A Clean Heart

Create in me a clean heart, O God.

Psalm 51:10

D. L. Moody did not want any sin to disrupt his intimacy with God. Because of this, Moody kept short accounts with God, immediately confessing any known sin. Each night he also allowed the Lord to shine an interrogating spotlight on all the events of the day. Before retiring for the evening, Moody would review his day with the Lord, asking God to reveal anything that displeased Him.

D. L. Moody exemplifies the kind of heart preparation needed before coming to God in worship. When we worship God, we must make sure we come with a clean heart, confessing any known sin in our lives. It is also good to prayerfully ask God to examine our actions, thoughts, motives, and words. Because God is perfectly holy, He cannot tolerate sin or commune with unrighteousness. Light has no fellowship with darkness (1 John 1:5–7).

In the Psalms, David offered up a prayer, very similar to D. L. Moody’s. He, too, desired to come to God with a clean heart. Today, take a moment to make the following prayer your own: “Search me, O God, and know my heart . . . and see if there is any wicked way in me” (Psalm 139:23–24).