Published: May 03, 2008 12:21 am            

A spiritual cleansing

Do you ever take the time to just sit and take inventory of your life, notice the things around you, where they came from and why they are even there?

It’s sort of like cleaning out your purse or the garage, or going through old pictures. You never know what you’ll find or where it came from. Do I keep it or throw it away?

If you’re like me, it can be a little scary. Big, bad spiders could be lurking in dark places, or you just might run across a box of old issues that need tissues. Be it physical, mental, emotional or spiritual, when it’s time to spring clean my friends, all we can do is roll up our sleeves and git ’er done.

My kids call me a pack rat. They accuse me of keeping everything from old birthday cards to the pet rock I got from ... well, it temporarily has slipped my mind ... but, I know it’s important or I wouldn’t have kept it for so long. It’ll come back to me shortly.

This morning, as I sat drinking coffee and staring out the window at spring, I got this overwhelming urge to spring clean. As I looked around my kitchen, pondering where to start, the fridge door caught my eye with all the scriptures and pictures on it. Suddenly, cleaning became less of a priority as I began to read and remember. You see, my fridge door and a small bulletin board next to it serve as a prayer wall. It’s a place where me and the Father-God can meet and come into agreement about whatever is on His mind and what He wants to change or fix.

I saw prayer requests that have long since been answered and lingered on a few in the “git ’er done” zone. I read quotes that speak loudly to my spirit and serve to remind me of whose I am and where I’m going. One of my favorites is: “You can confess where your at, or profess where you’re going, it’s your choice.” Oh yeah, the words of our mouth!

Zephaniah 3:17 always puts a smile on my face because the Father-God says to me, “I am the Lord your God, I am in the midst of you, a mighty one, a Savior who saves! I rejoice over you with joy; I rest in silent satisfaction and in My love for you, (Patsy) I am silent and make no mention of past sins, or event recall them; I exult over you with singing.”

According to the dictionary, the word “exult” means “to leap up, leap for joy; to rejoice greatly; be jubilant; glory; leap with joy.”

Hang that on your bathroom mirror and read it out loud every day, get a picture of it in your mind’s eye and, I guarantee, it’ll change your way of thinking, and when your stinkin’ thinkin’ changes, so does your life. But, that’s another column.

For those moments in which I harbor thoughts of no longer writing a column, Isaiah 52:7, staring back at me from my fridge door, generally puts me in my place: “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good tidings, who publishes peace, who brings good tidings of good, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion (the church), your God reigns!”

And when money gets a little tight and I start making excuses, trying to justify my actions for not tithing … well, Psalm 50:23 is quick to do it’s job: “He who brings an offering of praise and thanksgiving honors and glorifies Me; and he who orders his way aright, who prepares the way that I may show him, I will demonstrate the salvation of God.” Tithing prepares the way for God to do His job in our lives my friends. I, for one, do not want to hinder that, nor do I want ugly feet.

My prayer wall holds the sweet faces of my children and grandchildren as well as those in need. It serves to remind me of just how blessed and fortunate I am and “to whom much is given, much is required.”

I love my prayer wall. It gives me the opportunity to speak the word over lives that are very important to the Father-God, speak the word over situations that need to change. I can touch a picture and call forth those things that be not as those they were. I speak the word, I pray the word, and the word works. Prayers are answered, lives are changed, right here in my very own little kitchen. That’s the Word!

Remember that old American Indian story: Two dogs … one good … one bad. Which one wins out — the one you feed. Feed your thoughts and your spirit the Word of God, my friends. Keep it before your eyes and in your heart. We serve a now God, my friends. It’s our prayers, our giving, our faith that moves the hands of God so He can fix it for us, now.

I encourage you to make a prayer wall. It’ll bless your heart. Besides, seeds sown return press down, shaken together and running over. That’s the Word!

Keep the Faith, pray for someone today and worship somewhere tomorrow.



Sorrels is News& Eagle editorial assistant.