Almighty, eternal, just, and merciful God, grant us…to be inwardly cleansed, interiorly enlightened and inflamed by the fire of the Holy Spirit…able to follow in the footprints of your beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

                                                                                                    —Francis of Assisi

This simple, straightforward prayer resonates deeply with me. It is precisely what I want to be true of my walk with the Lord. Meditating on this simple sentence has brought freedom.

I am choosing to keep short accounts with sin—not just the obvious, outward ones, but the inner sins I can hide from others: the evil triplets of envy, jealousy, and comparison; pride, racism, and judgmental thinking. Sin has a way of taxing my spirit and robbing me of the freedom Jesus died to give. What are some of your inner sins?

Join me in this commitment: “Lord Jesus, keep me inwardly clean. Illuminate any dark corners of my heart. Flush out all that separates me from you.”

Being inwardly enlightened follows right on the heels of confession. When the foul odor of sin is cleansed by the blood, the Lord can shine his pristine light in me and through me. Jesus put it this way: “You are the light of the world…let your light shine before men that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:14-16). People will see a difference in my life—how I love in the face of opposition, forgive when it is undeserved, serve the poor—and that is sure to have evangelistic results. Do people see Jesus in you?

Join me in this commitment: “Gracious God, let your glorious light shine brighter through me each day so that those who do not know you may be drawn toward the Jesus they see in me.”

My only hope for fulfilling these commitments is the enflaming power of the Holy Spirit. He convicts me of sin, he enables me to shine like a star in this dark world, and he grants me the ability to follow the Lord all the days of my life. Keeping the Holy Spirit at the very center of my life is a choice I make many times a day. Worries, fears, irritations, financial concerns, health issues, or dashed dreams want to force their way to the middle. I fight daily to keep God first in my life. Do you?

Join me in this commitment: “Holy Spirit, thank you for taking up residence in me. I want you and you alone to have first place on the throne of my life. Help me to fight the obstinate and hostile usurpers that seek the place that belongs only to you. Fill me now.”