In my childhood days, we lived in an enormous 7 bedroomed vicarage. Our home had an infamous ‘kitchen drawer’ in which an intriguing spectrum of objects were kept. Radiator keys, tippex, knitting patterns, duck food… You know the kind of thing.

My whole house feels like that at the moment. As we prepare to move, cupboards and drawers are being emptied, sorted and the contents thrown, recycled or replaced. Nostalgia and horror go hand in hand in this process. I hope no-one ever employs me as a Children’s ministry consultant again because I’ve just thrown out 25 files of resources. They took me years of work, but I’ve moved on. I also pray I never weigh 15 stone in the future. My size 22 trousers, (oy vay!) from my pregnancy with the twins, bit the dust too. (Thanks to the Lord, and the good people of Slimfast.)

Last weekend we had friends to stay, amidst the only-just-bearable chaos. Fortunately, we know them well enough to ignore the mess and laugh. I brushed aside the clutter on a tiny section of my kitchen work surface, in order to find space to cut the instant waitrose pizza I’d lovingly been slaving over all day. (My Nigella days will return I’m sure…) Contraceptive advice, swimming goggles and a solitary tiny,white, frilly sock were amongst the homeless items I needed to move to one side.

Our lives are sometimes like this. We stuff our heads with noise, clutter and guarded relationships. There are no ‘clear surfaces’ to put anything down. Things feel disorganised, messy and chaotic. Severe stress is a palpitation away. Unfinished business characterises every corner of our minds and we wade unsuccesfully through the mire, finishing the day feeling beaten and purposeless, shunting unhealthy attitudes from one side of the brain to the other.

One of the most helpful pieces of advice I’ve ever heard for those whose lives are riddled with such crowdedness is so simple. It shouldn’t work really. But it does. If you feel in a mess, if your world is chaotic and crazy, tidy the worst drawer in your house or office. Really well.

The same goes for your mind. The Scriptures tell us to ‘be transformed by the renewing of our minds…’ So today, approach that brain of yours with a turbo- charged spiritual Hoover. Suck up as many ungodly thoughts as you lay bare and consign them to the bin. Allow God’s spirit to dwell in less cluttered space. He likes shiny surfaces that reflect the light- like my near empty filing cabinet.

Having done that with your attitudes, find a man called Billio. Then pray like him.