A clean heart create for me, O God. (Psalm 51:12)
Yes, Lord, give me a new heart! My old one is tired, sin-sick, and covered with dust accumulated over the years. Only you, Father, can create something new! You speak, and it comes to be. So speak that word over me, Father: a new heart.
Lord, I need a new heart, a heart filled with the wonder and joy of salvation. Let it be a pure vessel, whole and sound, free from damage and defect—a fountain of your love that bubbles up and spills over into my day.
Father, my heart is cluttered. Come in and clear it out! Rearrange the furniture that has been strewn so haphazardly around. So many things are too heavy for me to move on my own: angers, old injuries and grudges I can’t seem to forgive, pain over losses and unreturned love, affection and attention never offered to me, abuse and shame and guilt I can’t get past.
A new heart, ordered and in harmony with your desires—this is what I need! A space that pleases you, a place where I can host your presence every day. I want to be with you. I want to have you with me, making all things new. In that newly cleared space, Father, place a steadfast spirit, willing to love and serve and obey you all the days of my life!
Come, Lord, and straighten out the untidy mess I have allowed to heap up: habits and behaviors that hinder your life in me, unwholesome images I have seen and godless attitudes I have carried, and lies I have believed and nurtured. Rid me of the junk I have heedlessly tucked away so that the light of your love can shine in me and through me once again.
Father, give me a new heart—renewed in love, eager to love you in return, and overflowing with love for others. Let your truth and wisdom shape my heart so that I can know your ways and walk in your paths. Come, Lord, and lead me in your truth and teach me. Give me a teachable, loving heart, a heart in which the fruit of your Spirit can grow and mature.
“Lord, I need a humble and contrite heart, a heart that is always open to you!”
