Prayer Root Ministries -> Praying through Scripture -> The Gospel of Mark -> Mark 7
Scripture (ESV)
And he called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.” And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
Prayer Root: Word to Prayer
Heavenly Father,
You are a God who is always after our hearts. “For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings” (Hosea 6:6)—the Scripture Jesus Himself quoted more than once. And when asked what the greatest commandment is, He said: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your mind and with all your soul and with all your strength.”
I pray to You, Lord, that You bless my heart to be pure—a dwelling place where Your Spirit resides and continually guides me. May my heart be filled not with evil thoughts, but with thoughts that are true and pure; not with sexual immorality, but with holiness and self-control; not with theft, but with honesty and generosity; not with murder or hatred, but with life-giving love and compassion; not with adultery, but with faithfulness and integrity.
May my heart be free from coveting and instead be marked by contentment and gratitude; free from wickedness and filled with righteousness; free from deceit and shaped by truth; free from sensuality and governed by discipline; free from envy and overflowing with joy for others; free from slander and devoted to words that build up; free from pride and rooted in humility; free from foolishness and guided by wisdom that comes from You.
I pray, Lord, that You fill my heart with Your love, my mind with Your thoughts, and my soul with Your Spirit, so that what flows out of me always honors You.
Rooted in prayer, rejoicing in Christ.