Whatever Your Little Heart Desires

"May He grant your heart's desires and make all your plans succeed." ~Psalm 20:4

I read this verse this morning on my phone as part of a daily devotional I am doing -- Top Verses to Memorize.  I certainly like this verse, or at least what it seems to be promising at first glance.

God will give you whatever you want.  

He will answer every prayer.  

He will fulfill every wish.  

He will make all your plans succeed.  

He will give you the desires of your heart.  

That's what it says, right?

Well, not exactly.

We need to dig just a little deeper to understand what the Psalmist David is saying here.  

Before we jump to any conclusions about having God wrapped around our little fingers, we should probably turn to Psalm 37 and read what David wrote there, too.

"Trust in the Lord and do good.

THEN you will live safely in the land and prosper.

Take delight in the Lord,

and He will give you your heart's desires.

Commit EVERYTHING you do to the Lord.

TRUST Him, and He will help you.

He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn,

and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun.

BE STILL in the presence of the Lord,

and WAIT PATIENTLY for Him to act.

Don't worry about evil people who prosper

or fret about their wicked schemes."

~Psalm 37:4-7

Did you catch that? 

Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you your heart's desires.

That first little part is rather important.  Let's read it again, just to let it sink in:

TAKE DELIGHT IN THE LORD...

You see, God DOES want to give us the desires of our heart.  But He first wants to be the desire of our heart.  For only as we delight in God and treasure Him and want Him above all else will we truly be satisfied.  If we are looking to the things of the world to make us happy, we are going to be very unhappy indeed.  The world will only fail us.  Sure, we may have fun for awhile.  We may appear to be on top of the world.  We may think we have it all, and then some.  But really, we have nothing if we don't have God first.

Matthew 6:33 reminds us, "Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need."

Jesus gave us a pretty stern warning later in Matthew, "If any of you wants to be My follow, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow Me.  If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it.  But if you give up your life for My sake, you will save it.  And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?  Is anything worth more than your soul?  For the Son of Man will come with His angels in the glory of His Father and will judge all people according to their deeds."

Yeah, Jesus isn't exactly a genie in a bottle that we rub and are granted 3 wishes. 

Thank goodness, though, because I am sure I had more than 3 requests this morning alone.  

And God heard every single one of them, whether I muttered them under my breath or screamed them at the top of my lungs or just thought them in my head.  

While I may not get everything I want, I much prefer a God who listens to everything I say and truly hears what my heart of hearts is really wanting (whether I know it or not)...a relationship with Him, to please Him, to bring Him joy, to glorify and honor His name.  That is after all why I was created...

I tend to forget that quite easily though.  I get caught up in what the world tells me I need, what I should want.  Then I run to God and ask Him for this and beg Him for that.  And I get upset if He doesn't give me the desires of my heart.

Instead, I should be working on the desires of my heart, making sure GOD is my one, sole desire.  That I delight in Him above all.  That I truly want Him more than I want anything else.

Back to David and what he shared with us in Psalm 73:

Whom have I in heaven but You?

I desire You more than anything on earth.

My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak,

but God remains the strength of my heart;

He is mine forever.

Those who desert Him will perish, 

for You destroy those who abandon You.

But as for me, how good it is to be near God!

I have made the Sovereign Lord my shelter,

and I will tell everyone about the wonderful things You do.

So while I got excited this morning reading this verse about God granting me the desires of my heart, I was also reminded that God should be my desire.  For only as I put Him first and find satisfaction in Him will my heart's desires be fulfilled.  

Won't you join me?  Together, let's do as David encourages in Psalm 37.  

Let's delight ourselves in the Lord...

And then, my friend, I promise you, God will indeed give you whatever your little heart desires!