A Prayer for a Clean Heart

Holy Father, you see past the washed hands to the unwashed heart. We confess that we have preferred it the other way around. We have kept the outward rules of our tradition and let our hearts go where they wanted. We have honored you with our lips while thinking about ourselves. We have built fences that look devout and used them to avoid the plain commands you gave.

Lord Jesus, you named what comes out of a person: evil thoughts, greed, deceit, envy, slander, arrogance. We recognize the list. It is ours. We cannot wash these away before dinner. Only you can make a heart clean.

So we bring the inside to you. Create in us clean hearts, and renew a right spirit within us. Let the words that come out of our mouths this week be the fruit of hearts you have changed, not the performance of people wearing masks. Make us honest before you, and make us new. Amen.