New Heart

And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the Lord (Jer.24, 7)

Incline not my heart to any evil thing (Ps.140, 4)

Unite my heart to fear thy name (Ps.85, 11)

The one, who really desires perfection, does not trust his heart. Human heart, by its nature, is evil and depraved, that’s why we ask the Lord to give us a new heart. And the Lord, Who revives everything and renews everything, wants to also change the heart of a man, submitting it to Himself. Christ promised to come and abide (Jn.14, 23) in the heart of a man; but how can He abide in a depraved heart, which has not been revived by His Holy Spirit?

Christ Himself, will, undoubtedly, make sure to clean and decorate the abode before coming to live in it. Therefore we can and should, in a complete hope, be asking Him in an unceasing prayer to give us “a new heart and a new spirit” (Ezek.36, 26).

The promises were given by God long before our asking for them; over two thousand years have passed since the Lord said His Holy words, which He is always ready to fulfill if we ask. Let us not weaken in the prayer for a new heart until we feel it in us and recognize how depraved our present heart is.

(Translated by Tatiana Rozzell from “Every Day is a Gift from God. Diaries of an Orthodox Priest”, author unknown)