As we continue in this theme of, “SEARCH ME” this week, Psalm 139:22-24 continues to come to mind. “Search me, God, and know my heart: test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Search my heart.
David, “a man after [God’s] own heart,” (1 Sam 13:14) wanted his heart to please God. But, like most of us, David knew that his intentions weren’t always pure. His motives and actions didn’t always line up with who he claimed to be and the God he professed to serve. David knew that he needed to surrender his heart.
You want a dangerous prayer? Ask the creator of the universe to look into the depths of your heart and tell you what He sees… “Jer 17:9 “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked.” Asking God to search our hearts is like a spring cleaning. “God, I need you to find all of the trash that I can’t find, in the places I don’t have the courage or energy to look… Check under the couch, behind the fridge, all of the hard to reach places where I’ve tossed things and said ‘I’ll deal with this later.’”
This is a prayer that takes courage just to speak, and even more courage to act on. When you pray this prayer, God will answer. He will show you things, bring things to the surface, shed light on things that were once hidden in darkness. That is why we need Christ; not just to forgive us, but to transform us.
As daunting of a prayer as this is, the result is ultimately freedom. Our burdens are lifted as we surrender them to the Lord, acknowledging and rejoicing in the fact that we don’t have to be enough. We aren’t abandoned to attempt surgery on our own hearts. God will walk with us every step of the way, as we are confronted with the sickness of our hearts, and guided in the steps to cleansing.
Today let us pray with boldness and courage. Let us pray that God would search us and reveal to us the critical areas that need work; areas that we may have been blind to. Let us also have the courage to put action to our words and step out in faith as God continues His work in us.