If God would give you right now your heart’s desire what would you want?

What do you think Don and Nicole’s hearts’ desire are for their daughter Maya?  Do you think it is any different than what they desire for their son, Sean or what any parent desires for their children?

Do you think your desires are any different than the desires of the person sitting next to you in the pew or your co-worker?

We all desire to have our basic needs met.  As our constitution points out we all desire life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  We desire security, safety, and release from our troubles.

Our scripture states,

There are people who complain that God reneges on this promise and promises like it.  For instance

Have you ever been denied your heart’s desire?

Are they right?  If you delight in God should you expect that the desires of your heart will be granted?  Absolutely!  So how do you explain desires that are not granted?

Let’s begin by examining how you seek God?  Do you seek God so your desires are satisfied?  Or is the desire of your heart delighting in God?  What I am asking is, what is behind your desire?

What is behind a parent’s strong desire to have a child baptized?  Is it tradition?  Is it fear that should something tragic happen to the child and it is not baptized his or her salvation will be in a state of limbo?  Is it a desire that their son or daughter will grow up delighting in God?

What is behind the strong desire of an engaged couple to get married in church when they haven’t been in church in years and won’t be back in church after the wedding?  Why is God an invited quest at the wedding but not a daily part of the marriage?

I personally struggle with requests such as these.  Just this week I received two requests to officiate at funerals of individuals who had no church affiliation. Why is it that 99.9% of humanity desire to see God and have fellowship with God in heaven when they die, but they have little or no desire to have fellowship with God here on earth?  If you don’t want anything to do with God here and now, why would you want to spend an entirety with Him in heaven?

Desire is a gift from God.  Desire is not what is wrong.  It is what you desire and how you feed those desires that can make them right or wrong.

What was the desire of your heart this morning when you came to worship? Was it to delight in the hearing of God’s Word proclaimed?  Was it to delight in sharing fellowship with each other and with God?  What would delight your heart more this morning if I shared God’s word with you for another hour or wrapped up this sermon so we can get out of church as scheduled.  Strange how it doesn’t seem to bother concert goers when the performer extends his performance an additional hour.  It didn’t seem to bother baseball fans that the Cubs/Marlins game went 11 innings on Friday night.  But God forbid if the preacher keeps the congregation a minute longer.

We must allow Psalm 37 to challenge us with regards to the desires of our heart?  Is your desire, God’s desire?

Jesus desires unity among his followers.

“Holy Father, protect them by the power of Your name
– the name You gave me –
so that they may be one as we are one.”
(John 17.11)

“If you love me, you will obey what I command.”
(John 14:15)

“Love the Lord your God
with all your heart,mind and strength
and Love your neighbor as yourself.”
(Matthew 22:38)

“Let your light shine before men,
that they may see your good deeds
and praise your Father in heaven.”
(Matthew 5:16)

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them…
teaching them to obey everything
I have commanded you.”
(Matthew 28:19,20)

“Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
(Matthew 5:10)

You pray these words, but do you real desire them? How are you bringing God’s will into your health, your finances, your relationships, your attitudes, or your lives?

Is your delighting in God contingent on how well God serves you?

Ron Susek makes the following in his book God Will Answer. “We instinctively seek to get God to first fulfill the desires of our heart, with a promise that we’ll then delight ourselves in Him … Endless are the deals offered to God, always placing the fulfillment of desire ahead of delight in God.”

Are your personal desires blocking God’s sovereign designs from happening in your life, your family, your church.

“We need to reverse the order.  First we need to delight ourselves in God. THEN God will fulfill the desires of our heart.  This happens because our desires change.  We allow God to shape our desires.  His desires become our desires.”

Are you willing to ask God to turn your desire to God’s delight, so that God’s delight will be your desire?