7-28-16 | Several months ago, Sophia Ruffin began heralding “God is raising up pure prophets.” Following this, Lana Vawser released a prophetic word concerning prophets of purity rising, which made The Elijah List! On July 22nd, Michelle McClain Walter’s shared her July 1st, 2013 Charisma Magazine article titled, “The Call to Purity for the Prophets,” on her Facebook page.
Not only is God restoring purity to this position, but He desires to restore purity in every other area of His body so that we all may be holy and without defect.(1)
I suppose God is highlighting the matter of purity in prophets, because an inconspicuous descent away from it is extremely harmful. Prophets have a tremendous amount of influence and especially need to be pure. How can any prophet align the church with the will of God if their connection with Him is corrupted?
Last weekend, while reading John Eckhardt‘s “God Still Speaks,” I stumbled on this purity thing again. Though the chapter I read, was about purity as it relates to personal prophecy in local assemblies, he references a technique that he’s taught for decades as a pastor and that can be applied to many things.
Apostle Eckhardt opens this section of the book with how much people want to know God’s will for their lives and his response, which is “What I always tell people is that the will of God is following the desires of your heart.”(2) He goes on to further explain why, “If your heart is pure and you really desire to do the will of God, you don’t have to worry about your desires being wrong“(3).
The problem is the purity of our hearts.
While heading to work this past Monday, I saw a “sign” on the side of a trailer truck that read, “passionate about purity.” I thought to myself, wow this thing is really on the heart of God, but still had no intent on writing about it. In route to work yesterday morning, I made a detour in an area that I never drive in and what was the first sign I saw turning off the highway? Yep, you guessed it, the sign related to purity. To my right was an old “Pure” gas station.
Earlier this year, in Endure to Elevation, I wrote that God was attempting to reach His people’s hearts, with these signs I clearly saw I was being directed to delve deeper into that statement.
Purity is not just a behavior…
Many may see the word pure and immediately relate it to sexual immorality, but purity doesn’t just relate to sex. To merely practice keeping your body pure is a disservice and isn’t nearly as valuable as keeping your heart pure. Attempting to align your behavior with God’s, without committing your heart, may produce results, but they will be short-lived, thus making this practice ineffective.
“You wash clean the outside of your cups and dishes. But inside they are full…First make the inside of the cup clean and good. Then the outside of the cup will also be clean.”
Matthew 23:25-26 ERV
A few months ago, while praying for our children, youth, and younger adults in general, I prayed they would flee the evil desires of their youth.(4) I prayed that they would keep their bodies pure and undefiled. Now this prayer was good, but God quickly shifted it, redirecting me to a more effective one. God prompted me to pray for their hearts. I began to pray every scripture the Holy Spirit brought to mind concerning the heart.
To merely practice keeping your body pure is a disservice…
What we do and who we are is a reflection of the contents of our hearts.(5) If God can reach our hearts, He can influence our behavior. This is why He shifted my prayers and why He is drawing our attention to really understand purity.
“Pure Station” | Flickr/ mherring | CC BY-NC 2.0
When writing A Fresh Wave of Love, I wrote about a much-needed change to our outlook on God’s love and I said the change would begin in our minds, then translate to our hearts. When I wrote this, I thought that’s strange, because I understand that what is in our hearts goes to our minds and we act on it, either with speech or behavior. I went to edit the statement, but God prompted me not to. Why? Yes, whatever is in our hearts must make it’s way to our mind before it manifests, but in order for our hearts to change we must get a revelation and the revelation starts in the mind.
Are your motives pure? Do you do things to get ahead or to genuinely help others? Are you moved by the same spirit that moved Balaam and driven to pursue money?(6) Has the allure of power become your master? Do you do the right thing when others are watching or all the time? Do you do things to be seen? Are you living for the people that applaud you or are you living for the Savior of all people?
Regardless of how you answer, pray with me…
PRAYER
Father, I thank you for loving us just because…You are truly a Good Father. I pray that you would show us our hearts. I thank You that as we recognize our weaknesses, shortcomings, failures and faults, we will choose to focus on how wonderful You are to still love us. I thank You for giving us more grace, which enables us to overcome every failure and always walking us through the deliverance process. You promised to give us a new heart and You have, but sometimes our hearts deceive us and sometimes they become polluted with life. I ask You to purify our hearts once again, I ask you to remove that which is defiled and those things that would defile us. I even ask you to remove mindsets that would hinder us from going deeper in our relationship with You and false teachings that would attempt to taint Your truth. I pray that you would continuously purify our hearts and make them like Yours. I pray that our hearts would overflow with the issues of your heart and I thank You for it!
In Jesus Name, Amen!!!
[1] Ephesians 5:27
[2] Eckhardt, John. God Still Speaks. Lake Mary, FL: Charisma House, 2009. 106. Print.
[3] Eckhardt, John. God Still Speaks. Lake Mary, FL: Charisma House, 2009. 106. Print.
[4] 2 Timothy 2:22
[5] Matthew 12:34; Matthew 15:18-19
[6] 2 Peter 2:15
Featured Image Photo Credit:
“Sesto Elemento Pure” | Flickr/houman_thebrave | CC BY-NC 2.0
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