FAITH CAPSULE: A clean heart will grant a believer a stand before God
Psalm 24, 51
The word of God described heart in Jeremiah 17:9-10, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? I, the Lord, search the heart; I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.” What about your heart. Psalm 24:3-4 recorded, “Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, nor sworn deceitfully.” The point being made here is that, the state of man’s heart determines the kind of ground it places man before God. A heart that is desperately wicked does not have a stand before God. A heart that is pure and clean before God is the kind of heart that get God committed when it stands in prayer before God.
The book of 1Kings 17:1 recorded how Elijah got an answer to his prayer the way he wanted it, “And Elijah the Tishbite, of the inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word.” Elijah prayed against rain in the face of Ahab by making a statement claiming his stand. Elijah committed God because he does have a stand; he knew he was having a pure and clean heart which God could not decline but cause God to incline to the prayer of Elijah. Evidently, he had all that it takes to ascend into the hill of the Lord when he declared, “…there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word.”
What is lurking inside your heart? It is your heart that God wants to meet before He commits into your hand great feats. 2Chronicles16:9, “For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars.” The eyes of the Lord eyes look for the heart that is loyal to Him. It is important that you give your heart a procedure that will remove every thought that is not right, thoughts that is negative and not faithful to the glory of God.
The prayer of King David in Psalm 51 testified to the need for a heart that is clean and able to stand before God. He prayed, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. A clean heart will grant a believer a stand before God and get God committed to the answering of prayer request.
Prayer for today: Ask God to help create a pure and clean heart in you.