“Delight yourself also in the
Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the
Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.”—Psalm 37:4-5
God wants to be the greatest passion
of every believer’s life. If we claim to
love the Lord, our relationship with Him should have priority over possession,
vocation, and even other relationships.
Yet we often miss the true message of Psalm 37:4 & 5 by assuming the
verses mean we can get what we want. It
is not uncommon for someone to tell me about a prayer request and then add, “God
promised to give me the desires of my heart.”
But in context, this scripture reveals that the Lord’s principle for
purifying our desires and issues a call for devotion to Him.
To delight in the Lord means to take
pleasure in discovering more about Him and following His will. This leads to the Holy Spirit aligning our
hearts desires with His, which always puts us in position to experience His
blessings—Refocusing our Self-Focus.
When we commit our way to God, we
allow our thoughts, goals, and lifestyle to be shaped by His will and the
things He loves. In other words, we
acknowledge His right to determine whether our longings fit His plan. If we rest in the Lord and wait patiently for
Him, we rely on Him to work out circumstances, even when the desire He has
given us seems impossible. When He is
our first love, our hearts become focused
on making His glory known in our lives.
As we grown and develop, we learn to
enjoy Him for who He is, our self-focus
wants are replaced by His perfect will and purpose.
Prayer—Father
today I ask you to refocus my wants and desires to fit into your plan and
purpose for me, in Jesus Name. Amen.
