Pete's Page
3.Clearing away the clutter in your prayer life

Some of us are good at keeping things organised and focussed in our homes or offices, others of us don’t act until we’ve tripped over that misplaced shoe, persistent box or migrating book at least ten times. The state of our houses is considered by some to be a bit of an indication as to the state of our inner lives…that maybe true, but sometimes an immaculate home is at the cost of time for prayer, or a way of avoiding the intense intimacy of a close relationship with God (or others for that matter.)

Many in fact have a level of clutter in their inner lives they would never countenance in their homes or offices. They have effigies to their pride and achievement scattered in all sorts of places, sinister dark chests bursting with unredeemed hurts and unacknowledged sins (we often call them foibles.) They preserve with tenacity, a library of records of wrong thinking about themselves, about God, about the way others see them and won’t believe any contrary thought that might unsettle their carelessly constructed worldview.

For some the more shaky our inner world, the greater the noise we make in our outer world to mask our interior shambles. We hope folk won’t look at them too closely, we avoid any attempt to get us to “open up” a little…whether to family, friends and certainly not to God (…which is absurd since He sees everything with aching clarity.)

The great broom to sweep away piece by embarrassing piece is true humility before the Lord; the same Lord who endured horrifying shame to liberate us enough to be able to see that God loves us desperately. Humility means accepting the provision of and need for God’s act of forgiving love in Jesus’ crucifixion. Humility is also about accepting that the best things happen in and through our lives when the Holy Spirit is both the instigator and the power source. Humility is about the annoying reality that “I can’t do everything” and that we need others to do the more wonderful things God calls us to.

Got some clutter? Boy have I got a broom for you?