Road Dirt

My daughter's hair blower died. It just stopped working. Upon inspection, its air intake screen was fuzzy. It wasn't easy to see at first glance but became apparent when examined. Poor thing, its breath had been snuffed.

So, when mine began to produce a bit of a burning odor, I discovered that it too was clogged with fuzz. A quick clean solved that problem and also seemed to give it new life.

I was reminded of the verses our Moms in Prayer group prayed for our children this week, an echo of David's prayer for himself.

Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties;

and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Psalm 139:23-24 (NKJV)

Are you feeling lifeless and without breath? Perhaps you need a quick cleaning.

In fact, Jesus taught that even after we become His disciples we need daily washing to rid us of road dirt. Remember what He said to His disciples on the occasion when He washed their feet?

He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean…

John 13:10

"Bathed" and "wash" are two different Greek words representing two different kinds of washing.

The word "bathed" is the Greek word louō, which means to bathe or wash someone who is dead or to cleanse blood out of wounds. In essence, it speaks to a thorough, deep cleansing usually by another person.

The Greek word used for wash is niptō. This word means to wash in particular one's self. Thayer's Greek Lexicon says it is like washing one's own hands.

Note the difference?

Grammatically, too, the word "bathed" relates to the phrase "completely clean." Katharos, the Greek word used for "clean," reinforces what Jesus meant as it refers to being pure, blameless, innocent, and unstained. Thayer's Greek Lexicon says it means being "free from the admixture of adhesion of any thing that soils, adulterates, corrupts." It also notes concerning Jesus' words recorded in John 13:10 that "he whose inmost nature has been renovated does not need radical renewal, but only to be cleansed from every several fault into which he may fall through intercourse with the unrenewed world." I think that would be "road dirt."

When we come to Jesus to pray for our children, we first invite the Lord's presence as we begin our prayer time with praise. But when His presence comes down, we immediately need to do something about that "road dirt" that His holiness makes us aware of. If not, that dirt has the effect of thwarting the breath of the Spirit in us and His guidance of our intercession.  We need a daily cleansing so we will have the freedom to breathe out powerful and effective prayers.

Daily cleansing of the "road dirt" means our relationship will be right with the Lord God and with others. It also means that there is nothing between us to prevent the Lord from hearing and answering our prayers. (Isaiah 59:2)

And this is the confidence (the assurance, the privilege of boldness) which we have in Him: [we are sure] that if we ask anything (make any request) according to His will (in agreement with His own plan), He listens to and hears us. And if (since) we [positively] know that He listens to us in whatever we ask, we also know [with settled and absolute knowledge] that we have [granted us as our present possessions] the requests made of Him.

1 John 5:14-15 (AMP)