Preparing the soil of our hearts

"Sow righteousness for yourselves, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed* ground; for it is time to seek the LORD, until he comes and showers his righteousness on you."

--Hosea 10:12

Lately God has seemed rather distant. I feel like I've lost my sense of direction and gotten caught up in my own desires. I'm still finding my way back from that, but seeing this verse this morning reminded me that our own efforts, although insufficient, still should be aiming towards righteousness--even when we don't have a clear "sense" of God's presence and direction. Our spirits should be set in a state of waiting for God to come in us through His Spirit and lead us into real righteousness. As we wait for more knowledge of Him, we continue to do what is right, remember the great love we've already been given and let that have an effect on our lives, and prepare our hearts for further teaching and development by weeding out anything false or unclean and making room for the Spirit to flow through us.

Ideas on specific ways to do this?

*"The primary purpose of ploughing is to turn over the upper layer of the soil, bringing fresh nutrients to the surface, while burying weeds and the remains of previous crops, allowing them to break down. It also aerates the soil, and allows it to hold moisture better."

--"Plough" on Wikipedia,