Dave Seo

“Create In Me a Pure Heart”

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
The people of Kenya have truly been blessed because of the purity of their hearts. I’ve always heard about that of the people of Africa, but seeing the people as I interacted with them, has taken the meaning of that verse to a different level for me. Through experiencing Kenya, God has been showing me how to have a heart that really desires after him.

God showed me the amazing work that he is doing as I visited several homes of people in Mt. Elgon. With faith in Him and prayer with a pure heart, I saw God working in the hearts of the villagers and in myself. At the time of our visit, it was suppose to be the rainy season, but the area had been in a drought, and as our team looked around, we could see how all the crops were withering and dying from the lack of rain. Miles and miles away, rain clouds could be seen, but the rains never touched the grounds of the place we were visiting. I was sharing the Word of God with a family of one of the homes we visited, and God moved my heart to share from James 5:13-18 about the prayer of faith. --The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. We need to hold on to righteousness, always repenting and confessing our sins and praying for one other. Elijah was just a man, but he prayed for rain to stop and it stopped. He prayed again for rain to come and it came.-- As I was getting convicted by my own sharing, the family asked me to pray for rain. When they asked me, I felt genuineness in their hearts and purity of their faith that God would send rain if we trust in Him and pray to Him. I never doubted God verbally, but did I really believe in my heart that God can listen to my prayers and send rain to these people in need? Quietly, I whispered a quick prayer for myself before I prayed for the family. I asked God to purify my heart, and that if God was willing, that He would send rain for the sake that their faith may increase. As I was praying for rain and for the family, we all felt trickles of water on our faces. I don’t know what others were thinking, but to be honest, I was a little distracted. In my mind, I was thinking, “No way!” And after the prayer, the rain started to pour! It was as if God was pouring water from the heavens. Bwana Asifiwe! (Praise the Lord!) God showed me a bit of himself, a bit of His grace in the rain that He sent in an answer to our prayer. I don’t know if this event has impacted the family’s heart to have more faith in prayer to God, but it definitely has shown me what God can do if we have faith in Him, if we come to Him with purity in our hearts. With pure hearts, we will see God.

I think about how God had been working in Kenya while the team was still there. I remember the pure hearts of the Kenyans and how God was purifying my heart and the hearts of the team as we spent each day learning to trust and depend on God. As I think and reflect about the times in Kenya, I try to make it my prayer each day to remember Africa and remember their pure hearts to commit myself to a life-change so I can live a life seeking purity in my heart to see more of God as he works in me, through me, and around me. Bwana Asifiwe!