Her silky gown gleamed under the candlelight as Cassandra gracefully took her first step down the aisle. Crystals and pearls adoring the delicate lace shimmered like sparkling stars in the night sky.

Transfixed, her five-year-old niece Sophia, stared in wide eyed wonder captivated by the sight of Cassandra in her wedding gown. “I want one,” whispered Sophia.

Smiling, Sophia’s mother lifted her onto her lap snuggling her in a warm embrace. “Someday,” her mother replied whispering in Sophia’s ear.

Immediately, Sophia’s body stiffened. Her arms whipped to cross over her chest as her brows furrowed and mouth tightened into a frown. Defiantly she announced, “I want one now!” Amused her mother lovingly spoke, “One day when you are ready to get married, I promise that we will buy you a gown as beautiful as Cassandra’s.”

OUR DESIRES!

We may not want a wedding dress like Sophia, but don’t we all want our desires to be fulfilled?

Hold on! They could become reality!

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

Now, I’m not saying you will get that Mercedes, a two-carat diamond or even ice cream. However, when our desires align with the Lord’s to meet the three criteria in this verse, He promises to fulfill them!

1. DELIGHT!
“Delight yourself also in the Lord”

How do we do that? By finding joy and pleasure in spending time worshiping, praising, studying and communicating with Him. As we do this, we come to understand His desires for us. Then we can align our desires with His. After all, His loving desires for us are always in our best interest.

2. COMMIT
“Commit your way to the Lord”

Committing our way to the Lord involves dedicating ourselves to following His ways. Remember those bracelets “WWJD?” By studying the scriptures, we learn His ways and can answer “WWJD?”; “What Would Jesus Do?”

3. TRUST
“Trust also in Him”

Trust is not always easy, is it? It’s especially challenging when we are waiting for our desires. We wait, and we wait and we wait some more until we are ready to give up! But isn’t faith trusting for what we don’t see with the confidence that when His answer comes it will be what is best?

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for,
the evidence of things not seen,
Hebrews 11:1

The “hoped” in faith referred to above is not our ordinary hope where there is a 50/50 chance it will happen. Nor is “substance” defined as physical material. In this verse, they mean:

Hoped = to expect, trust1
Substance = assurance, confidence2

Rewriting the verse with those definitions it says, Now, faith is the confidence of things trusted for, the evidence of things not seen.

WHAT ABOUT TIMING?

When we pray for our desires, don’t we want to receive immediately? Who wants to wait months, much less years like Sophia to receive them?

But what if the answer to prayers for our desires is not immediate? We get discouraged because it didn’t come in the time or the way we expected. Frustration bubbles up and we feel angry like Sophia or even rejected. We look to the Lord and ask two questions;

“Do you hear me, Lord?”

Yes! The Lord hears us!

Now this is the confidence that we have in Him,
that if we ask anything according to His will,
He hears us,
1 John 5:14

“Lord, are you ignoring me”?

Would the Lord who loves us enough to know everything about us ignore our concerns? No!

O Lord, You have searched me and known me.
You know my sitting down and my rising up;
You understand my thought afar off,
Psalm 139:2

A delayed answer doesn’t mean the Lord is ignoring us. Like Sophia’s mom, the Lord wants to do what is best for us. Rather than giving us what we think is best for us in our timing, we will receive what is perfect.

God’s way is perfect. His timing is perfect, His solution to our problem is perfect.

He is the Rock, His work is perfect;
For all His ways are justice,
A God of truth and without injustice; Righteous and upright is He,
Deuteronomy 32:4.

When we desire something that aligns with God’s will, He wants to give it to us – in His time, in His way, because He loves us.

Now this is the confidence that we have in Him,
that if we ask anything according to His will,
He hears us,
And if we know that He hears us,
whatever we ask,
we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.
1 John 5:14-15

REFLECTION

Do your desires align with the Lords?

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, as I write Psalm 37:4-5 and say it aloud, help me to delight, commit and trust in You aligning my desires with Yours. Please give me the patience to wait on Your timing. In Jesus name, Amen.

IN FAITH
WAIT ON HIS TIMING FOR YOUR DESIRES

For more on answers to prayers see Faith – FATHER KNOWS BEST! – DianeLese

Comment!

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*For information on making Jesus Christ your Savior, email me or visit, http://www.peacewithgod.net/

Photo girl, pexels-kamizzle
Photo boy, Ben White
Photo clock, geralt
1 Trust – Strong’s #1679 Greek
2 Substance – Strongs # 5287 Greek