April 23, 2024 - Matthew 23:25-26

“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and self-indulgence! You blind Pharisee! First wash the inside of the cup and the dish, and then the outside will become clean, too.” Matthew 23:25-26 NLT

Lord, would you come and search our hearts. We invite you in to clean them up. Show us any place that we are allowing dust and dirt to gather. Show us any place that we are hiding away and don’t want to allow your light to shine on. Where are we walking in greed? When we think of greed it is often in our finances or possessions, but there are also other areas that we could be allowing greed to rule. Are we greedy with our time? Do we hold back our lives from you or others? Show us any area of our lives in which we are walking in greed. We don’t want to cling to anything. You have freely given to us so many wonderful things. Everything we have comes from you. Help us hold our lives and everything in them with open hands ready to give anything you lead us to give with no hesitations and no strings attached.

We also ask for you to show us any self-indulgence in our lives. Show us where we are putting our desire before you and your calling on our lives. Where are we yielding to our wants and desires that don’t line up with your ways? Forgive us of these things. We don’t want to allow any greed or selfishness in our lives. Make us more like you. We don’t want to allow any bondage to live in us. We want your light to fill every area and walk in true freedom. Come and purify us. Make us holy vessels that are cleaner, more put together, and more beautiful on the inside than what people will ever see us being on the outside. We want every part of our lives to bring you glory from the inside out.

In Jesus name, amen.