the Fourth Week of Lent
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Daily Devotionals
Voice of the Lord
Delight yourself in Adonai, and he will give you your heart's desire (Psalm 37:4).
I have experienced the fulfillment of this promise many times in my life. I have also discovered that it never seems to work when I delight myself in the Lord in order to receive the desires of my heart. Delighting in the Lord must be its own separate desire, a glorious end in itself.
As we continue to delight in the Lord, our desires become purified. Those based totally on self-indulgent motives are in time revealed for what they are, while those which will not divert our focus from the Lord are in time realized. Other desires may become modified as we begin to perceive circumstances in a new light. We may want to move to a certain area of town, but as we delight in the Lord, he may shift our desire to another area, revealing that as his will.
Answers to some desires seem small, but they can powerfully communicate God's love. Once I prayed for a small mica disk to fit into a copy of a primitive phonograph I was making. Such a part had not been manufactured for this purpose in sixty years. A few months later I looked down while worshipping under a tree near my house, and there was the part—which ended up fitting perfectly! The love I felt from my Father was even more important than the fulfillment of my original desire.
...enjoy delighting in the Lord with the knowledge that he enjoys granting me the desires of my heart.
MW
The Voice of the Lord, Copyright © 1998 by the Lewis and Harriet Lederer Foundation, Inc. Published by Messianic Jewish Publishers, Distributed by Messianic Jewish Resources, www.messianicjewish.net. All rights reserved. Used by permission. No part of this article may be reproduced in print or on the web, or transmitted in any form, without the written permission of the publisher.
