How do you feel about spring cleaning? It is now officially spring and there are various places that could benefit from some spring cleaning. There are windows that with the bright sunshine show smudges and dirt that needs to be removed. There are drawers, closets, and work benches that may have become cluttered and need to be sorted and tidied. It is an ideal time to open the windows and doors to fresh air and to sweep out the dust that has accumulated over winter. I was doing some cleaning at our house this weekend and it is wonderful to welcome the hope of spring with the hope for new expressions of God’s grace at work in our lives. One of the best and most effective ways to engage in spring cleaning or anytime cleaning of our personal lives is through prayer. Next Sunday March 28th will be Palm Sunday. This is a time when we want to declare that Jesus is welcome in our homes and in our every day lives! We can all be encouraged by the truth of Scripture from 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, that person is a new creation. The old is gone. The new is come.” What needs to be sorted and cleaned in our hearts and lives in order for them to be places of welcome for Jesus? Spring cleaning can be overwhelming and the regular clean up needed in us in order to become the new creations God intends, can be overwhelming. God wants to help us for this to happen. We can come to God for our WEDNESDAY PRAYER TOGETHER, tomorrow March 24th at 1 pm and ask Him to do the essential work of spring cleaning to make us the new creations in Christ we can be for Him.
Praying that in surrendering all to Jesus, we will keep on being made new, Pastor Lola
Our God who specializes in creating and recreating, thank You that Your plans for us are good. You can see the potential in us to become new creations. All around us in these first days of spring, we see signs of new life. Thank You God for the new life that is possible in us because of Jesus, Your Son. Just as we are constantly aware of cleaning needed in our homes, we recognize the need for cleaning in our hearts. We come to You today praying for your Divine assistance needed for sorting and cleaning to make us new. We hear in this Scripture, that it is being “in Christ” that makes us new creations. Please hold us firmly in Christ and depending on Him. Please fasten our gaze on Jesus and remind us repeatedly to trust Him with all that we can be for You. And God, we pray that in order to become new creations, You will reveal what there is in us that needs to be removed. We put together in a pile for disposal: sour attitudes, impatience, self centeredness, careless words and comments, complaining, wasting of precious time, neglecting being available for those in need, unwillingness to forgive, lack of gratitude and of contentment. Please forgive us for allowing these to accumulate and for how often we have stored these and used these things that we are asking You to eliminate. Please assist us in ensuring that we no longer make room in our lives for these unwanted items. God please cleanse our hearts and give lots of space in us for: loving attitudes, patience, thinking about others and their perspectives and concerns, carefully thought over words and comments, good and God pleasing use of our time, availability for those in need, willingness to forgive and recognition of the need to be forgiven, and genuine thankfulness. Along with this sorting, God we know that we do need to do some window cleaning. We ask You to help to remove the grime that keeps us from seeing clearly. When You do show us a clear view of Who You are and an accurate picture of who You want us to be, please help us to avoid denial of the truth or an engaging in excuses that avoids getting Your work done. When this whole necessary process of cleaning makes us tired and we are tempted to give up, please remind us that we are making space for You in our lives. Please inspire us with the example of Jesus who gave His life to set us free from sin. We do not want to permit the mess of sin to clutter and to complicate our lives. As You do cleanse us and make us into new creations, we will celebrate Your loving persistence and Your grace. We long to see the impact in our broken world of people like us living as new creations. We ask that as we move closer to the celebration of Jesus’ Resurrection at Easter that You will prepare our hearts to be places of welcome for Jesus. Please enter our hearts in a fresh way and help us to keep our hearts swept clean so that they can be places for Jesus to be at home. When we join to praise Jesus on this Palm Sunday coming, we pray that this will be a consistent practice of our daily lives. We want more than a special occasion faith. We want an everyday attentive to You and Your will for us and Your active work in and through us kind of faith. So cleanse us God and equip us to serve You we pray, in Jesus’ Name. AMEN.