Desires of Your Heart

Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. (Psalms 37:4 NKJV)

There are many places in the bible where God promises to give us "the desires of our hearts."  ... if we just follow God, pray in Jesus' name, or "delight yourself in the Lord."  So, then, why are not all Christians rich, healthy and successful in all they do?  Aren't these some of our greatest desires?  Maybe Christians that don't have all they want just are not good Christians... hmmmm... I guess that would make all of us.

The problem is what we believe "desires of your heart" actually means.  For Lent, I am reading a devotional book by Richard Rohr.  In today's reading, he tells us that "desires of your heart" are desires stirred up by the Holy Spirit.  These are not our fleshly desires like the ones we have to win the lottery.  They are God's desires, placed in us, in order that God's will be done on earth.

Unfortunately, most of us are so concerned about receiving the desires of our egos, we have no clue what the desires of our hearts are.  God will reveal them if we really want to know what they are.  But we have to be willing to empty ourselves so that we have room for these desires to grow.  What better time to do that than Lent!  Pray.  Fast.  Return.  Find the desires of your heart and receive them.

Holy God,
Empty us during this season of Lent that we may connect to the true desires of our heart.  Amen.