Day 2 · Lent: A Return to God
A Clean Heart
“Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me. Don't throw me from your presence, and don't take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation. Uphold me with a willing spirit.”Psalm 51:10-12
Reflection
This is the prayer of someone who knows he cannot scrub himself clean by effort alone. Notice that the psalmist does not promise to repair his own heart; he asks God to create a new one. Honest repentance admits our weakness and then reaches for grace, trusting that the God who first made us can gladly remake us.
A prayer
O God, I cannot make my own heart clean, so I bring it to you just as it is. Create something new in me where I have grown tired or hard. Restore to me the joy I have misplaced, and steady me with a willing spirit when my resolve runs thin. I trust that you delight to make all things new, and that you can begin with me. Amen.
Carry this with you
Where am I tempted to rely on my own effort instead of asking God to do the changing in me?