“We’ve gotta wash that Christian fellowship off our hands,” laughed my dad as we’d drive home after church, following his jovial and personable interactions with crowds at every service.

Physically speaking, founder of modern nursing, Florence Nightingale, changed history for patients by providing them a future by helping them escape death resulting through lack of hygiene. She sparked a global movement through the medical field, when she modeled, demanded, and then taught that physical hygiene—including washing hands, instruments and linens be routine.

Centuries before Father raised the standard of physical hygiene and caring, principled nursing through Nightingale, He’d commanded His people to wash their hands after returning from the marketplace and before eating under running water (not stagnant). That simple physical action alone coupled with the Father’s eternal covenant with Israel, and Father’s dietary (eat clean foods) and sanitation instructions (place the latrine outside the camp and cover it), caused the Jews to be amazingly immune from the Bubonic plague that swept Europe in the 1300s.  (Please note, plagues are covered in Psalm 91. Praying Psalm 91 is the top-tier protection prayer strategy for your family, your work, and your assignments.)

Jesus said, “A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean” (John 13:10). Jesus referred to the bath as receiving Him as Lord and Savior. However, we get dirty daily, so we frequently need to get cleaned up.

This principle of cleaning up applies spiritually as well. It’s spiritual hygiene.

Here are some instances where spiritual hygiene is necessary

1. Social interaction can transmit spiritual dirt as surely as the physical hand-shaking my dad had us wash off our hands.
2. For intercessors, you’re in constant spiritual dirt. There’s lots of pulling out unclean roots (sin and its repentance) in the garden of life for our families, our assignments and strategic or emergency situations. That’s in addition to social interaction, or even dirt from the grocery store, your office, and church settings.
3. Further, as an intercessor, you’re spiritually sensitive. Your sensitivity increases as you grow in the gift. So, you may not be officially in intercession mode, you may be at a family or church gathering, when you suddenly feel drained. Or you feel drained upon returning home.

It took a long time for me to learn this, but this truth will save you time and trouble:

We don’t turn ON our gifts in spiritual settings (such as church, intercessory gatherings, prophetic meetings, etc.) and turn them OFF in daily life. We are ON in the spiritual realm at all times. For instance, we know to be on guard and on cleansing duty when we’re on a big assignment, or even at an emergency situation, but daily life needs that attention as well in order to stay living the abundant life Christ paid for. This doesn’t mean that you have to work all the time, exerting yourself in your gift as you would if you were serving on church or ministry staff 24/7. It does mean that you need to be aware, even in places (grocery store, work, family gatherings, church attendance, etc.) where you normally wouldn’t be expecting to be aware.

The good news is that He is always with us. Holy Spirit helps us gain new habits and remember what He’s taught us.

The Father led my husband to initiate spiritual hygiene for our family. We pray this daily, but now we no longer wait till the end of the day, but pray it after almost everything—treating each interaction—family, church, grocery store, work—as marketplace and use the principle to “wash our hands” after contact.

It has created such a marked change of spiritual cleanliness that our son now initiates this prayer on his own and in the case of our having overlooked it.

Before I leave you with this spiritual hygiene prayer, I’d like to offer this prayer for you:

“Father, thank You for training us how to use our gifts, and how to live the abundant life that Jesus paid such a high price for. Please cause us each to remember what You want us to remember and forget what You want us to forget. Give us grace in the learning curve, and grace to walk out the new You are teaching us. In the mighty name of the Lord Jesus Christ, amen.”

Spiritual Hygiene Prayer

“Father, please cleanse our (name family members) eyes, ears, nose, mouth, heart, hands, senses and gates, spirit, soul and body, from all social, physical, involvement and sin. Wash us within and without with the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Separate us from everything that attached to us that will not bow its knee to the Lord Jesus Christ. Angels, gather them up and take them under guard to the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ. Separate us from any snake, scorpion or spider. Let Your fire fall on them. Burn, and go to the pit. Fill us with Your Holy Spirit. Thank You, amen.”

by Crystal Wade, copyright 2018