Prayer For What's Necessary To Stay Clean - Soul and Body
Thursday September 17, 2020
Staying Clean
We’ve been focused for days and weeks and months on staying clean. Remember the early days of the pandemic when we couldn’t find hand sanitizer or cleaning products anywhere – and let’s not even think about the shelves that were empty with no toilet paper for weeks.
Sanitizing is the buzz word everywhere. Schools have lots more sanitizing stations for students. Loudspeaker announcements in stores remind us regularly that new safety measures are in place with increased sanitizing measures being employed. Whenever a case shows up in a restaurant or other place of business the place is immediately closed down for “deep cleaning.” I’m grateful for the caretaker in our building as I see her wiping down elevator buttons, garbage chute handles and so on at various times during the day. This virus is very contagious and it is easily spread through touching surfaces and then touching our mouths, eyes, nose etc.
As we focus our attention on washing our hands and wiping surfaces to protect ourselves from the covid-19 virus, it’s worth a pause once again to remember that rebellion against God and sin are even more deadly to us than this virus. Because God is so willing to do som let’s once again ask God to wash our hearts and lives clean.
Let us come near to God with a sincere heart and a sure faith, with hearts that have been purified from a guilty conscience and with bodies washed with clean water.
Hebrews 10:22
I love this prayer that many folks pray as their Sunday services of worship begin. I’ve prayed it enough years that I’ve memorized it and I’m glad about that because I need this cleansing many more times than just on a Sunday morning.
Almighty God, to whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and
from whom no secrets are hidden, cleanse the thoughts of our hearts
by the inspiration of Your Holy Spirit that we may perfectly love You
and worthily magnify Your holy name through Christ our Lord.
(Anglican Collect for Purity - Thomas Cranmer )
He [Jesus] gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds.
Titus 2:14
Heavenly Father, thank you so much for the Lord Jesus who died in our place so we could be washed and freed from our sins. He gave His life so we could have life and live in loving relationship with You. We will be forever grateful.
Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
1 Corinthians 6:11
We acknowledge that our lives get dirtied up with thoughts and words and actions that are not motivated by love for You and love for others. Some of us have been callous towards our neighbours and haven't lived responsibly as panic and fear overtook us. We've found ourselves getting so caught up in making sure we're taking care of ourselves that we have failed to find out who needs our assistance and have not taken time to reach out to help. At the heart of it all, we have failed to remember that You are with us and lived in unbelief and sometimes even anger at You, as though this were Your doing.
Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
Psalm 51:7
For Jesus' sake, forgive us and cleanse us once again. We want to live right, freed from every kind of sin, totally committed to doing good deeds.
But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.
1 John 1:9
You have promised that if we confess our sin to You, You will forgive us and purify us from everything that isn't right. So, we receive that forgiveness. We step forward and make a new start in this new day to be the people You created us to be and to represent You well. Amen
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