DARE YOU TO DESIRE

Know that verse "Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart" ?

Ever wonder what that means to you and me? 

I've always known that verse. People always talk about how when you put God first all the time and in everything, He'll give you what you want. Sometimes I have a problem with that interpretation, lacks depth and does not pierce my heart the way it now has. 1st, it makes God sound uber-demanding, a whipcracking 'you can only want what I want' kinda god.  2nd, it makes me fear selfishness, like I'd prioritize God only to the extent that I want something from Him. Solution? Dare not desire 'anything except Jesus'. 

So I was reading Hebrews the other day (part of a 30-day challenge to read 30 chapters of the Bible everyday), and one of my favorite passages jumped out at me in a new way. I love it when that happens. And not when you try to make it happen...Heb 10:5-7 says,

Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said:

"Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,

but a body you prepared for me; 

with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased.

Then I said, 'Here I am - it is written about me in the scroll - 

I have come to do your will, O God.' "

That led me to Ps 40:6-8, from which the writer of Hebrews quoted. Same passage/words. Except the last bit goes "...I desire to do your will...your law is within my heart." Made me think of Ps 37:4 and Ps 119:11. 

I can understand SACRIFICE, OFFERING...

but...DESIRE?

Maybe it's not such a big problem for some of you. But for me deep down, I admit I've bought into the 'desire is evil' philosophy over the years. I also believe many Christians share the same mindset, amongst many others. Think about it.

God created desire, right?

And He created you, including your heart and all the issues of life that spring from it.

You cannot say God cares about even your hair-count if you cannot believe that the desires of your heart can be pleasing to God. Hair is hardly as important as heart, isn't it?

And I felt the Lord remind me on Aug 9 what He said before, when I was still in Malaysia.

"Don't just ask me what I want for you. I'm not gonna tell you what to do. You know what's in your heart, you already know what you want. I want what you want."

I was like, "No, God! Just tell me what to do, what YOU want. I don't wanna do what I want, I wanna do what YOU want. I'm willing to give up what I want for you!"

So 'spiritual'. Sometimes, so wrong.

Ps Philip Mantofa, a preacher of our time that truly reflects a life of intimacy with God, once rocked my world when he said (in Asia For Jesus Malaysia, 2007) that just like a husband and wife's relationship, '...you are to be one with God. So close to Jesus, so intimate, that what you say goes. He will give you what you ask for, He'll LOVE to please your heart. What a husband says to the children, the wife echoes it so that they are one. Unity in their hearts. Same goes for the wife. What the wife says, the husband goes along with it. That's true intimacy. Jesus too! What YOU want, you pray for, you ask Him for, He will give you. Because you are so close to Him, you are ONE.' 

When we've hidden his word in our hearts that we might not sin against him.

When the words of our mouths and the meditation of our hearts are pleasing in his sight.

It PLEASES him to say YES to you.

To your sincere, heartfelt (but not boombasti-fied) prayers.

To your casual (but not trivial) utterances as you go about your day.

To the whims of your heart, gestures of your hand, glances of your eye toward him.

You don't get answers to your prayers because you don't pray from the heart!

You don't see miracles around you because you are afraid to ask and be let down.

You don't experience God's generosity because you have not been sticking close to Him.

So as not to expose your lack of intimacy and faith, you ask not. You desire not. You want not.

And dry-clean it and label it 'contentment in all things' and 'being holy'. Hah.

The Lord reminded me of all this as I was praying about joining a CCN trip to Asia for ministry in Hong Kong and Korea. Will be travelling Aug 25 to Sept 7.

"God, what should I do? Can I? Is it okay with you?"  But-this. But-that.

"Do you want to?"

Oh man, not again, God?!

So I know God is training me in this area through these particular situations. He gave me the burden for HK and Korea just before the trip. Timing's right, team's right. He wants what I want. He's down with that. Woah.

Disclaimer: Do not apply the God-wants-what-I-want lesson for EVERY situation. You DID not hear/read that I said you can do that ;)

Stay close to Him and share His heartbeat. When you give weight to his every word spoken to you, you can trust that your words carry weight to move His heart too!

May he give you the desires of your heart and make all your plans succeed. ~ Ps 20:4

I DARE YOU TO DESIRE.

"...so that your joy will be complete."