Deceitful and Desperately Sick

 

 

The heart is deceitful above all things,
    and desperately sick;
    who can understand it?
“I the LORD search the heart
    and test the mind,
to give every man according to his ways,
    according to the fruit of his deeds.”

 

—Jeremiah 17:9-10 (ESV)

 

 

O LORD, who searches my heart,

 

Show me my heart and reveal the true motives in my mind, so that I won’t be led astray by any deceitfulness within me.

 

Help me to understand that to trust my heart is to trust in man—and that You have warned me against trusting in man. Help me to put all my trust in You alone!

 

Heal my heart and purify my mind, so that Your thoughts and ways will be made known to me and reflected in all my thoughts, words, and actions.

 

May love be my only motive for the choices I make—love for You and love for others—so that Your perfect will for me would be accomplished, and Your goodness and mercy would overtake me.

 

Show me my heart and reveal the true motives in my mind, so that I won’t be led astray by any deceitfulness within me.

 

In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Because People Disobey

 

 

Rivers of tears gush from my eyes
    because people disobey your instructions.

 

—Psalm 119:136 (NLT)

 

 

 

 

Ever-Loving LORD,

 

May my heart break—along with Yours—and may my tears gush over the disobedience of Your people!

 

I confess that my heart has not been truly broken and far too few of my tears have been shed over the choices that Your own people have made to disobey, dishonor, and disregard Your instructions.

 

Instead of being broken, my heart has been self-righteously critical and judging of others when I witness the mess that they have made of their lives by the choices that they have made—thinking in my heart that they have gotten what they deserve.

 

Then I am reminded that I, too, have broken Your heart through my own disobedience and am deserving of much worse than I have received—and yet, You have loved me back to Yourself, time and time again.

 

Help my heart to break over sin—both mine own and the sins of others—and show me how to love others in the same way You have shown Your love to me. 

 

Grant me the humility of heart to love them as You would have me love them—to love them enough to love them back to You!

 

May my heart break—along with Yours—and may my tears gush over the disobedience of Your people!

 

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Show Me My Heart

 

The heart is deceitful above all things,
    and desperately sick;
    who can understand it?
“I the LORD search the heart
    and test the mind,
to give every man according to his ways,
    according to the fruit of his deeds.”

—Jeremiah 17:9-10 (ESV)

 

O LORD, who searches my heart,

 

Show me my heart and reveal the true motives in my mind, so that I won’t be led astray by any deceitfulness within me.

 

Help me to understand that to trust my heart is to trust in man—and that You have warned me against trusting in man. Help me to put all my trust in You alone!

 

Heal my heart and purify my mind, so that Your thoughts and ways will be made known to me and reflected in all my thoughts, words, and actions.

 

May love be my only motive for the choices I make—love for You and love for others—so that Your perfect will for me would be accomplished, and Your goodness and mercy would overtake me.

 

Show me my heart and reveal the true motives in my mind, so that I won’t be led astray by any deceitfulness within me.

 

In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Rivers of Tears!

 

Rivers of tears gush from my eyes
    because people disobey your instructions.

 

—Psalm 119:136 (NLT)

 

Ever-Loving LORD,

 

May my heart break—along with Yours—and may my tears gush over the disobedience of Your people!

 

I confess that my heart has not been truly broken and far too few of my tears have been shed over the choices that Your own people have made to disobey, dishonor, and disregard Your instructions.

 

Instead of being broken, my heart has been self-righteously critical and judging of others when I witness the mess that they have made of their lives by the choices that they have made—thinking in my heart that they have gotten what they deserve.

 

Then I am reminded that I, too, have broken Your heart through my own disobedience and am deserving of much worse than I have received—and yet, You have loved me back to Yourself, time and time again.

 

Help my heart to break over sin—both mine own and the sins of others—and show me how to love others in the same way You have shown Your love to me. 

 

Grant me the humility of heart to love them as You would have me love them—to love them enough to love them back to You!

 

May my heart break—along with Yours—and may my tears gush over the disobedience of Your people!

 

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

LORD, Break My Heart for What Breaks Yours

 

 

Rivers of tears gush from my eyes
    because people disobey your instructions.

 

—Psalm 119:136 (NLT)

 

Ever Loving LORD,

 

May my heart break—along with Yours—and may my tears gush over the disobedience of Your people!

 

I confess that my heart has not been truly broken and far too few of my tears have been shed over the choices that Your own people have made to disobey, dishonor, and disregard Your instructions.

 

Instead of being broken, my heart has been self-righteously critical and judging of others when I witness the mess that they have made of their lives by the choices that they have made—thinking in my heart that they have gotten what they deserve.

 

Then I am reminded that I, too, have broken Your heart through my own disobedience and am deserving of much worse than I have received—and yet, You have loved me back to Yourself, time and time again.

 

Help my heart to break over sin—both mine own and the sins of others—and show me how to love others in the same way You have shown Your love to me. 

 

Grant me the humility of heart to love them as You would have me love them—to love them enough to love them back to You!

 

May my heart break—along with Yours—and may my tears gush over the disobedience of Your people!

 

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

 

Rivers of Tears

Rivers of tears gush from my eyes
    because people disobey your instructions.

—Psalm 119:136 (NLT)

Ever Loving LORD,

May my heart break—along with Yours—and may my tears gush over the disobedience of Your people!

I confess that my heart has not been truly broken and far too few of my tears have been shed over the choices that Your own people have made to disobey, dishonor, and disregard Your instructions.

Instead of being broken, my heart has been self-righteously critical and judging of others when I witness the mess that they have made of their lives by the choices that they have made—thinking in my heart that they have gotten what they deserve.

Then I am reminded that I, too, have broken Your heart through my own disobedience and am deserving of much worse than I have received—and yet, You have loved me back to Yourself, time and time again.

Help my heart to break over sin—both mine own and the sins of others—and show me how to love others in the same way You have shown Your love to me. 

Grant me the humility of heart to love them as You would have me love them—to love them enough to love them back to You!

May my heart break—along with Yours—and may my tears gush over the disobedience of Your people!

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

A New Heart and a New Spirit Within

“Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols. 

And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. 

And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations.”

—Ezekiel 36:25-27 (NLT)

Gracious Heavenly Father,

Let that new heart that You placed within me—when You first made me clean in Your sight—always remain tender and responsive to Your Spirit, so that the paths I travel down would be paths of obedience, for Your glory, honor, and praise.

Through the sacrifice of Your Son, Jesus Christ, for my sins, You have pardoned me from all guilt and have placed Your Spirit within me to sanctify my corrupt nature—to wash away my filth and to remove from within me anything that I might have allowed to come before You in my life.

You removed my cold, hard, self-centered, stubborn heart of stone and gave me a heart that longs to follow Your will—a heart tender and responsive to Your Spirit—so that I now not only have the desire to do what is right, but I have within me the power to carry it out.

Grant me the wisdom to make good choices—choices that are pleasing to You—that will guard my heart and keep it from ever becoming hard and unresponsive to Your Spirit.

Let that new heart that You placed within me—when You first made me clean in Your sight—always remain tender and responsive to Your Spirit, so that the paths I travel down would be paths of obedience, for Your glory, honor, and praise.

In the name of Jesus, Amen.