WHEN IT COMES TO THE DESIRE OF THE LORD, I BELIEVE MATTHEW HENRY, MAY HAVE SAID IT THE BEST ON HIS COMMENTARY OF PSALM 37:4.HE WROTE, “TO DELIGHT IN GOD IS AS MUCH A PRIVILEGE AS A DUTY. HE HAS NOT PROMISED TO GRATIFY THE APPETITES OF THE BODY, AND THE HUMORS OF THE FANCY, BUT THE DESIRES OF THE RENEWED, SANCTIFIED SOUL. WHAT IS THE DESIRE OF THE HEART OF A GOOD MAN? IT IS THIS, TO KNOW, AND LOVE, AND SERVE GOD.
DESIRE. WHAT DO WE DESIRE? WHAT COMES TO MIND? IS IT TO PAY OFF THE MORTGAGE BEFORE RETIREMENT? COULD IT BE TO SEE OUR CHILDREN GROW UP AND BE SUCCESSFUL? IT’S SAFE TO SAY THAT WE ALL HAVE SOME TYPE OF DESIRE WE WISH FULFILLED.
I BELIEVE HAVING DESIRES ARE COMMENDABLE BECAUSE WHO WOULDN’T WANT TO HAVE THEM? LET’S TAKE THIS ONE STEP FURTHER. I ASK, “HAVE WE EVER THOUGHT OF THAT SAME MIND-SET OF DESIRE WHEN IT COMES TO THE THINGS OF GOD SUCH AS SALVATION, HEALING, RESTORATION, AND WHOLENESS?
HOW ABOUT IN OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD? DO WE TRULY DESIRE HAVING THE INTIMACY OF CLOSENESS, COMMUNION AND CONVERSATION WITH GOD AS OUR FATHER AND OUR CREATOR?
I WOULD HOPE THAT IT WOULD BE FOR ALL OF US TODAY TO HAVE SUCH A WISH…SUCH A DESIRE. OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD SHOULD BE AT A LEVEL AND TO THE POINT THAT IT SUPERSEDES ANYTHING AND ALL THINGS EXPERIENCED HERE ON THIS EARTH.
OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD OUGHT TO BRING US MORE JOY, SATISFACTION, AND PLEASURE THAN ANY OTHER RELATIONSHIP, ACTIVITY, OR MATERIAL POSSESSION WE HAVE.
THIS IS WHY OUR SCRIPTURE TODAY SAYS TO “DELIGHT” OURSELVES IN THE LORD. WE ARE TO DELIGHT OURSELVES IN THE LORD WHICH MEANS TO SEEK AFTER FINDING OUR GREATEST PLEASURE IN GOD AND THE THINGS DEAR TO HIS HEART.
HOW, THEN, DO WE FIND THAT PLEASURE IN WHAT GOD ENJOYS? WELL, THIS IS WHERE THE FUN BEGINS BECAUSE I REALLY CAN’T TELL EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU THE EXACT ANSWER AS IT APPLIES TO YOUR LIFE!
IT ONLY COMES AS YOU SPEND TIME WITH HIM IN THOSE INTIMATE, PASSIONATE TIMES OF COMMUNION. ONLY AS YOU SPEND TIME WITH HIM WILL YOU BEGIN TO TAKE DELIGHT IN THE THINGS GOD LOVES. AS YOU SPEND INTIMATE TIME WITH GOD AND ALLOW HIM TO SHOW YOU YOUR SITUATION FROM HIS PERSPECTIVE, YOU WILL BEGIN TO SEE THINGS AS GOD SEES THEM.
WHEN YOU MAKE THE TIME AND TAKE THE TIME TO WALK AND TALK WITH GOD ON THAT INTIMATE LEVEL OF RELATIONSHIP CAN YOU MAKE THE NECESSARY ADJUSTMENTS TO YOUR LIFE. AS YOU ADJUST YOURSELF TO GOD, YOUR HEART WILL BEGIN TO DESIRE THE SAME THINGS GOD’S HEART DESIRES.
THE REALLY AWESOME BENEFIT OF THIS TYPE OF INTIMACY IN YOUR RELATIONSHIP IS THAT THROUGH THIS LEVEL OF INTIMATE COMMUNICATION, YOU WILL BEGIN TO SEE YOUR TIMES OF PRAYER EXPLODE TO AN ALL NEW LEVEL OF CONVERSATION.
WHEN YOU PRAY THIS WAY, YOU WILL FIND YOURSELF ASKING FOR THE VERY THINGS GOD DESIRES. ISSUES AND EVENTS FOREMOST ON GOD’S HEART WILL BE PARAMOUNT IN YOUR OWN.
YOUR FIRST REQUEST IN PRAYER WILL NOT BE FOR YOURSELF, BUT FOR GOD’S NAME TO BE EXALTED AND HIS KINGDOM TO BE EXTENDED. THAT’S THE WHOLE POINT. WE QUICKLY SEE THAT IT WAS NEVER ABOUT US IN THE FIRST PLACE. GOD ONLY! GOD ALONE!
IT’S WHY THE LORD’S PRAY STARTS SO POWERFULLY AS IT PROCLAIMS WHAT OUR WHOLE DESIRE SHOULD BE. AS GIVEN IN MATTHEW 6:9-10, IT SAYS, “OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN, MAY YOUR NAME BE KEPT HOLY. MAY YOUR KINGDOM COME SOON. MAY YOUR WILL BE DONE ON EARTH, AS IT IS IN HEAVEN.”
THAT IS WHY I HAVE TO ASK A VERY UNIQUE QUESTION: “HAVE YOU BEEN ASKING GOD TO GIVE YOU THE DESIRES OF YOUR HEART WITHOUT FIRST SEEKING TO UNDERSTAND WHAT IS ON HIS HEART?
GOD PLACES THIS IMPORTANT REQUIREMENT FOR THOSE WHO WILL PRAY THAT WE WILL ALL SEEK HIS PRIORITIES AND MAKE THEM OUR OWN.
I THINK IT IS THIS ONE, GREAT QUALIFIER THAT WILL HELP US AND PREVENT US FROM ASKING OUT OF SELFISHNESS. IF WE REALLY STOP AND THINK ABOUT IT A LOT OF OUR PRAYING IS SELFISH. YOU KNOW, “GOD, DO THIS FOR ME AND TAKE CARE OF THAT FOR ME.”
WE GET SIDETRACKED WITH CONSUMING ALL OUR TIME OF PRAYER WITH ASKING GOD TO DO THINGS AND TO TAKE CARE OF THINGS FOR US AND FOR THE SAKE OF OTHERS. MAKING REQUESTS OF GOD IS JUST ONE VERY MINOR PART OF WHY WE PRAY.
AS WE FIND JOY IN THE LORD, WE WILL SEE WHAT IS TRULY IMPORTANT, AND WE WILL LONG FOR THESE THINGS AS THE FATHER DOES. I THINK IF WE ADOPT THIS CONCEPT INTO OUR LIVES WE WILL JUST BEGIN TO TOUCH THE SURFACE OF ALL THE THINGS GOD WILL UNLEASH INTO THE LIVES OF OTHERS AND UPON THIS WORLD.
JEREMIAH 33:2-3, “’THIS IS WHAT THE LORD SAYS, HE WHO MADE THE EARTH, THE LORD WHO FORMED IT AND ESTABLISHED IT—THE LORD IS HIS NAME: ’CALL TO ME AND I WILL ANSWER YOU AND TELL YOU GREAT AND UNSEARCHABLE THINGS YOU DO NOT KNOW.’”
HE HAS SO MUCH TO TELL YOU. HE HAS SO MUCH HE WANTS TO DO THROUGH YOU. JUST AS A CHILD GOES WILD WITH EXCITEMENT WHILE OPENING PRESENTS ON CHRISTMAS MORNING, SO SHOULD WE SWELL WITH EXCITEMENT TO SIT AS THE FEET OF OUR FATHER.
THIS WHOLE CONCEPT OF BEING A “CAPTIVE AUDIENCE” TO WHAT GOD IS TRYING TO COMMUNICATE TO US, IS WHY THE WORDS OF JESUS ARE SO POWERFUL IN LUKE 10:41-42, WHEN HE ADDRESSED MARTHA BY SAYING, “’MARTHA, MARTHA,’ THE LORD ANSWERED, ‘YOU ARE WORRIED AND UPSET ABOUT MANY THINGS, BUT ONLY ONE THING IS NEEDED. MARY HAS CHOSEN WHAT IS BETTER, AND IT WILL NOT BE TAKEN AWAY FROM HER.’”
MARY KNEW WHAT WAS THE PRIORITY AND MOST IMPORTANT. IN A LITERAL SENSE, SHE WAS GIVING HERSELF UP TO THE GUIDANCE OF THE LORD BY HEARING THE WORDS OF JESUS AND LEARNING FROM WHAT HE HAD TO SAY. SHE HAD DESIRE!
HOW IS MARTHA PORTRAYED IN THIS SAME SITUATION? VERSE 40 TELLS US THE TRUTH: DISTRACTED. HER DESIRES HAD GOTTEN MISGUIDED WITH WANTING TO IMPRESS JESUS WITH HER COOKING AND HOSPITALITY INSTEAD ON FOCUSING TOTALLY UPON JESUS.
SO, HOW MAY WE RE-EVALUATE OUR DESIRES AS DID MARY? NO, THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH LESSER DESIRES SUCH AS FINANCIAL SECURITY, HEALTHY RETIREMENT, SUCCESSFUL CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN, I AM JUST ASKING ABOUT THE LARGER DESIRES OF LIFE. HOW CAN WE REPRIORITIZE THEM?
CAN WE URN AGAIN TO SEE OTHERS COME TO SALVATION? BELIEVE ME, THAT IS ON GOD’S HEART! MAY WE SEEK TO RESTORE THE DOWN-AND-OUT AND THOSE THE WORLD WOULD REFER TO AS “BUMS,” “OUTCASTS” AND “FILTH” OF OUR SOCIETY.
CAN WE TAKE UP THE BANNER OF SPEAKING UP FOR THOSE WITH NO VOICE SUCH AS THE UNBORN, THE PERSECUTED CHURCH, ANIMALS AND NATURE WHOM GOD HAS ENTRUSTED TO OUR CARE?
WHAT IS THE DESIRE OF YOU HEART TODAY? I PRAY THAT YOUR DESIRE IS TO SEEK NOT WHAT IS ON YOUR HEART, BUT WHAT IS ON GOD’S HEART.
CHANCES ARE, IF YOU’LL DO THAT MUCH, YOU WILL MOST LIKELY BE FINDING YOURSELF HEADING TOWARDS THOSE THINGS WHICH ARE OF ETERNAL IMPORTANCE AND OF INFINITE VALUE.
NOTHING COULD BRING US GREATER JOY. GO FORTH WITH A NEW DESIRE TO NOT ONLY FIND DELIGHT IN THE LORD, BUT TO FULLY COMMIT YOUR WAY TO HIM SO THAT HE CAN TRULY FULFILL EACH AND EVERY DESIRE YOU MY HAVE IN YOUR HEART.
