Day 172

2 Kings 1:1‐2:25; Acts 13:42‐14:7; Psalm 139:1‐24; Proverbs 17:19‐21

A Plea for Intimacy

When the psalmist had meditated on the absolute knowledge of God, he sent up a plea for intimacy. Prayers like this inevitably bring us into a closer and more intimate union with the holy fire of God’s love.

Prayer: “Search me, O God…”

Lord, may your Holy Spirit travel the expanse of my heart. May you search out my emotional being. Is my heart pure, O Lord? Find the hardness within my heart. Lord, I open myself up to be discovered. Find the secret attitudes and feelings of my heart. I open myself up to you to be found and discovered. Pour your Spirit into my heart. Search me, O God, and know my heart (v.23).

“Test me…”

Lord, my mind is open for your inspection. Search my thought process and thinking. Test the faith of my mind. Does my head trust you? Lord, I am full of anxious thought. My mind is filled with worry and anxiety. My mind is distracted and races far from thoughts and meditations of you. “Test me and know my anxious thoughts” (v.23 NIV).

“See if there is an offensive way in me” (v.24 NIV). 

Father, I am filled with sin. May your full knowledge perceive the imperfections of my soul. May the light of your countenance illumine the impurity of my character. Find the sin in me in my heart and mind, O Lord, for you have searched my heart and tested my thoughts. Lord, “See if there is any offensive way in me.”

Lord, I ask that you would cleanse me of all of these impurities that you have found. If you have found decay in my heart and frail emotion, pour out your Spirit and cleanse me. If you have found impure thoughts, if my thinking is without trust in you, purge me with your burning holy love. Cleanse my mind, Lord. Put to death my fleshly nature, and raise up my soul to a newness of life by the power of your Spirit.

“Lead me in the way everlasting!” (v.24). Guide me on your pilgrimage, Lord.

The Rev. Charlie Holt