Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.
—James 4:8-10 (NLT)
Dear LORD,
Help me to come closer to You so I can fully experience the blessings of Your closeness to me.
Help me to realize that in
order to draw close to You, I must come to You in humility—yielded to Your authority
and control over me and committed to following after You.
I must resist the devil's
attempts to get me to compromise my loyalty to You—tempting me to pursue the pleasures
of this world—for there is no room for divided loyalty, if I want to enjoy true
closeness with You.
Grant me the courage to
allow Your Spirit to reveal my heart to me—to point out that which I must
change—and cleanse my heart, replacing my sin with the desire to experience
Your purity in my life.
Allow me the sincerity of
heart to express my shame for my sin with great sorrow before You—to deeply
grieve over my disloyalty, and to repent.
Help me to approach You in
complete humility—recognizing the great
insignificance of what I can offer, when compared to the great significance of what You offer me—knowing
that You will take me as I am and lift me up into Your arms of love.
Help me to come closer to You so I can fully experience the blessings of Your closeness to me.
In the name of Jesus,
Amen.
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