that walks humbly, not trying to appear more important than it is,
A heart that takes no pride in the flesh.

Oh God, create in me a pure heart ...

A heart that chases after you,
A heart that looks to you for its provision,
A heart that trusts that you are at work in others,
A heart that does not manipulate people or circumstances,
A heart that looks upon the things above and not the things below.

Heavenly Father, renew a steadfast spirit within me ...

A spirit committed completely to you,
A spirit that is not double-minded,
A spirit that is focused, and single minded on your purposes,
A spirit resolved to know Christ and Christ alone.

© 2007 Jon Walker. All rights reserved.

This came via e-mail this week and I just felt like I needed to share it because I have wanted to post about this for a while, but just haven't known where or how to start. I am finding more and more with time that this is the biggest prayer that I have. I got an issue of Disclipleship Journal several years ago with the main topic being about purity. Now I admit, when I saw that word, my immediate thoughts went to the 'True Love Waits' campaign and things like that, but as I read the article, I was both amazed and humbled at the magnitude of what it described as life purity. I don't have the article with me now (I loaned the magazine to a friend a while back and need to see if I've gotten it back, so I can't look anything up) but it drove home the point that I need to constantly be in check of, among other things, my motives, my responses, my relationships and indeed, every area of my life.

I am conscious of these things, but I fall short probably more often than I'd care to admit. I am an impatient driver, I am short-tempered with my family at times, I am not always selfless in my motives, etc, and I hate to see these things in writing (!!), but I do know that God is at work simply in the fact that when I do or say something that I know is wrong, I feel convicted almost immediately. I can also see that He is bringing things and people into my life that will hold me more accountable and I am thrilled about that. (More on this part later, I'm sure!)

I know HE wants this pure, clean heart even more than I do.

"O Lord, grant me the satisfaction of pleasing You; not in work for You primarily, but in relationship with You. I would be like the woman (who anointed Your feet with expensive perfume) spending herself totally, wastefully, on Your behalf. Cause my single-minded goal to be that of satisfying You first. Then will my longing heart be satisfied in a love relationship with You.
-- Catherine Marshall & Leonard Le Sourd, My Personal Prayer Diary, Chosen Books, 1979.