Remove from me this heart of stone

         

                              https://www.kingmetalsandalloys.com/boulder-rock-stone.htm

>>>The first step in our commitment (or re-commitment) to prayer is to humble ourselves...

Isaiah 64:6

All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.

>>>Recognize that God wants more than an outward show of goodness...

1 Samuel 15:22-23

But Samuel replied: "Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams^. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king.”

Matthew 23:27-28

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness."

>>>When we fall short, we know we need God to help us...

Psalm 139:23-24

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.

>>>We must confess and ask for God's cleansing forgiveness...

Psalm 51: 10-12

Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

>>>Ask him to completely change us.  Then we can claim his promises...

Ezekiel 36:26-29
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God.  I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will call for the grain and make it plentiful and will not bring famine upon you.

***************************

Yes Lord, make us receptive to your Holy Spirit.  We want to be your people again.  Let 'Christian' mean something - a church set a part.  Let us be followers of Jesus Christ and let everyone see that there is something different about us.  Open our hearts to your Spirit.  Open our ears to your Word.  Open our eyes to those who need to know about you and your love.

Thank you Lord Jesus.

Amen