KINGDOM PRAYERS Pt.3

This prayer of David has entered into several musical compositions. It is ever green and has become an anthem of some sort. The opening text is the prayer he prayed among others after he killed Uriah and took his wife. He became penitent and he realized the enormity of his sins. This prayer tackled the root of all our failures as humans- the heart. Heart in context here refers to the mind. Our minds is part of our soul, it is the seat of the decisions we make. Apostle Paul, knowing the critical role of the mind in the life of a believer, he said, "And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God",Romans 12:2 KJV. David saw impurities in his mind, he saw evil schemes and dangerous thoughts in his mind then he prayed that God should create in him a clean heart. It is another way of saying, "Father, sanctify my heart."

Some may say that David's prayer is an old testament prayer and that the believer doesn't need further sanctification because he has been sanctifed once and for all referring to 1 Cor 1:2,6:11. However, in the same new testament, Apostle Paul prayed sanctification for the Thessalonians. "And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul (mind inclusive) and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ", 1 Thessalonians 5:23 KJV( Emphasis mine). The Pauline prayer of cleansing included the spirit as well. If sanctification is once and for all, why did Paul pray another sanctification for the Thessalonica believers? Is Paul contradicting himself? Of course not. The initial scriptures cited refers to the initial or positional sanctification of the believer. By virtue of coming into Christ, we are sanctified. However, that is not the only sanctification there is in our walk of faith. There is also a progressive( continuous) sanctification which is what Paul was referring to in the latter scripture. Similar to that is the use of the present continuous tense "renewing" in Romans12:2. So our sanctification is both positional and progressive. It is continuous.

That is why the prayer of David in the opening text should not be thrown into the dustbin of doctrinal argument and scriptural misinterpretation. On daily basis, you and I need God to work on our heart through the word and we need to commit same to God in prayers. The devil's attack is targeted majorly on the mind of the believer. The greatest battle field is the field of the mind. Do not deny your need for a serious mind cleansing. Sometimes, I am tempted to fear because of certain thoughts in my mind. However, I know it is a pointer to the fact that the Holy Spirit need to work on my mind if I submit to him. If God can play your thoughts like video, will you be proud to play it for your family and friends? Till we see Jesus in glory, we would always need a continuous cleansing of our hearts and we will never outgrow the study of God's word. The moment we can bring our hearts to subject to God's word, our desires and actions will be in alignment with God's will. Join me to pray this kingdom prayer.