In his devotional writings (1), Oswald Chambers urges us to seek spiritual cleaning that reaches deep into the cavernous recesses of memory and motivation: “The blood of Jesus purifies us from all sin – if that means in conscious experience only, may God have mercy on us.”

Forgiveness of sins in conscious awareness is only the start. We need a deeper cleaning that runs deep into the subconscious fears and desires that shape our behavior; a filing of the Holy Spirit that soaks into the muck that corrupts and washes away the stench of sin.

The influence of hidden motivations has been emphasized from Plato to the apostle Paul, from Freud to the apologist C.S. Lewis. The fact that wishes and fears beyond our awareness may shape our behavior is not new.

As the psalmist says: “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting”(2). We are challenged to welcome God into our subconscious struggles, to be changed in ways that we may not understand.

Like a magnet pulling a chunk of iron, God draws us to himself; then fills the God-sized hole in our souls with his power to choose pathways of holiness over the slippery slopes of self-indulgence. This sanctifying change affects both conscious and subconscious awareness.

Some sinful motives are healed in a moment of prayer; others persist as a source of spiritual conflict for a lifetime. Our nature to sin invariably rises again. Anxieties and drives buried deep in the subconscious seem to fight with desires to trust and obey. We need a lot of help.

Lord God Creator, I pray, sanctify my mind from the depths of my unconscious drives to the surface of my conscious awareness. Fill my soul with your presence and renew a right spirit in me.

Oswald Chambers. My Utmost for His Highest (January 9). Discovery House Publishers, Grand Rapids Michigan. 1935

Holy Bible. Psalm 139:23-24.