“Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give
you the desires of your heart.” ~ Psalm 37:4
Today
I came across a verse that really popped out at me. It popped out at me because
yesterday I was talking with a friend who asked me to pray specifically for him. This person requested that I ask God to place the "right" desires in his heart. What a beautiful and smart prayer request because our desires often differ greatly from what God desires for us.
I
don’t think it’s any coincidence that I came across this verse this morning. In fact, I’m
pretty certain that God allowed me to read this verse for a reason and He is the One that put a thirst in me today to dive into its meaning and to study what this verse "really" means.
And
this is what I learned and what I’m learning …
I
learned that people, including myself have often misinterpreted the meaning of this
verse. We read this verse and believe that God will give us every
good desire if we delight in Him. But think very carefully about what the
Psalmist is saying here.
We should
keep in mind that what "we think" might be good, may not align with what God
desires for us. We must trust and believe that He knows all things and sees all things even before they happen
so it is ALWAYS better for us to desire what He desires for us.
As I continued my study on this verse, I learned that when we delight ourselves in the Lord, He doesn’t give
us what our hearts desire, but He gives us desires within our hearts.
Did
you catch that?
He gives us the “right” desires
within our hearts when we delight ourselves in Him.
God is the One that places the right desires in our hearts when we delight in Him. Then when we pray
according to those desires, He is able to answer our prayers in the affirmative.
As we live in this manner, our lives become more and more aligned with His will
for us.
My friends, Ruthie just got a revelation today! What an eye opening
experience to learn this today. And I’m so happy to be sharing this with you, because we can learn together.
It’s important to know
that God is the One who places the right desires within our hearts when we
delight ourselves in Him. Delighting in Him is so very important and necessary
because Jeremiah 17:9 tells us that the
heart is deceitful above all things. And if you stop and think about that,
you have to admit that there is a lot of truth in that verse because our hearts are tricky little organs that can be so fickle depending on our circumstances.
The
Message translation for Jeremiah 17:9 says: “The heart is hopelessly dark and deceitful, a
puzzle that no one can figure out. But I, God, search the heart and examine the
mind. I get to the heart of the human. I get to the root of things.
I treat them
as they really are, not as they pretend to be.”
Today, I’m starting to
REALLY understand why it’s so important to have God place His desires, the
right desires in and on our hearts because our hearts on our own are deceitful and not
reliable.
God
promises that when we delight in Him, and rely on Him, when we take pleasure in
Him, that He will give Himself to us and deposit beautiful desires in our
hearts, the right desires that line up with His will for our lives.
Delighting ourselves
in the Lord means that we live our lives loving Him, honoring Him, and pleasing
Him. If living for God is a burden to you, then you are not delighting in the
Lord. But if living to serve and please God is a joy, then you are on the right
track.
My thirteen year walk
with God has taught me this: As I get closer to God, He changes the desires in
my heart in really good ways. He puts desires in my heart to love and care for
people I naturally would have never wanted to love or care for. He has placed
desires in my heart to do good, good I would have likely never done if I didn’t
live my life making Him priority in my life. I love pleasing God because I love
Him so much. And I love Him so much because He has done SO much for me. I could
NEVER pay him back for what He has blessed me with. My life may not be perfect
but it’s a good life because He’s such a big part of my life and the reason I
experience love, joy and peace and so many other delicious experiences. I’m an
experience kind of girl, I love to relish and live in moments and my
relationship with God has awakened me to appreciate the moments in my life.
Beloved, God loves us
and He wants the best for us. We must believe that and never doubt that.
We need to
understand that in order for Him to bring out godly qualities in us, we must
seek Him first and above all things (Matthew 6:33). Our journey in life is not always
perfect. Sometimes it’s tricky and trying at best but God has promised that He
will never abandon us, and He has promised that there is NO thing that will
overwhelm us. He will be with us every step of the way.
The key to the right desires in our hearts: We must trust
Him, obey Him and delight ourselves in Him.
Learning this today is going to change the way I pray for people, my friends and myself. What a blessing to learn all this today!
Until next time,
xx, Ruthie
May the Lord bless you
and keep you and may His face shine upon you. May He be gracious to you, lift
you up and bless you with His peace. ~Numbers
24-26
