Create in me a clean heart, O God...

I am slowly making my way through Richard Foster's Streams of Living Water. An excellent read. I'm going through the corresponding sections in Renovare's Spiritual Formation Workbook. The six streams, or Traditions, have become somewhat familiar to me as we've used them for the last three or four years as a basic structure for our Kidz Church program. As I read again about the Contemplative Tradition, I chose an "excercise" to help me put into practice what I was learning. fI committed to take the prayer, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me," and pray it for ten minutes morning, midday, and evening...and turn it over as much as possible throughout the day. I did it diligently for a week. Evening was the hardest--that's when I'm sleepy. Not much of a night person, I guess.
Anyway...as I started reading about the Holiness Tradition, about it's focus on singleness and purity of heart resulting in holy action...I decided to keep up with the same exercise. I'm glad I did. It's starting to come alive and find its way into so many things! Wrong attitudes towards others, habitual behaviors and obsessions, hurry, anxiety...these things arise and the prayer is a lifeline. Create in me a clean heart, O God.....Create in me a clean heart, O God.....put a new and right spirit in me! It's a great way to throw myself on His mercy and grace whenever I see the filth and brokenness of my self.

create: (kree-ayt) verb. latin ~ creare; akin to crescere, "to grow" ~ to bring into existence; to invest with new form, office or rank; to produce or bring about by a course of action or behavior; cause; occasion; to produce through imaginative skill; to make or bring into existence something new.

Heart: One's innermost character, feelings or inclinations; the central or innermost part; the essential or most vital part of something...


My heart...the central, innermost part of me, the essence of who I am, is being made new. God is creating a new heart in me...growing a new core for my life through His divinely imaginitive skill. Bringing into existence a new essence. This is the transformation happening now, within me!
This is the creativity of God. The creativity to which I am called. Psalm 146 lumps God's creation of the earth in with His executing justice for oppressed people, giving food to the hungry, setting prisoners free, watching over the misplaced, and holding up orphans and widows. This is the creativity of God. The creativity to which I am called.

As my heart is changed, I become His agent for justice in the world. I am called to the creativity of heart transformation....for my own heart to be transformed and to play a part in the transformation of the hearts of those I meet.

O God, create!! Where I may look at this as a request...a plea, for Him is is an invitation to so something He enjoys immensely! Create! Asking God to create is like asking Dad to eat peach sherbet. It's no problem. No imposition. He won't put up a fight!

"God, create!"

No problem.

He joyfully, gleefully leaps to it!